Mailing knives overseas?

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glocker199

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I have a pending trade with a fellow knife enthusiast in Europe but I'm not sure about mailing knives abroad. Is it legal to mail knives through USPS to other countries? Anyone have experience with this?
 
Not too sure about this but FWIW knifecenter has mailed me knives in Fedex International Economy Shipping to India and the UAE after I moved here. They ship to the EU as well. So I am sure it is legal to ship them.
What you would need to ascertain is the prevailing law on knives, customs duties etc at the destination you want to ship to.

My 1.25 rupees..........
 
I wouldn't do it, nothing against the other guy (I don't even know who it is) but it's not a simple thing like a sale, if the knife doesn't make it and his makes it to you its not like you can just refund him his money, you have to take another risk sending his knife back and what if that one doesn't make it, then your double screwed.

Is the knife your wanting to trade for your grail or something that's not available much anymore? If not I personally wouldn't do it.
 
I don't think USPS has any issues with mailing overseas(automatics being an exception I believe these would require a private carrier). I would be more concerned with the destination country's customs/import/export/duty laws. Last thing you want is to have your stuff seized by customs.
 
i don't know what kind off knife ? and to witch country, knife rules can be very tight for some countries , no baly's or auto's or blade length restictions, no locking knives all depending on the country entering.

shipping in it self is not really a issue, but use a option with T&T, will be at least 20 to 30 bucks to ship
high value stated on customs forms, will in most cases will be a duty bill to be paid by the receiver ( even declared as gift, but with value about 100 bucks they will charge most likely duty and import fees )
 
I have generally sold CONUS +2, and have completed several transactions with folks in Alaska as well as in Hawaii without any difficulty whatsoever.
For overseas countries, I have sold to Bavaria and to Australia. I did NOT have a problem. It can be frustrating, as in the Bavarian sale, the Customs Office in his country kept his folder for three weeks before he was allowed to pick it up. Also, the taxes on imported goods in other countries can make it much more expensive for a person outside of the U.S. to purchase your knife.
I have refused sales from some very nice folks outside of the U.S. I think that sales to Canada/British Columbia may be much easier to complete in a satisfactory manner (for both parties), although I have yet to sell anything to Canada. Some yrs in the past, I had read that folks in Australia often didn't receive their knives sent from the U.S., or declared that they didn't receive them from their Customs office. In that case, I was told that PayPal may favor the international party, and the U.S. fellow might be out of luck. I did manage to sell a fixed blade hunting knife (Spyderco in S90v), however, with no difficulty whatsoever. It does help to check the other fellow's feedback rating, to see what success he has had in the past on our BF. I think you can check on the Web and get reco's from USPS on which countries may be a bad idea to ship to, and which countries receive our goods and make the transfer to the new owner without undue difficulty.
 
I've shipped several knives to Russia, and eastern Europe. USPS will track a package until the plane lands in whatever country and they're done from there. Because they can't track it, they don't like insuring them, but they will. I've always used Paypal for overseas knives and been fine.
 
95 percent of my knives come from US. No issues with both USPS and local PO. Fedex will charge you an arm and a leg "customs duties" when you claim the package though.
 
I've never had any issues with ordering/people sending knives overseas. I guess the case depends on how strict/corrupt the country is (without getting too political).
 
USPS International Express gets it there the quickest and with less hassles. It is very expensive though.
 
I did it once, used usps express mail. Went without a hitch but you will have to fill out a customs form possibly. Just write folding tools for what you are mailing... Don't write knife.
 
I have sent to and got from the US several knives so far. Always used USPS and the German equivalent Deutsche Post, never had any issues (everything sent registered and insured).
Took between 1.5 to 2.5 weeks for delevery though.
 
If shipping to the UK ,slip joints and fixed blades are ok.Make sure the blade can’t be wrist flicked open.UKBA can be iffy about incorrect contents descriptions.I have bought many knives from the US ,only one got lost in transit,never made it out of the USA.
 
I've received multiple knives from the US via USPS and FedEx and from Japan via Japan Post EMS without issues (as long as they're legal, but the one you're trading with should know what is and isn't). The only issue I had was with one blade from Japan that the customs office held for a while because they couldn't believe it was as cheap as it was :rolleyes:. Get a tracking number for the package though.
 
USPS has pages listing what is and isn't legal to ship to wherever you are looking to ship to.
 
...and this brings up another point. When you sell and ship a knife "international," the receiver must pay import taxes in his country that are based on YOUR stated VALUE of the knife. IF it is a relatively cheap knife, his import taxes are low. However, a knife that shows a high monetary value on the customs form (that you fill out) will greatly increase the import duties that the receiver will pay. If any country's Customs Office receives an inlaid CRK Sebenza or SMF Strider that is basically new and is stated, on the customs sheet, to have a value of $40, then nobody should be surprised if the customs officials ROLL THEIR EYES.
THIS is the situation that we are placed in, EVERY time that we sell a knife internationally. Consult your integrity.
 
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I have used both USPS and UPS for mailing knives to many parts of Europe (eastern and western, e.g., Russia, Spain, Singapore, Germany, etc.) without issue. I always make certain that the buyer understands that he is taking all the risk once the package the U.S. because (w/ USPS) I can't track it once it leaves our system and enters their local mail delivery system. For the times I have had to fill out a form describing the items enclosed, I always have put "tools." A knife is a tool, right?!
 
I have had many knives of all types from the US sent to the UK and Asia with no issues in the last ~10 years and probably hundreds of knives I've bought.

It is always nice to see how many people in our hobby are willing to stick together and help eachother out....... :rolleyes:
 
link2derek said:
I have used both USPS and UPS for mailing knives to many parts of Europe (eastern and western, e.g., Russia, Spain, Singapore, Germany, etc.) without issue. I always make certain that the buyer understands that he is taking all the risk once the package the U.S. because (w/ USPS) I can't track it once it leaves our system and enters their local mail delivery system. For the times I have had to fill out a form describing the items enclosed, I always have put "tools." A knife is a tool, right?!
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Regardless of what you tell your buyers, you are still responsible should the knife go missing.
International shipments in many countries are indeed trackable by using that countries mail service online system.
A seller should always follow best practices when shipping overseas, including proper and secure packaging, proper insurance, tracking and honest descriptions of contents including value.
 
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