For people in the United Kingdom- What shipping method do you use?

Its because we get so stupidly overcharged on EVERYTHING. Everything is priced at a premium here. ^^;

This is why a lot of people from the UK can only sell dolls if they send them unstrung and in a smaller box, because generally you can get it in under the 2kg mark that way. Otherwise, try http://www.interparcel.com

The only downside to interparcel is they use DHL to deliver to many countries. DHL is known for its very rough handling of packages and bad service, particularly if they're going to the US. I've seen threads here where people say they'll not touch DHL service with a ten foot pole.

 

If I ship a doll overseas, I always use Interparcel.com, like kurosakura recommended. Using Royal Mail, and Parcelforce in particular aren't good choices, simply because they're so expensive. I know I was quoted £88 to post a doll to the US via Parcelforce once.
Through general experience, I've usually found it about £35-£40 to ship an SD outside Europe. If you can find a box to ship an unstrung doll in, it can be cut down to about £25. I've not had any problems with DHL yet, or any other delivery service Interparcel deal with.

 

One of the bad things about living in the UK is indeed the shipping costs.I was looking at some underwear for my doll I'm waiting for.The shipping was more than the item I was going to buy!!!
So yeah,stick with interparcel.

 

tell me about it - just orderded a bag off souldoll and the cost of shipping is nearly the cost of the bag. the prices for shipping are just horrendous.

 

From my extensive and expensive dealings with the *clenched teeth* DEARS at parcelfarce, I can tell you that they will not handle OUTGOING EMS parcels. You have two options, Airsure through Royal Fail, or find a courier company willing to take the box from an individual instead of a company.

Royal Fail will attempt to tell you at your post office that you can't send something over 2kg's through them. This is a lie. I have sent boxes upwards of 4kg's through them using the higher end of the Airsure service which is essentially the closest we have to the speed and wonder of EMS BUT, it took me months of reading the Royal Fail website and hassling the post office staff to actually get them to do this. They WILL object because it means a great deal more paperwork for them to fill in.

Essentially, the customs forms and tracking numbers Airsure provides must be correct at the time of leaving the post office, which means the staff actually have to check them which none of them seem to like doing.

All of this said, it is NOT cheap. Getting TWO SD's to the US with a few outfits was £90. Nuff said.

 

what size doll are you trying to ship? I've sent 2 msd dolls before both outside the uk in their original boxes with no problems. And I can't remember exactly what it was, but shipping wasn't too expensive either. I know because if it was expensive I would not have used it.

 

i like it - i just call them snail mail or royal snail

Yes they are a nightmare to deal with - i really hate it when something goes wrong. They recently broke the head off a momiji doll i bought and the darn things made of resin so what the hell they did to it as it arrived to me all smashed and squashed. i went mental but they didnt seem to give a monkeys.

 

Airsure now has an extra stipulation that the width, height and depth of the parcel cannot exceed 90cm (my PO know me and are helpful, they wouldnn't make this up) The only way i could recently ship a MSD and JUST meet this criteria was to get two wine boxes from Morrisons and fit them tightly around the original box, there was no room for packaging. Any bigger now has to go parcelforce international datapost which says EMS on the label incidently. It makes sending a msd either expensive or too stressful as i like to package excessively so i probably won't sell abroad now unless its sent unstringed (or a tiny)

 

interparcel has been amazing for me. I've shipped msds to usa (which got there in ONE working day!!!) from my location (London) and as well as germany sweden (also one, two working days)

I love the ease of it. no more lugging huge boxes to post office. none of my buyers complained about rough handling of boxes and they were all very happy with the transaction.

 

Ive just had this problem, it first started when i couldnt even find a box the right size for an msd, me and my fiancee cut up a larger box which his computer chair came in to send it off in the end (may i add it came out very well ), it was very well packaged with bubble wrap etc because i was so paranoid about it getting broken.
So when i turn up at the post office because of its weight (it was over 2kg) they charged me £44 to send it off without tracking (but luckily with insurance). The woman at the post office even said that any package over 2kg couldnt even get tracking!

So i phoned up parcelforce and they said that i could get tracking but it would cost £100!!
Our post service is made of epic fail tbh

 

this is really interesting- not that I particuarly sell dolls, but definately interesting as I hadn't ever heard of interparcel.

 

Quick bumpie of a question
It says in their terms that you cant send anything of high value or resin >,<
Im wanting to send 2 SDs to Ireland, and their rates seem really good, £25-£50tops.
Umm I wanna increase the inurance...but idk how
help, please, anyone?

 

Bump again.
Also, with Interparcel, as I said, it says not to send anything resin or of high value
Is there a certain way to get around this or ..?
Desparately need help! My friend would like her babies back soon

 

Eh? I have sent a £600 silicone baby doll through interparcel to the US, I would consider that high value, I just took extra insurance out to the value of the parcel so don't know what they are going on about there lol
Where is the link to the no resin page? I am highly interested as it seems odd for them to say such things...
Will try and help lol but no guarentee that I will be able too lol!

 

http://www.interparcel.com/help/prohibited.php
Then click Ctrl+F then look for resin.

resin comes up more than once btw. the 2nd Resin is the one I'm on about.
Or perhaps it's just the liquid version resin.
Why did I have read the guidelines for that site ?? :

 

for last minute help?!?!

