Oversea's shipping, advice please

[toddrr]

Hi,

I just sold an item to an oversea's buyer ((two large woofers) and I have two questions which I would appreciate some assistance on :).

1) What is the best way for this person to pay me that insures the least
possible problems?

2) Shipping via who? USPS, UPS, ?

Thank you!

[doodlebug]

My one and only experience with overseas shipping was to Europe. It was an eBay sale and I insisted that the buyer pay for insurance _and_ premium shipping services only from the US Postal Service.

The preamp was shipped in its original double-box so no problems there. The target city was Zurich, Switzerland.

I did encounter problems along the way when the preamp didn't show up when it was supposed to, according to USPS. I got on the phone with the Postal Service. Since I has purchased every possible international tracking service they offer, I was treated to excellent service. The folks on the other end of the phone kept me on hold while they called what turned out to be DHL in Germany, who had the contract for USPS shipments like mine for Switzerland.

Turns out that they had subcontracted the shipment to a 3rd party in Switzerland who didn't even have a tracking system. No, the UPSP and the DHL systems didn't talk to each other either - the USPS folks were on one phone while I was on another and they relayed info to me so I could email the receiver.

Turns out that the package was, indeed, in Zurich and had been for a number of days but had not been delivered. I do hope there was some yelling going on between the DHL folks and their rather weak delivery arm.

The package arrived in good shape, though.

Frankly, I do not _ever_ want to deal with this sort of thing again and do not ship overseas. If I had to, however, I'd certainly use the USPS again. That person on the phone worked her butt off to get the answers to the question: where is the package right now?

Cheers,

David

[sonofagun]

Get payment by money order - if a check, wait until funds are cleared by your bank.

USPS is the way to go - rates are much better. Follow guidelines on packing stuff on these forums. Sturdy, oversize box; bolt/screw woofers to board.