Current Mail / Postage situation due to Covid-19

[absurdexposition]

Guess who sent a shitload of food to the UK, but you can't send a wicked noise tape. Talk about priorities here....

Let them eat tape.

[CannibalRitual]

Guess who sent a shitload of food to the UK, but you can't send a wicked noise tape. Talk about priorities here....

Let them eat tape.

Eat them and choke on it.

[host body]

at least they agreed to a trade deal now, hard brexit would have devastated their whole economy. not to mention how lame it would have been to pay basically the same postage and taxes as when ordering from the states for us. glad to see they had some sense in their heads at least. postage rates however will rise, we'll see how much.

[CannibalRitual]

at least they agreed to a trade deal now, hard brexit would have devastated their whole economy. not to mention how lame it would have been to pay basically the same postage and taxes as when ordering from the states for us. glad to see they had some sense in their heads at least. postage rates however will rise, we'll see how much.

Yeah seems Mini Trump still likes his fish.

[zd313]

i sent 8 tapes to EU last week and paid $12-15 a tape. people are telling me its significantly cheaper to just print my own labels.

[WCN]

I get the sense most people know about it already, but a super essential tool for getting packages from Germany to the USA in a reasonable amount of time during the pandemic has been Transglobal Express: https://www.transglobalexpress.de/paketversand/

They have a connection with USPS which takes 7-10 days to deliver to the final destination once the package reaches their shipping point in Frankfurt and costs only a few € more than standard international post/DHL, even for small packages. You can ship your post marked package to the shipping point within Germany for a few €, and they forward it seamlessly. You can even send them multiple packages in one box. Definitely mandatory for getting stuff to distros, or to make sure your artists aren't waiting months to get their artist copies by boat.

[totalblack]

I get the sense most people know about it already, but a super essential tool for getting packages from Germany to the USA in a reasonable amount of time during the pandemic has been Transglobal Express: https://www.transglobalexpress.de/paketversand/

They have a connection with USPS which takes 7-10 days to deliver to the final destination once the package reaches their shipping point in Frankfurt and costs only a few € more than standard international post/DHL, even for small packages. You can ship your post marked package to the shipping point within Germany for a few €, and they forward it seamlessly. You can even send them multiple packages in one box. Definitely mandatory for getting stuff to distros, or to make sure your artists aren't waiting months to get their artist copies by boat.

I've used the USPS through T.G.E. service a few times, and it's certainly quicker but the rates and options are a bit all over the place. I'm not sure exactly where the problem with DHL \ Deutsche Post is currently, if it's on the German side, or if the acceptance on the US side is completely backed up. The statement that business \ contract DHL customers would have parcels sent VIA airmail priority is certainly not true, since all of the premium larger shipments I've sent are getting held up for 8 weeks or longer. Some small mail arrives in a week, some in 90 days. Hoping that things will improve in 2021.

[WCN]

TGE's "chargeable weight" calculator is a bit harder to estimate and factors in the volume of the package, which usually affects the price more than the weight, but for example, I sent a package of 20 tapes to the USA and it costed €18.68 and arrived in 11 days, tracked and all. That's only a few € more than standard DHL and significantly cheaper than "Premium," which seems to be just standard DHL anyway, they just charge an extra €16 at it still goes by boat - a crock  of shit. 

TGE may not be practical for every individual order, but for time sensitive/high priority packages it's definitely worth it. 90 days is fuckin intense...

[Theodore]

Anyone knows what is finally the deal between UK and EU ? I just heard there was an agreement but i have no idea what exactly. Will packages from UK go through the customs now with possible fees applied -like from US for example- ? If / when someone in EU recieves from UK let us know what's happening please.

[WCN]

Anyone knows what is finally the deal between UK and EU ? I just heard there was an agreement but i have no idea what exactly. Will packages from UK go through the customs now with possible fees applied -like from US for example- ? If / when someone in EU recieves from UK let us know what's happening please.

