Help please: shipping from US to Europe

[Terminator]

Hi all,

I hope this is the correct place to ask something like this...

I’m discussing buying an A2 from a seller in the US, but I’m in Zurich, Switzerland. The seller wants full insurance (for $950), which is fair enough. However, Global Priority will only insure up to $650, and the next USPS option with full insurance gets quite expensive at over $150.

I figure it’s not uncommon for jackets here to make the journey from the US to Europe, how do you y’all do it?

Many thanks,

NJR

 

[Captain Sensible]

I looked at arranging from my side the shipment/collection for delivery to UK from US. Might be a better option as you can avoid USPS altogether, I’ve not had good experiences with them, and choose your carrier/service and insurance

 

[GHT]

When I bought a hat online from a vendor in the US it cost $55 to ship, then I had to pay an extra £8 value added tax to the UK carrier, it does get very expensive.
Whether or not this next tip would work for jackets I don't know, but it might be worth just checking.
My wife trades with a company in Canada who deal in original paper patterns, the sort of patterns that you use when you make your own clothes. These patterns can get very expensive, with insurance pushing up the cost significantly. When my house insurance came up for renewal, I mentioned the cost problem to them. The young lady told me that they had a department that dealt with carriage insurance. It turned out that the were significantly cheaper.

 

[Terminator]

Thanks for the replies @Captain Sensible and @GHT ! Both good ideas.

CS, did you end up going with a carrier or did the purchase not proceed? The seller got quotes from Fed Ex and DHL and these were very high.

I think it’s worth checking with our contents insurer if this is going to be a regular thing. I actually looked at whether these new “insurance on demand” startups like Trov cover this type of thing but it doesn’t look like it.

 

[Captain Sensible]

I used a shipping comparison/broker, the purchase did not go ahead. The benefit of using a broker is it is their account, their 'rates', which means it should be cheaper than approaching Fed Ex/DHL etc. as a one-off.
Obviously I don't have the details, but I had a quick look on one of the sites;

 

[Terminator]

@Captain Sensible thats amazing, I didn’t even know such sites existed!