 

In the 'prohibited items' section they talk about flammable resin, this will probably be some form of synthetic liquid resin which is hazardous. In the 'restricted items' section, resin is included with the porcelain, so I would consider this a reference to polyurethane resin. It doesn't say they will not carry it, just that it is your own risk if you do choose to send your resin things with them.

If you package the item extremely well, (probably be better too if you unstring the dolls and bubble wrap the individual pieces) it should be alright. The magnets used in doll headcaps aren't particularly dangerous for air-travel, so you should be alright with those too. However, if they don't offer insurance for your shipment it would be better to pay the extra somewhere else to be sure that there is insurance in case something goes wrong.

 

Jescissa - Thank you.
I thought it would have been the liquid form of resin too.

I didn't want to restring them, because the point of them coming to me, was to re-string them
Hmm,,I went with Interparcel because they have good rates,etc, and ParcelFarce...Hmmm cheapest to Ireland is £70 I think hmm.

 

I know.£50 to get my Lyco form the parcelforce office(thank the V.A.T) and £22 to get her from AS to denvedoll.That.hurt.

 

The dolls are packed well , with kitchen towel round the hands and feet.And bubble wrap round the head, and wrapped in several layers of fabric *mummies*
I think that'll be fine, since there's plenty of bubblewrap in there, and I'm adding towards the packing than what they came in..
So..Interparcel is a yes ?

 

Hey guys, this is such a helpful thread!

Does anyone have an estimate for the shipping costs through Airsure for an SD doll to America? Would there be a difference if the doll was sent in pieces?

Thanks everyone!

 

Booked Interparcel.
I thought it would be no more than £30 ! Turns out to be nearly £50 !! But that did include £750 cover.
I packed the box up nice and carefully, sealed it all up today- Now I get a email from Iinterparcel, saying to LEAVE THE BOX OPEN SO THEY CAN CHECK IT !!
*head/desk**head/desk**head/desk**head/desk**head/desk**head/desk**head/desk*
*concussion*
AND I'm not even going to be home when they pick the parcel up
*dies*

 

i've sent more than 30 over? and i've never left the box open coz i really wrap super well so that even if its in the ocean its water resistant ...and there wont be time for me to do thoroughly wrapping if i leave it open

so i dont think u need to worry.

 

Well my mums not happy about it, because it means shes got to stay in and re-pack it if need be :

Shes never happy about doll stuff

 

Thanks for the help SakuraLee!

 

Well, the sub-contractor came yesterday (for InterParcel).
There was I, expecting to have to unpack everything. He said, "Open the lid, I want to inspect it".
So I did. Went to unpack, and he said "Seal it up now"
All he saw was a postcard on the top of the fabric and that was it !
There could have been anything in that parcel

With the tracking number, does that turn into an "equivalent" eventually??
When my IH girls came, the track number began with KR, but when the parcel landed in the UK, it turned into GB and a whole new number on ParcelFarce..

 

How annoying! If you'd known you could have just left the lid loose. I hate parcel couriers, I've never had a good experience with one Let us all know how it goes!

Tracking numbers change once they are accepted into the new postal system, so until your Korean parcel hits British shores it is KR and afterwards it becomes GB.

 

Wow,, that has never yet happen to me ever thank goodness
the tracking number doesnt change for all the parcels i've sent because they go via courier not the mail system like ems or royal mail etc

 

Jescissa, I was hoping, (sort of) to have to unpack, just to see their faces again ^^;; lol.
So with the tracking number, should I just keep trying it on AnPost (Ireland), to see if gets updated onto their tracker ? Do you think it will?
dollmania, Interparcel isn't a mail system then ? *confused*

 

I would have thought it would update on AnPost, but if Dollmania is right and it's a courier seperate from normal post, you should be alright using the tracking system on InterParcel!

 

Interparcel is a company and uses their own tracking. hope it helps.

 

I find this to be worrying:

Because of this:

So they can charge you more, confiscate the item and not give you any cover.

Why does everything have to be so difficult? I'm pretty sure that Airsure had a 4KG limit before. What service are you supposed to use, in that case? 2KG is not very much.

 

Update, the dolls got to Mikki safely
The final cost including £750 cover and taxes came to £48. (A bit more than I thought it would be )
She said the box arrived in perfect condition.

So, Interparcel all the way

Ps, Katie Raven, I also had the same *ehh, do I do it*
I think all companies have that sort of policy.. >_<!!!

 

@SakuraLee, I know !! Could send 2 parcels with Interparcel compared to 1 from PF

 

I've posted an SD doll for £29 track and trace with Parcelforce and i didn't disassemble him prior either. The only difference i did was not put the doll box inside another box. It brought the weight down.

 

^This is so but most doll boxes are not suitable for shipping. You're running the risk of the box caving in if it gets squished.

I just bought a new head for my Iplehouse body rather than go through the hassle of trying to sell a full doll. I guess it gave me an excuse for buying a new doll! Hope it fits OK.

 

Surprisingly his box what alot stronger than the box i bought to put him in! Big fat corrigated cardboard that was reinforced. He came to me in the same box plus i put enough bubblewrap in there to kill a small animal.