Often the question of shipping costs from the USA to other parts of the world arises, and is well-answered.
My questions are: How accessible are agencies like FedEx and UPS to you Americans, should you be selling a bow to somebody overseas? Are there numerous shops within easy distance in larger towns or cities, where you can get a quote or make a shipment without too much hassle? Or is it a real pain in the neck to access these agencies? How does it work at your end to ship via FedEx or UPS to a foreign country? Is it as simple as making a phonecall and requesting a pick-up?
Thanks for your time and thoughts. With a strong Aussie dollar, I'm still entertaining thoughts of continuing to try to add a heavier Bear to the stable (my wife is in the kitchen and isn't reading this).
Cheers,
Ben
They're very accessible (to me anyway). Internet or phone call to schedule a pickup or any of the half dozen or so shops on my way home from work.
They're still very expensive though. I just priced sending a one piece Down Under and the shipping charges were $145 US!
Thanks, Jeremy. Was that via FedEx or UPS? Or some other mob?
UPS isn't too far away for me. Fed-Ex is a bit more of a trip. The US Postal Service is the closest, easiest, and by far the cheapest, but has more size restrictions.
Chad
That was FedEx. The UPS site quoted me $177 for the same package. A bit much for a bow I was selling for $210
I have found the USPS International Priority mail the best route to go. There are no extra charges for international shipping.
Yep, USPS is the way to go for a take-down, as long as the total price including shipping is under AU$1000. If it is more than that, I like to go with UPS, as they really offer great, fast service through customs.
For one-piece bows, the way I look at it is that we simply do not have access to all those beautiful old bows that you guys do, and we do live a long way from the USA, and so the extra US$90 (or even more) can be well worth-it and soon forgotten about as one enjoys a bow that can't be got any other way. That's how I look at it, anyway, and I'm sure some of my countrymen disagree.
I'm guessing you know about the online calculators that UPS, USPS and FEDEx have on their websites?
They're where I usually go if I want to know how much shipping will run me. In most cases you can also pay and schedule a pickup (even here in Wyoming).
You would need a scale and a tape measure to go this route, but that doesn't seem like an unlikely combination of things to find in a bow geek's house. :)
So I'd say that shipping things to you would be pricey, but not difficult.