Russian, Ukrainian & FSU Information & Manosphere Discussion Forums
Dating & Marriage With Women From Russia, Ukraine, Belarus & FSU => Dating in the FSU and Other Countries => Topic started by: P356 on February 04, 2008, 08:09:06 PM
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I just sent a package to my lady through US Post Office, I put insurance on the package. Has anyone had any experience sending packages FSU using regular mail and not UPS or DHL?
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My experience with the USPS was forget insurance, once it leaves the USA, it won't matter.
And on food items I marked it to abandon if not delivered. I once spent around $40 sending $30 worth of food and stuff to my wife's Mother in Ukraine, it wasn't allowed in, half was removed along the way, and it cost me around $30 when it was returned to me.
Ferret
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I just sent a package to my lady through US Post Office, I put insurance on the package.
Has anyone had any experience sending packages FSU using regular mail and not UPS or DHL?
I'm still waiting for a package from Chicago, dispatched on December 28.
According to USPS website, it left US on December 29.
Appeared in Moscow (according to Russian Post website) on January 12, 14:30.
Was waiting in a row till February 1!!!!
Presented to customs inspection on February 1, at 18:13.
Successfully left customs on February 2, 09:09 (are they working overnight? ??? ).
Still not there... and I live in Moscow!!!
Websites to do the tracking:
http://www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirm.htm?from=home&page=0035trackandconfirm
then (if the package has been sent to Russia...)
http://www.russianpost.ru/portal/en/home/postal/trackingpo
I'd recommend you to e-mail your lady the tracking number, so that she could trace the final part of package's itinerary herself.
Good luck! (You'll need it...)
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We always use good old Royal Mail bog standard air mail.
Make the package look not at all valuable. Do not use expensive looking mailing boxes with USPS tape all over them and dixie flags on, it is like saying "gift from America - steal me!" - I use recycled Jiffy bags, old wine boxes etc, anything to make the parcel look as "cheap" as possible and not interesting to steal.
Address it all in Cyrillic, with the exception of "Russia" in English. (Thats all the Post Office need to know) Write the customs CN22 in Russian also with low values in Rubles. Be reasonably honest about it but not descriptive enough that it looks appealing to steal. Value $2 of course and tick "gift." - eg; Versace sweater translates as "used clothing", expensive DVD's translate as "Data CD's" and Belgian hand made chocolates translates as "Candy" - total value $200 er $2.
If it is addressed in Cyrillic only, I think they will assume it is a Russian abroad sending a few items home, who knowing the Postal system is corrupt, would not send anything of value, thus it's not worth stealing.
We have 100% success rate this way sending parcels often. Typical delivery time is 4-5 weeks.
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The funny thing was that the post office did not issue a tracking number for my package,
I noticed this as I was leaving and asked about it and they told me, that they do not assign tracking numbers to this type of shipments? I am going to the post office near my work to ask about this. I think this was the reason why I used UPS before, but it was very very expensive.
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The funny thing was that the post office did not issue a tracking number for my package, I noticed this as I was leaving and asked about it and they told me, that they do not assign tracking numbers to this type of shipments?
So what type of shipment that was? According to USPS website, from USA to Russia there can be:
Global Express Guaranteed (1-3 days; 20 lbs package 25 x 15 x 10 inches would cost 372 USD!)
Express Mail International (website says 8 days... Posting my package which was 20 lbs heavy costed 98 USD, so I presume this is how it was shipped... Well, I'm waiting for my package since December 28!).
Priority Mail International (website says 6-10 days... 83.25 US for 20 lbs).
Priority Mail Flat Rate box (website says 6-10 days... 37.00 US for 20 lbs).
As far as I know, for all of the above types of mail there MUST BE the tracking number...
What does your receipt says? Or, probably, you remember which type of shipment you've chosen?
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I just got back from the post office and here's what they told me, "If the value of the contents in the package is less than $67.37 and you insure the package they do not issue a tracking number. They will only track the package of you report it missing". The shoes in the package are worth over 90 dollars, but put down a value of 40 dollars, because of what happened to me when shipped an item to her last year using UPS.
The customs department will impose a tax on items valued at over $100 and they will impose a 100% tax on item worth $200 or more, I found out about this the hard way.
No one at UPS could tell me the amount of tax that would be imposed on the package.
