Reshipping / parcel forwarding US ---> Europe?

[TC]

It. Just. Doesn't. End.

OK, found a Bob Dozier here on the exchange. Seller stipulated CONUS shipping only. OK no problem, I'll use a forwarding service. I mean, knives are crossing the Atlantic by the thousands each and every day, right? Just a fixed blade camping knife, nothing exotic like an OTF or something that might not be legal everywhere. So I did some google-foo and opened an account with an outfit called ship7.com.

Knife got there yesterday or so. OK, now to choose a shipper, DHL, FedEx, TNT Express... pay the service fee, and get 'er done! Woohoo!

Uh, no. My parcel is on hold and has a red flag. Says cannot be shipped because item is FLAMMABLE (no kidding, actual message). So I got in touch with customer service and tell them that knives don't generally burn, and would they be so kind...

Well, they point me to their legal terms of service, and lo and behold, knives are on the verboten list! I'm screwed.

Public service announcement: Don't use ship7.com for knives and about a couple of hundred other things, like explosives and such.

Does anyone know / have experience with some other reshipper that does knives? (I'm still searching myself, of course.) Any volunteers for a fee? Help!

 

[Jdottinger]

This probably belongs in GB&U. Hopefully the knives get returned to the seller and they can refund you. Did you let the seller know you’d be using a forwarding service? If not that’s an issue in my opinion. Plenty of instances of this happening in the past, where the seller is left knifeless and out of pocket for a refund.

 

[Kevin Wilkins]

Check Stackery, they may be able to forward a knife. They won't forward anything gun or military related, so it may depend on the knife.

 

[TC]

Check Stackery, they may be able to forward a knife. They won't forward anything gun or military related, so it may depend on the knife.

Thank you! Contacted them and they confirm they will ship knives up to 5" (blade length), which is just what this knife has. (They will not handle assisted folders of any blade length though.)

Gruß nach Berlin!

TC

PS: The correct name is stackry.com (no "e")

 

[TOMBSTONE]

I can’t speak for all sellers but I know when I list items for USA only buying/shipping, that’s what I mean.

 

[TC]

This probably belongs in GB&U. Hopefully the knives get returned to the seller and they can refund you. Did you let the seller know you’d be using a forwarding service? If not that’s an issue in my opinion. Plenty of instances of this happening in the past, where the seller is left knifeless and out of pocket for a refund.

Yes, the seller knew about the reshipper up front. He preferred to ship US only. I was in a bit of a hurry before someone else jumped in on the deal (hey, it happens) and only did a cursory inspection of the site. There was no visible warning about restricted items anywhere throughout the sign-up process. I figured a 5" single-edge fixed blade would be no problem in any case.

 

[ratstuph]

Glad it worked out for you, but the question of who will ship a flaming sword remains unanswered...

 

[TC]

Glad it worked out for you, but the question of who will ship a flaming sword remains unanswered...

Based on just my recent experience - no one. Seriously, not any one. Active flames seem to be a rather big no-no to these outfits. Perhaps if you could create a containment in a shake-and-bake bag they'd go along...but I'm not optimistic even on that.

 

[Kevin Wilkins]

Thank you! Contacted them and they confirm they will ship knives up to 5" (blade length), which is just what this knife has. (They will not handle assisted folders of any blade length though.)

Gruß nach Berlin!

TC

PS: The correct name is stackry.com (no "e")

Glad it's working out, I've used Stackry several times over the years and have always been very happy with their freight forwarding services. One does have to check their product listing to make sure whatever you're buying can be shipped to you.

 

[TC]

Follow-up on Stackry...package weighs under 2 lbs, but due to dimensions is classed at 4 lbs. $66 US to Germany via DHL Int'l Express. There were less costly options by companies I've never heard of, so I didn't take any more risks at this point. Cheap it ain't... Now looking forward (not) to it getting hung up in customs and another bite. Still, Doziers are rarely found here, so I'm good with it.