dkCambridgeshire Posted July 21, 2010 Share #1 Posted July 21, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm contemplating selling some Leica equipment via the 'Buy and Sell' forum but wondering about the best way to ship abroad. I could use Royal Mail's 'Airsure' service but it only offers £500 max. compensation. When I checked a well known courier service and submitted their matrix to obtain a quote for transit to Berlin for a value of £1500, the cost inclusive of insurance and delivery confirmation was over £80 and this seems excessive. Can anyone offer any guidance regarding reasonable shipping rates from UK to EU countries? Thanks dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 21, 2010 Posted July 21, 2010 Hi dkCambridgeshire, Take a look here Selling via 'Buy & Sell' & Shipping abroad from UK. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
spylaw4 Posted July 22, 2010 Share #2 Posted July 22, 2010 Parcelforce will give compensation up to £2500 for around £20 extra fee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted July 22, 2010 Share #3 Posted July 22, 2010 Indeed you can get higher insurance levels, it's all on the Royal Mail website if you care to look. If something is lost be prepared for a long wait and a potential battle with the Royal Mail, they need to allow several months to try and trace a 'lost' parcel and will then try to ignore your chasers for payment. I had to write to their Chairman with a threat of legal action to get a positive response. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted July 22, 2010 Share #4 Posted July 22, 2010 When I checked a well known courier service and submitted their matrix to obtain a quote for transit to Berlin for a value of £1500, the cost inclusive of insurance and delivery confirmation was over £80 and this seems excessive. Sounds about right to me I'm afraid - I just shipped a parcel to the Caribbean and that was over £200 for a £4k insurance level. Not so sure about Parcelforce - but any post office should be able to quote you - shipping my 28/2 to Solms for 6-bit-ing was expensive through the Post Office and I found that most of their foreign shipping services have a £500 insurance limit although one did offer, it this might well have been via Parcelforce and your £80 does not sound overly high I'm afraid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted July 22, 2010 Author Share #5 Posted July 22, 2010 I've done a bit more research and seems that DHL offers reasonable rates and insurance. I would not use Parcelforce as they once lost my Linhof Technika 70 outfit ... they found it 6 weeks later but caused me a lot of inconvenience and work to recover the camera. Now I feel a bit more confident about listing items on Buy and Sell and offering shipping abroad. But I'm not so sure about one Leica item which weighs over 25 kilos ... please don't ask what it is! It will be listed in due course. Thanks for your advice. dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 22, 2010 Share #6 Posted July 22, 2010 I wouldn't send anything that weighs 25 kilos through the post (Focomat?) It is BOUND to get broken. That's a specialist delivery item - or buyer collect... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustafasoleiman Posted July 23, 2010 Share #7 Posted July 23, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) Since I am about to do the same (selling on the B&S here in the UK some of my M8 system), I have another question... This is my first time selling anything online, so please be patient... How should I ask for payment? That is, what is the most secure way to make sure that I will get paid by someone I have never seen before and could be living in another country a million miles away? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 23, 2010 Share #8 Posted July 23, 2010 PayPal is the best way - I hate to say. Unless you can meet in person and accept cash. The purchaser can "send" money to your email address and you can then transfer it to your bank from there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted July 23, 2010 Share #9 Posted July 23, 2010 BUT............allow time for the payment to clear. If the purchaser has used a stolen credit card you'll find your paypal payment debited back out a few days later when the fraud comes to light! Safest ways - you could ask for a direct bank transfer payment, or a money order/postal order, again only releasing the goods once payment has definately cleared. Also cash if the purchaser sends it by insured post, but it's risky from their point of view. Don't accept a cheque - they can take months to clear. The bank will credit your account after a few days but may not actually present the cheque for some time, if they then find a problem with it your account will be debited back out. Be careful out there!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share #10 Posted July 23, 2010 Since I am about to do the same (selling on the B&S here in the UK some of my M8 system), I have another question... This is my first time selling anything online, so please be patient... How should I ask for payment? That is, what is the most secure way to make sure that I will get paid by someone I have never seen before and could be living in another country a million miles away? Ask for a SWIFT International Priority Transfer direct to your bank but insist on all charges being paid by the sender ie the buyer ... if you Google 'SWIFT transfer' with your bank's name you should find details of how to go about it. You will have to give the buyer your bank details including: Beneficiary name Beneficiary address Beneficiary Bank Identifier Code (BIC) or routing code (appears on your bank statement) Beneficiary International Bank Account Number (IBAN) or account number (appears on your bank statement) Reason for the payment Alternatively ask for a cheque but insist on a cheque drawn on a UK clearing bank ie a cheque with a UK bank sort code . Do not accept a cheque drawn on an overseas bank without a UK sort code . Most foreign banks have branches in London which are part of the UK clearing system. Any cheque drawn on a bank with a UK sort code is subject to the T+6 clearing rule thus after 7 bank working days the funds are irrevocably cleared ... do not presume that 3 days is sufficient. All is explained here The Co-operative Bank | The cheque clearing cycle Cheques drawn on an overseas bank without a UK sort code can take weeks to clear and bank charges for same can be excessive because your bank will have to present the cheque abroad for payment ... or maybe sell the cheque to another clearing house that does. Then there is Paypal ... but I have heard that large payments might subject to delays ref clearance to you if you are not a regular user. Best to avoid other types of telegraphic transfers (no names mentioned!) especially from the far east dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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