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... put down a value of 40 dollars, because of what happened to me when shipped an item to her last year using UPS.
The customs department will impose a tax on items valued over $100 and they will impose a 100% tax on item worth $200 or more.
No one at UPS could tell me the amount of tax that would be imposed on the package.
P356, you never mentionned where exactly you've shipped your packages - to Russia, or Ukraine, or Belarus, or...?
Actually things have changed to the better in Russia since October 1 2007 (last year, actually).
Now a Russian citizen does not pay taxes if he\she received "gifts" from abroad which have the declared value of 10.000 roubles (approx. 400 USD) no more often than once a week.
For the more expensive gifts the custom tax shall be 30% from the difference of the gift declared price and 10.000 roubles.
By the way, UPS screwed up your lady last year (if she is a Russian citizen! in other countries custom regulations can be different): if the item was more expensive than 100 USD, she should have paid 30% from the difference between the declared price and 100 USD.
Before October 1, 2007 100 USD was a monthly "allowance"...
100% tax doesn't exist, and never existed officially, as well as I know!
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I shipped the package to the Ukraine. The items that I shipped via UPS last year was worth in total about $240, so the Ukrainian government charged a tax of $240. My lady wanted to tell UPS to ship the package back to me, but after many phones calls, I was told by UPS that they could not guarantee that the package to arrive back to the US. I think that they charged what ever they wanted. Customs also made her fill out lots of paper work to receive the package. I told her that there was no quarantee that the package would arrive back to me, so I paid this crazy tax.
I have been told a story about a person who shipped a walkman worth over $150.00 dollars and Customs imposed a tax of $150.00.
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The shoes in the package are worth over 90 dollars
Regular air mail, declared value $5, tagged "gift" - no insurance. Send two packages a week apart, one shoe in each. Nobody will steal one shoe.
Forget tracking and insurance for low value items like this. With tracking numbers you may as well write "steal me" on the package, or at best "I am valuable - tax me."
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I'm with Manny's school of thought.
Address: Written in cyrillic with a big "Russia" +zip code added to the bottom of the address. put the telephone number of the recipient on the label too. Write it smaller than the address. I print the mailing info on 4"X6" adhesive labels and place the same label on both sides of the parcel. Customs forms usually get put on the backside over the redundant label but that's OK.
Customs forms: Fill out in English but put Russian address in Cyrillic. Put a value on all of the items. List miscellaneous items as toys or souvenirs and place a $10 value. Be sure to list any food items and give them a $ value too.
Packaging: Use a box that can survive a big trip. If using a used shipping box, remove all the other stickers; No need to confuse any of the sorting machines or people in the process. My test for a parcel: You should be able to stand on it without damaging the contents. Use lots of tape to make it waterproof.
Don't send stuff worth over $100. Don't send stuff that will raise red flags with customs.
I send tea\coffee\chocolate\cigarettes on a regular basis and declare everything.
I've been using good ol' USPS for three years and have no complaint.
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I shipped the package to the Ukraine. The items that I shipped via UPS last year was worth in total about $240, so the Ukrainian government charged a tax of $240. My lady wanted to tell UPS to ship the package back to me, but after many phones calls, I was told by UPS that they could not guarantee that the package to arrive back to the US. I think that they charged what ever they wanted. Customs also made her fill out lots of paper work to receive the package. I told her that there was no quarantee that the package would arrive back to me, so I paid this crazy tax.
I have been told a story about a person who shipped a walkman worth over $150.00 dollars and Customs imposed a tax of $150.00.
I have sent loads of parcels to Ukraine and Russia and never yet been charged any tax, you need to be a bit more inventive, do as Manny and Freebird have stated. Its the only way. ;)
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Okay, who's sent packages to Belarus? I've used Meest for years but lately there have been some concerns with customs that have me biting my nails every time I go to ship something.
I need to ship over a couple of our wedding gifts -- two relatively small 220V kitchen appliances with a total weight of twenty pounds, that would be a lot more expensive to buy there than here. I liked Manny's idea of separate packages and was thinking maybe I could do something similar -- take apart the appliances (not the internal workings, just the components) and ship them separately.
Has anyone done this? If so, how did it work? If not, but you have experience sending packages to Belarus, what do you think?
