I mostly use Päckchen mit Nachweis which is technically a Letter with up to 2kg, registered but uninsured. Its only available online (and the clever girls at the PostOffice tell me everytime that this isnt possible). I never lost anything that way.
fcd72 wrote: I mostly use Päckchen mit Nachweis which is technically a Letter with up to 2kg, registered but uninsured. Its only available online (and the clever girls at the PostOffice tell me everytime that this isnt possible). I never lost anything that way.
I already lost 3 complete kits + enclosure with päckchen :-(
And since the päckchen is send as normal International registered mail as well after it left Germany I think it makes no difference to the normal letter. Only that I can fully insure the letter for the same price ;-)
I'm in Canada, and it's generally better for us to receive international packages by regular mail than by courier - because of import duties and taxes... When something comes in by courier, taxes and duties are always charged, and all the couriers add a surcharge (DHL is pretty reasonable - $15 surcharge or so, but UPS charges a $40 surcharge sometimes). When packages come by regular mail, sometimes they get through without any duties or taxes, and the surcharge is only $4 or so. Duty on the LXR could add up to 30% to the price of the item, depending how it's classified, plus any surcharges from the courier. If it's at all possible, I'd rather have mine shipped by regular mail.
One other point - for Canada at least, I think taxes may be cheaper if the shipment is labelled as "electronic components" or something like that rather than as a drum synth - they're different categories for tax purposes - I think musical instruments are taxed at a higher rate than electronic components.
I agree with Borfo, here in Argentina, Courier companies behave the same way, and it is usually massively cheaper to get things through the regular mail, no matter what method.
The safest (includes full insurance for declared value, and has full tracking) is an EMS service, which every national mail offers with different names. This method can get sensibly more expensive though.
In my experience with shipping internationally, any service that has full tracking is safe. Those offering tracking but only on the outgoing country are not that safe.
I think that full tracking is actually better than full insurance because it gets the stuff to destination. A full insurance only gets your money back, and sometimes the shipped goods are "priceless" to you.
Of course, having both full tracking and insurance is best, but at what price?
As a compromise, Julian´s Batch 1 shipping has been good to me, although I had to bite my nails off till my LXR arrived unharmed and tax-free!
I dont care for tracking - i care for registered mail that the recipient has to sign for. Your Postguy then knows that the Box will be missing if not delivered.....
yes, i did use päckchen mit nachweis. In all cases the receipient got a reminder in their mailbox when they were not at home and when they wanted to get the parcel from the post office they could not find it anymore :-/
My lxr came through Canada post, had to pay a bit of duty still. I've never had to pay couriers for parts. My last shruthi came by dhl and cost me quite a bit.
Hey - I've seen your two piece play a couple of times - I thought you were running everything from the laptop, didn't realize you used hardware. How much duty was charged on the LXR?
I agree with borfo. Please (if you can) make sure the package comes to Canada via Canada Post. So far after 3 Shruthis, an Anushri, Frank's programmer and Wilzyx's x0xb0x from Taiwan I've paid no duty )
The customs declaration has always said "electronic components"... I think that's the key.
Duty was under $30 if I remember correctly. @borfo sadly I have left the band. Stage was always laptop, but it was only playing mixed-down backing tracks. Home is where the hardware is
Still some units left. Some people gave up their seats and I still got plenty surplus units that will go to the shop once I processed all the preorders.
jesus you should hear my wife when i switch on my pimped MFOS weird sound generator. i guess your machine is reasonable joy for the ears compared to that one
Julian, did you send out the invoices already? I got your 'pre-order seat confirmation' email on the 13th (to which I replied) but have not received an invoice yet.
Yep, got my Paypal invoice on the 18th, paid on the 19th.. So just waiting the thumbs up that it's left the for the Post Office Really looking forward to getting stuck into this project!
Julian, did you send out the invoices already? I got your 'pre-order seat confirmation' email on the 13th (to which I replied) but have not received an invoice yet.
As it turns out the slighly more expensive shipping with DHL package(paket) instead of small package (päckchen) was a good decission. So far all the european shipments seem to have arrived in a few days instead of a few weeks.
Comments
I mostly use Päckchen mit Nachweis which is technically a Letter with up to 2kg, registered but uninsured. Its only available online (and the clever girls at the PostOffice tell me everytime that this isnt possible). I never lost anything that way.
I already lost 3 complete kits + enclosure with päckchen :-(
And since the päckchen is send as normal International registered mail as well after it left Germany I think it makes no difference to the normal letter. Only that I can fully insure the letter for the same price ;-)
In all cases the receipient got a reminder in their mailbox when they were not at home and when they wanted to get the parcel from the post office they could not find it anymore :-/
the insured registered mail is also with Nachweis
I just don't have that much time for extended Kaffeekränzchen this week due to excessive packing.
Rest will follow beginning next week.
Really looking forward to getting stuck into this project!
PM sent