ok, so i need some suggestions on a couple things dealing with the for sale threads in my signature.

first off, how do i protect myself when dealing with a buyer located in the UK? especially when they are a new member and have ZERO positive feedback, yet its obvious they have dealt with several evom vendors? you hear so many horror stories about overseas scammers, it hard to trust anyone.

secondly, how would you ship a stroker kit to the UK? i'm trying to think of the best way to protect it while keeping the weight down...tough one, right?!

any feedback would be very helpful!

 

I would say make sure that you have deposited all money they sent you before you ship out. Sending anything over seas sucks, I got some food sent to me when I was in the UK, small package not even a couple pounds cost like $45. GL

 

$45 dollars?!?! wow, imagine FedEx'ing a 28lb crank, box of pistions and rods!!!! well i'll swing by FedEx on my next day off and price it out.
i just need to figure out how to protect the crank, its a thing of beauty and i'd hate to have it arrive damaged.

 

Try ocean shipping via a freight forwarder. It only takes a bit more than a week to ship something via container. Of course, that doesn't count time in customs, but I'd wager it'd be a lot less $$$ than shipping it by air.

 

http://www.export.gov/logistics/exp_..._forwarder.asp
Check that link out. Hope it helps.

J.D.

 

Ship Fed Ex services. International Economy or International Freight. This way there is tracking information.

When I ship cranks, I typically build a little wooden crate out of plywood with cardboard on the ends for padding. I would especially do this if shipping overseas. Done right, this will suspend the crank by all the main journals. with a band saw, Table saw and air nailer, you can make this in about 15-20 minutes If you make it out of 1/8" plywood with 3/4" square rod in the corners, you can make these pretty light and durable. I even would fill these with dunnage (styrafoam peanuts) to support the wooden supports.

 

International shipping can be both a pleasure and annoying. Depends on how smooth it goes and what you are shipping. If you are shipping something that has some weight and package size to it...prepare to charge out a big freight amount. I ship stuff all the time, but primarily smaller packages. The biggest things Ive sent was to New Zealand and it was an RB26DETT Oil Pan, Strainer and Gaskets. I think shipping was like $80.

I go to the post office. Everything else has been a lot more. The only downside (which Im dealing with now) is there is not tracking on the package...and if your customer calls looking for their package...hmmm...I suppose you are SOL. (like I am right now)

Good Luck

 

Russel,

I have had the same problem as you with shipping internationally. with the USPS, they offer "tracking" which you think is cool. however USPS only declares responsibility and "tracking" to the destination country. Once it is in that country, it's handed over to the local postal system, and cross your fingers and hope it gets there.

So, lets say that you ship $1000 worth of parts to Muldavia. You take the parts to USPS, ship it International Express (guarenteed 2 day), insure it, certify it, bless it with holy water from the Vatican and send it on it's way. Two weeks later, you get a call from your customer "I don't have the parts". You do a search online, and it shows "delivered" 2 days after you sent it. You call USPS, say "my customer says he didn't get his part.... I want a refund. They say "I am sorry, but we only guarentee that the part gets to the Muldavian country's customs department. We can't guarentee that it gets any further as that is out of our control.

So, the part is either lost by the Muldavian postal service, stuck in customs, someone at the MPS stole the package, or the customer really got it and is scamming you.... You don't know, and you are SOL.

Send it via a means where the customer has to sign for the package... FED EX sure it costs a boat-load, but you are protected

 

Fed Ex has been wanting my business maybe I should call up a rep. I shipped a guy a Mopar Engine Build book in Ontario and he emailed me because it has been 4 weeks and nada. Sure -- its good it was only a $20 vs something expensive, but once I do the shipping twice on it, its just a hassle. You think someone would come up with something. Isnt DHL supposed to be like the international leader in shipping? Thats what a UPS rep told me who was here one day, but either way they are expensive too.

 

I have heard that DHL is having problems on the international front. I used to ship through them quite a bit, but then my friend who worked at the DHL headquarters in the IT department started to tell me horror stories. According to him, when DHL aquired all those companies a few years back, there were some pissed off employees, some lay-offs, and that caused many ripples... So when I got pissed off at UPS for how they handled a screw up, I switched to Fed Ex.

Fed Ex ground is suprisingly cheap. They have TONS of options in shipping, and handle International packages better. They also would "let slide" alot more than UPS did. I used to ship ALOT of Greddy exhausts, and the damn boxes were always about 3/4 of an inch too big. UPS would balk at this and either not take the box, or charge me an exorbinant oversize fee... Fed Ex would measure, and look the other way. Fed Ex ground also would ship airbags without much hastle, UPS, DHL and USPS would act like I was trying to smuggle uranium.

I did thousands of dollars of business through them, and they were cheaper than UPS, faster than UPS, and when a customer recieves a package with Fed Ex, they feel a bit more special, than if it was delivered with the big brown truck. The only downside I had when I switched to Fed Ex is that the girl who did all my shipping was pissed at me because the pick-up driver didn't flirt with her like the UPS driver did.

Anyways, back on Topic. DHL and Fed Ex can both take care of you with shipping the crank. I just think Fed Ex is better.