International Shipping to Germany $500 Insurance Limit

JeffM729

My luck with international shipping hasn't been good lately. First there was the mouthpiece that went to Australia, instead of Austria. Then the just joined eBay zero feedback winner from Tunisia..........

Now I have a possible Buy It Now trumpet sale to Germany from a solid eBay member. The problem is that insurance to Germany appears to be limited to $500 and it won't cover the full price of the purchase. I'm sure some of you have this figured out. I'm assuming that it needs to be sent with a signature confirmation as well.

Any help on how to proceed would be appreciated.

John Mohan · Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:04 pm Post subject:

Hi Jeff,

You can use USPS Express Mail or USPS Priority Mail to ship to Germany.

In either case you can insure the package for up to $5000. Do NOT over-insure. If there is any loss you'll need to provide proof of value, so over-insuring does not help. AND: what ever amount you insure it for, your client in Germany is going to be paying taxes on.

Speaking of taxes, the two taxes (Duty plus VAT) will add up to around 25% of the stated value plus shipping costs. If your insured value is higher than stated value, that will be the value the German Customs agents use to determine what your customer will have to pay (they'll always use the highest values they can find).

Checking off the "Gift" box on the Customs form will not help - for expensive items, they do not care if it is a gift - they will still be forcing your customer to pay his so-called "fair share".

Also, be sure to include an invoice with the correct amount the customer paid, and if you can, make a printed copy of his sales method (copy of PayPal payment) and include it with the other Customs paperwork. If a receipt and/or bill of sale is not included, the wonderful German Customs people are very likely to hold onto the package and demand that they receive said paperwork.

Both Priority Mail International and Express Mail will provide tracking info. I strongly recommend going with Express Mail, because it is hardly any more money ($108.85 for Priority versus $111.07 for Express Mail, each assuming a 15 lb. package insured to a value of $2,000 and sent to Germany using the USPS on-line purchasing and label printing system). If you go into the post office, pay there and have them manually print a label for it, it adds about 8% to the costs.

By insuring it, a signature will be required when it is delivered.

Best wishes,

John

mpo · Heavyweight Member Joined: 24 Apr 2008 Posts: 577

Robert Rowe · Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:10 pm Post subject:

Michael is correct.

I often sell and ship horns to Europe. Including ITALIA, boys and girls ! The crap you're heard or read is bogus. Four horns in one year with nary a problem. Fine buyers ... plus, I like Italian women, shoes, motorcycle, suits, cars, food. Can't be all bad!

Anyhow, yes ... mpo's advice is correct. USPS presently limits insurance coverage between $500 and $650, depending on the destination country.

Also, when shipping, use extra care and packaging material, to make the parcel sturdy. I charge extra for this, and the buyers never flinch.

Have a duplicate shipping label, or plainly written on a large index-card, or an 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of paper inside the parcel, on top of everything else in the box. If / when the European customs or postal-inspectors examine the parcel ... it is not uncommon for the original outside label to become damaged ... and difficult to re-read the recipient or the destination address. They can then read the shipping information on this label or index-card that you have placed inside the parcel.

Robert
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kehaulani · Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:55 pm Post subject:

Jeff, if the buyer has access to a military post office (either himself or a friend), if you send it to that, you can circumvent these problems. The downside is that if the person with the military post box is acting as a third party and gets caught, that would jeopardize his/her future post office privileges. Frankly, I've not heard of anyone having such a problem, but it is there both legally and ethically. But be that as it may, it might be an option, that would be the buyer's call.
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ford850 · Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:22 pm Post subject:

When I have shipped overseas and the trumpet’s selling price exceeded the allowable insurance coverage available, I simply told the buyer he would have to “self insure” the excess; he agreed.
In other words I made sure he understood the insurance limitations and that, in the event of a loss, I was not willing to reimburse him for more than the insured amount.
I believe the last horn I shipped overseas that difference was 400 USD.
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etc-etc · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 6192

Very simple - send the trumpet pieced out into 5 parcels, insured up to $500 each. First parcel - bell and valve section, second - pistons, third - slides, fourth - case and valve guides, fifth - valve caps, buttons, springs and water keys. You can make it even more fun by spreading the pistons and slides over three parcels. Oh yes, for an extra charge put the mouthpiece and piston stems into the sixth parcel. Imagine the excitement when parcels start arriving. And the suspense until the last one does.

Robert Rowe · Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:56 pm Post subject:

JeffM729 · Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:26 pm Post subject:

Robert Rowe · Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:43 pm Post subject:

findthejoy · Regular Member Joined: 23 Apr 2010 Posts: 46

I have shipped a variety of high-end items to Europe in the last 10 years and for the last 6, I've used www.u-pic.com for exclusively for shipping.

Here are their limits and rates for the different shipping methods. https://delta.u-pic.com/Order/OnlineRates.aspx.

I've never had to file a claim, but I know many other sellers who use their service and I've never heard a single complaint.

Although I've always been happy with the service I receive from USPS, I can't say the same for their insurance claim process.

For high end items, I prefer to ship USPS Express. In part because it comes with $100 insurance and because, I've been told, that customs will process those faster than other types of shipments. Haven't shipped as much overseas in the last couple of years, but haven't had any problems or delays with what I have.

Good Luck!

JJ

kehaulani · Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 1:12 pm Post subject:

etc-etc · Heavyweight Member Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 6192

The point is that if you send a trumpet in several parcels, some may get lost, but each loss will be covered by insurance. The insurance should cover the cost of the part AND the cost of fitting its' replacement with the instrument.

If you send the horn in one parcel, it may get lost too (and everything will be gone at once); as discussed above, the $500 insurance will be not enough to cover the loss. You decide which method is better. Both are not that good.

In any situation, I would advise to ship the case+mouthpiece separately (!) to avoid damage to the horn. This makes it a minimum of two parcels.