Does anybody know what's the best option for shipping from Australia to Europe/Germany? I've bought another Seiko from an Australian seller and we both are unsure about the best shipping method to choose. Australian Post seems to offer these services:
1. Express Courier International Platinum
2. Express Courier International
3. Express Post International
4. Pack and Track International
5. Registered Post International
6. Air Mail
Prices for these services vary extremely, e.g. #5 Registered Post Intl. would cost AUD 23,70 and #1 would cost AUD 126.
Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks in advance...
I always use Australia Post, with the insurance and tracking. Insurance price varies with value, but if you're talking bout something low value then the first $100 is covered anyway so you may not need to bother about paying extra.Originally Posted by mariod
Thanks for the quick reply. Value is about AUD 400. Based on my experiences Australia Post and German Post Systems are very reliable, so I don't really worry about the package being lost...
As far as I understand all of the services above are offered by Australia Post, so which one would you choose?
The only time I bought something from Australia, the seller used FedEx. I can't remember the cost but it was fast and reliable and could be tracked all the way.
I'd probably go for Pack and Track which from the online calculator for a 500g - 1000g parcel should cost around $44 and includes tracking. Registered Post doesn't allow tracking but does allow signature, for the same price. You pays your money and takes yer choice...
Next step up, to include option of paying extra for the insurance you don't want, would be twice the price, but allows tracking and signature.
If it was a $2000 watch, I'd pay the extra, but if you're willing to risk the $300 uninsured value for a $400 watch, it seems a reasonable risk.
Unfortunately FedEx isn't an option for the seller and it would be pretty expensive...
Thank you very much for your help. Much appreciated.
Option #5 is fine for relatively low value. Add optional insurance to that for higher values. (That's what I always use anyway).
All shipping is expensive from here.
Registered post will be fine and reliable. The others are just variations on a theme (quicker etc) but not necessarily more reliable or safer IMO. Registered post mitigates the risk of loss and the others don't decrease the risk much more if at all...
Thank you Quoll and Pete. I've talked to the seller and we both agreed on registered post intl. and I hope it will be here safe and right in time when I return from vacations.
Thanks again everyone for your help.
The first 3 express options are very costly but have tracking and are insurable with signature on delivery
Pack and Track is trackable but no signature on delivery and not insurable.
I usually ship with registered international - it's insurable with signature on delivery but unfortunately no tracking from start to end.
I did however discover that with registered international it's trackable through destination postal system when it hits destination country (I noticed this when I shipped to US and it was trackable on the USPS tracking website once USPS received it in their system - it wasn't trackable through the Australia Post tracking system however)
Not sure if this will apply to other countries' postal systems though, but it might be worthwhile trying.
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