Still not 100% sure how it will play out, but now you do need to ship with a customs form. Had some people ask that I make sure the value claimed is below a certain threshold, but I can't say exactly what that is. So far however it doesn't seem much more complicated than shipping to any other non-EU country, but we'll see how things go on the receiving end.

[TordonLjud]

Below is some, perhaps, useful info regarding shipping to and receiving from the UK from now on. This primarily applies to GIFTS. Shipping something as GOODS is more complicated. But yes, a customs declaration needs to added when sending FROM the UK to another country and also TO the UK for GIFTS as well.

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Regarding receiving something from EU/abroad if you are based in the UK.

"When receiving goods from abroad, recipients may have to pay VAT and duties. The VAT and duties will be applied depending on the type and value of the goods. For gifts over £39 and goods over £135, Royal Mail may collect the VAT and customs duties on behalf of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). from the recipient prior to delivery. Letters, postcards and documents are usually exempt."

https://www.royalmail.com/brexit

So, mark it with less than £39 when sending to the UK.

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I suppose every EU country has slightly different rules when it comes to non-EU imports so here are just 3 different examples.

UK to Ireland:

"Customs charges will not apply if the item is a gift with a value of under €45."

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/brexit-to-hit-parcel-post-to-and-from-britain-1.4447643

Non-EU (which UK now is) to Denmark:

"If as a private individual you receive a gift from another private individual in a country outside the EU, you must pay VAT and customs duty if the gift has a value of more than DKK 360."

https://skat.dk/skat.aspx?oid=2244328

UK to Sweden:

"This means that when you receive or shop online from the UK, you must pay VAT and any customs duties before the goods can be delivered."

https://www.postnord.se/en/sending/preparations/customs-information/customs-information-regarding-brexit

Basically, shipping a few items to Ireland and Denmark should be fine - albeit with some minor delays for customs processing - while it seems to mean that someone based in Sweden may want to avoid buying from the UK unless they want to pay extra fees.

Considering that these are only 3 EU countries out of 27 I think it may be worthwhile to check your national postal service/customs service. I'd imagine that Sweden is in the minority regarding this.

[Bleak Existence]

Canada Post is slow as fuck right here now ... they say it because of holiday period .....

[Theodore]

RE: UK shipping : Hm, so it seems it's probably the same as US etc. now. Thresholds for gifts and purchases that if above them you have to pay. For Greece these are 21EUR for purchases / 40+ EUR for gifts. Incl. shipping cost. If they stop it you have to pay 15EUR+VAT. If they doubt about the declaration you are at their mercy. Probably they will charge you and you will have to proove them wrong. And it's that 15EUR standard fee that hurts ...

From what i have seen, small packets of 2-4 tapes / CDs pass free of charge, given the sender uses his name, not company / store. It is sent as gift and declared value is low but reasonable [~4EUR a tape] . For vinyls, i dont know, i guess will be more difficult, will catch more attention cause of size [?] .

[holy ghost]

Canada Post is slow as fuck right here now ... they say it because of holiday period .....

You can say that again! I think it's a new inevitability, and believe me, I am a STAUNCH advocate of Canada Post - I've had ONE package go missing in 25 years of frequently ordering records and that was clearly a case of me getting ripped off given the label (who eventually made it right two years later).

I'm used to a package from Scream and Writhe typically taking 24 hours from Montreal to Toronto, and 8-12 days from the US. I ordered from Skeleton Dust before the holidays and it hasn't even left the US! (Obviously no shade to Skeleton Dust and S&W - they are of course obviously excellent!!).

[absurdexposition]

With Canada I find it's often the direction a package is going that seems to make a difference. Vancouver to Montreal has been arriving in exactly a week as of late, but Montreal to Vancouver can take almost 2 weeks. Going west has had longer delivery times for at least the past 3 years, though. Must be something to do with Quebec distribution hubs.