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International parcel post

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MrDavo:
I've bought a few parts from abroad using eBay's Global Shipping Program, the best bit is that you pay a fee that includes any duty or VAT, there is nothing more to pay so you know the exact cost. Normal International delivery you don't know what extra you are paying until it's arrived at you local Post Office, who add on VAT and duty, then charge an extra £15 or so to collect it. Downside is the speed, I have tracked a couple of parcels from the US that got very quickly to a central depot in Kentucky, then just sat there for a week or two, before suddenly showing up in the UK one morning at the airport next to Donington Park.

I sold a NOS Z1 footrest to a bloke abroad recently using the GSP, totally painless, as stated above eBay do all the donkey work, you just post it to Litchfield. Ash got me into using Parcel Monkey, when I needed to send my CB750 K1 paintset to Germany for Menno to paint. If you pick the right option, you just fill in an online form, pay online, and a man appears the next day on your doorstep to collect it with a label. Speed and service depend on the options you choose, you tend to get what you pay for.

flatfour:
It might also be useful to consider the delays in service that have existed in recent times. Our regular parcels to and from Japan have, in the past, taken between four and seven days to arrive. Currently the average is over three weeks, although some take much longer.

Charges have also increased significantly, typically our postage cost (via Royal Mail tracked) was around £15 - £18.00. Now it is more like £25 - £40.00 for the same parcels. As VAT etc. is charged on the whole cost, this has gone up too for items that we receive.

The whole situation has discouraged us from making regular shipments any longer, after some 40 years without problems.

Like so many things in life, the simple and straightforward has now become complicated and expensive!

AndyD:
Thanks everyone,
Sounds like GSP might be the way to go for me - don't think it'll be a regular thing for me and this at least sounds straight forward.
Am I right that I can simply go back into my live eBay ad and add the international shipping option - the bidders can then get the cost on eBay depending on where they are without any further details from me?

Cheers,
Andy

AndyD:
Haven't got very far with this!!
Had 3 chats with eBay about adding GSP to a couple of live listings and after the final one I now understand that on one I can't add it as a bid has already been placed and on the other one for some reason it shows as excluded from the GSP system (it's a Speedometer).
They did give a couple of options to work around this but it means going back to me arranging postage and to be honest I understand so little about international postage that I really can't be bothered Googling any further.
As I have had numerous overseas enquiries asking if I'll ship abroad, I feel a bit guilty saying no all the time and I just wondered if it is an option to simply say that I won't post but if anyone buys it they can arrange collection themselves.
I thought maybe this would avoid me having to get costs for shipping or any involvement in customs paperwork / charges etc. - presumably I could just package the bits and have them ready for collection.
Does that sound sensible / workable or have I missed something important (more than possible!).
Cheers,
Andy

Bryanj:
Dont work that easy on small parcels mate.
Customs costs are nothing to do with the sender(you) the only extra paperwork is a cn22 customs form which i find the post office will fill in.
Post office web site is easy to get price you only need weight of parcel,not item, and sizes of parcel

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