Ship item to Switzerland from US

O

obedriverleather

Joined
Jul 28, 2012
Messages
83
I have a customer that wants me to ship a Leather sheath to Switzerland, I haven't shipped international before and want to avoid any mistakes. Any suggestions appreciated, Thanks
 
Just like shipping domestically except you have to fill out a customs form. The PO has them, they are straight forward and easy to fill out. I think they want contents of the package, value, sender and recipients address.
 
Go to the post office and explain where you need to ship, and they will give you all the details. Or you can look at the various carriers UPS, FedEx, or USPS and research there.
 
Just ensure that the buyer is willing to pay for tracking / insurance. This covers the worst case scenario which can be a big headache.
Or if the buyer wants to go cheap on shipping, then they need to 100% accept risk of loss.
 
What Daniel said--if you want to ship it with tracking, you can send it in a Flat Rate Priority Mail International Envelope for around $15, which will be trackable until arrival in Switzerland. Either way, the customer should accept risk of loss and depending on the declared value, he may be subject to duty.
 
Thanks for your help, I am using paypal so i am not sure whether an agreement of risk between us does me any good if he files a claim with paypal? I am going to take the risk and i will let you know the results. Thanks again
 
I live in Switzerland and regularly order knives and knife stuff from the USA. From the buyers point of view I can say that I've always been fully satisfied with USPS Express Mail International. The delivery is handled by the swiss postal service once it reaches Switzerland and tracking works all the way to my doorstep. If I'm not home I get a notice to pick the parcel up from the local post office. I try and avoid FedEx. They deliver pakets to my neighbours if I'm not around without my permission.In my view this is inaceptable. (DHL is OK too in that they redeliver on arrangement via phone). This USPS advantage can easily be translated to mean less hassle for the seller.

I think buyers from overseas should be ready to accept responsibility for all risks. That means I must deem a seller trustworthy and only spend larger amounts with those capable of and willing to communicate with me and are of good repute in places like this forum. I wish there wasn't so much uncertainty associated with the notion of international buying & selling but understand that this is due to bad experiences or stories thereof. I do believe however, that that positive experiences are much more common at both ends.
 
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USPS First Class mail can be used if the package is under 2lbs. and certain maximum dimensions, and that is the cheapest option. Priority Mail uses a larger customs form and costs more but is the cheapest USPS option on packages that don't meet reqs for First Class. Your local USPS office will give you the necessary form to fill out--it's not very tough. :)
 
there are things that you arent supposed to ship thru the mail. i was sending some cigars to a friend stationed in kuwait a few years back. when i put 'cigars' on the form the woman at the post office told me i couldnt ship cigars. she told me to put 'toiletries' and claim the guy said he was going to smoke them on the toilet. lol
so you might want to put something like 'slipcover' instead of 'sheath'.
 
obedriverleather said:
Thanks for your help, I am using paypal so i am not sure whether an agreement of risk between us does me any good if he files a claim with paypal? I am going to take the risk and i will let you know the results. Thanks again
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Make sure you follow and meet the requirements that Paypal has in order to protect yourself from a claim. If a claim should be filed and you can provide the documentation that paypal requires upon request(insurance, shipping date, and reciept) yu should be fine.
 
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