Anyone here ship prints internationally? What service do you use, and do you only ship rolled prints, or matted as well? I'm having trouble finding slow and affordable rates. Thanks!
Hey Floris, I don't do anything special when shipping internationally, so I'd be curious to hear if anyone else has a better method, I just use USPS. I ship flat, and matted, except on really large prints. I've had much better luck doing this than roll tubes, although I can get these super heavy duty roll tubes locally from my printer, they work great for the large prints.
I'm curious about other ideas as well. I've been shipping international via USPS international priority. Never shipped matted or framed, only prints (I ship flat or roll depending upon size). When I originally compared pricing USPS seemed the most affordable
Since I am on the other side of the border, I can't give you any specific advice. That said, when ordering stuff from the US, I much prefer USPS to any other carrier. UPS are nothing more than institutionalised thievery...(how about paying more for brokerage fees than for your product!)
Thanks folks, yea UPS and FedEx quotes are like $100-300! For some reason I can't seem to find an option for USPS to ship anything bigger than 12x12 or so. How would you ship a matted 16x24?
Posted by Zack Schnepf on June 4, 2009 at 11:37 PM
I talked to USPS today for an order going to Mexico City, they said the length restriction on international priority is 42". I don't think I've ever shipped a large matted print internationally, usually I use the bomb proof roll tubes and send the print only.
Hey Floris,
I know shipping... not just prints specifically, but shipping in general. The business I own (the one that makes the money to support photography) ships every business day... worldwide for the past 30 years. UPS comes in the morning for deliveries and in the evening for pick-ups. Someone is at the post office daily. I use UPS, FedEx, UPS-SCS, and USPS. My primary shipper is UPS. On my photography website I advertise free shipping within the continental US. Those items go USPS with my understanding that s*** happens. If you use mail, realistic tracking stops at the border. 193 countries do not share bar coded data... I no longer ship anything (main business) internationally via mail without the understanding that once it leaves my facility it's the receiver's responsibility. Shipped via UPS, we stand behind everything. I've had too many things just disappear without a trace. Insurance? By mail? Forget it. I've had over 2000.00 worth of merchandise disappear in shipping to one address in Canada. I filed a claim and the USPS simply said I couldn't prove it wasn't delivered. This has happened more than once. I no longer insure my USPS packages. Keep this in mind, and know you might need to reship via mail. A USPS shipment to Iceland once took 9 months. A shipment to Kuwait was delivered to Korea and was finally processed back to Kuwait... 1 and a half years later.
You get what you pay for. UPS or FedEx costs more... lots more in some cases. International brokerage is expensive. A ripoff? Not really, you just might not need all you're paying for. But with the private companies, their bar coded data is not stopped at the border. You know where things are in real time... or close to it. OK, so much for me going on about shipping. To answer your question;
I would use USPS Global Priority. It's going to be 3-10 days depending on destination (3 days to Canada 10 days to the interior of China). You'll avoid the high duties and brokerage of the private carriers. Just be aware, that things might disappear without recourse and you might have to reship. Don't bother with insurance. Once it leaves the US border, the USPS resolves themselves of responsibility... they won't tell you that as they want the insurance premium. But ask yourself, "who would insure stuff that is handled by other people and countries that they have no control over?" Take your shipping boxes or tubes down to the post office counter and ask if they can ship the size package you want to send.
Now for the last part of my long-winded answer; you want slow and affordable... what is affordable? Are you using the print cost as the basis for affordability? If a $75 print costs $25 to ship, that seems expensive. If the same print costs $1200, that $25 seems inconsequential. But, the shipping mechanism is the same. Floris, I really admire your work and I would be more than happy to share what I know about moving stuff from here to there. Feel free to get in touch with me via my contact info on my website.
Discussion
6 repliesI know shipping... not just prints specifically, but shipping in general. The business I own (the one that makes the money to support photography) ships every business day... worldwide for the past 30 years. UPS comes in the morning for deliveries and in the evening for pick-ups. Someone is at the post office daily. I use UPS, FedEx, UPS-SCS, and USPS. My primary shipper is UPS. On my photography website I advertise free shipping within the continental US. Those items go USPS with my understanding that s*** happens. If you use mail, realistic tracking stops at the border. 193 countries do not share bar coded data... I no longer ship anything (main business) internationally via mail without the understanding that once it leaves my facility it's the receiver's responsibility. Shipped via UPS, we stand behind everything. I've had too many things just disappear without a trace. Insurance? By mail? Forget it. I've had over 2000.00 worth of merchandise disappear in shipping to one address in Canada. I filed a claim and the USPS simply said I couldn't prove it wasn't delivered. This has happened more than once. I no longer insure my USPS packages. Keep this in mind, and know you might need to reship via mail. A USPS shipment to Iceland once took 9 months. A shipment to Kuwait was delivered to Korea and was finally processed back to Kuwait... 1 and a half years later.
You get what you pay for. UPS or FedEx costs more... lots more in some cases. International brokerage is expensive. A ripoff? Not really, you just might not need all you're paying for. But with the private companies, their bar coded data is not stopped at the border. You know where things are in real time... or close to it. OK, so much for me going on about shipping. To answer your question;
I would use USPS Global Priority. It's going to be 3-10 days depending on destination (3 days to Canada 10 days to the interior of China). You'll avoid the high duties and brokerage of the private carriers. Just be aware, that things might disappear without recourse and you might have to reship. Don't bother with insurance. Once it leaves the US border, the USPS resolves themselves of responsibility... they won't tell you that as they want the insurance premium. But ask yourself, "who would insure stuff that is handled by other people and countries that they have no control over?" Take your shipping boxes or tubes down to the post office counter and ask if they can ship the size package you want to send.
Now for the last part of my long-winded answer; you want slow and affordable... what is affordable? Are you using the print cost as the basis for affordability? If a $75 print costs $25 to ship, that seems expensive. If the same print costs $1200, that $25 seems inconsequential. But, the shipping mechanism is the same. Floris, I really admire your work and I would be more than happy to share what I know about moving stuff from here to there. Feel free to get in touch with me via my contact info on my website.