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Welcome back Lindochka! :bow:
As eccentric as it may sound; I bought some shoes in Holland recently. After a few weeks some of the stitching came away where the upper joins the sole. Me being in England and the retailer in Holland, taking them back was not much of an option. So I took them to a local shoe repairer, he gave me tales of 'hard work' and 'special machines' and them having to be 'sent away' and talked his way up to £30. :o
My wife was having none of this. The offending shoe was sent to Russia - £3-50 with Royal Mail, it was repaired there at a princely sum of £3. We will collect it in April as we are going anyway - total cost £6-50 ($13)
Russian mail service! :party0031:
Lindochka - I gather Belarus is the same as Russia in most regards? Nobody will steal 'domestic appliance components' with a declared value of $3 surely? Especially if not wrapped in inviting looking USPS boxes.
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Well, for one thing I did write the address in Cyrillic :fighting0025:, I was told that I did not need to go this, but you guys might be right. I hope that my package does not end up on Mars or some other plant. Well, the good thing is that I did buy insurance, I just hope that I don't have to hire F. Lee Bailey to get my money back. Next time, I will follow your directions. But I certainly, hope that my package gets to my lady, because I think that she will like the very nice shoes that I bought for her. :)
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My theory is; a native hand penning the address and customs label (or next best thing - printed by you in the absence of the lady) and not in English bar the country, demonstrates that it is probably a native sending something home. In that event, if it is sent bog standard untracked air mail, and in a crappy old box or recycled Jiffy bag, the postal thieves will look at it and assume the customs label is correct and no native would send anything of value. They will leave it alone and it will reach its destination.
They will much prefer something written in English in a flashy USPS box that effectively says "I am valuable but am trying to fool you" or better yet, something that says "I am tracked, so I am surely valuable - steal me"
Anything of value is potentially a supplement to Hairy Boris's salary, anything boring and local looking is not interesting. We dont even use stamps as they have the Queen on and shout "England" - we use Post Office printed labels - make it look as boring as possible. That way they have a better chance of passing Boris's "I only have 10 seconds - maybe interesting to steal" test.
I used to send stuff in English and Cyrillic full of stamps of a smiling Queen and in sparkly new packaging - success rate 50%
With old ex e-bay recycled packaging, full of used tape, only in Cyrillic, with printed postal labels - success rate 100%
We send stuff probably once every 2 weeks. The 100% success rate this way has been for almost 2 years. Thats maybe 50 packages with no tracking and no English on except the word "Russia."
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Thank you for the WB, Manny. :bow: (no curtsey emote ;) )
"Domestic appliance components" -- I like it! I'm not so much worried about theft as I am about getting the @#$% things through the border without a hefty duty payment. Belarus is much like Russia, only at least twice as Soviet. It would be different if I could carry a third suitcase, because I've never had a problem dealing with customs in the Minsk airport even before they adopted the red and green channels seen elsewhere.
I do address parcels in Russian and usually use recycled heavy-duty boxes and similarly sturdy tape. All parcels get X-rayed by Meest in Ukraine before going on to Belarus, to make sure there's nothing that would make Belarusian customs workers crazy. I think a couple of obviously new kitchen appliances would trigger too much interest, which is why I thought of separating the parts of the appliances (a food processor and a hand mixer) and putting the parts into different parcels, or maybe shipping some parts and packing the rest of the pieces in my luggage. (And now that I've opened both appliances and looked them over, I think I'll make my priority getting the food processor there and plan on getting the mixer there at a later time.)
USPS is out, though. Their best price is at least double the cost of Meest or another Ukrainian-owned private carrier called Dnipro, and USPS is no faster.
Welcome back Lindochka! :bow:
As eccentric as it may sound; I bought some shoes in Holland recently. After a few weeks some of the stitching came away where the upper joins the sole. Me being in England and the retailer in Holland, taking them back was not much of an option. So I took them to a local shoe repairer, he gave me tales of 'hard work' and 'special machines' and them having to be 'sent away' and talked his way up to £30. :o
My wife was having none of this. The offending shoe was sent to Russia - £3-50 with Royal Mail, it was repaired there at a princely sum of £3. We will collect it in April as we are going anyway - total cost £6-50 ($13)
Russian mail service! :party0031:
Lindochka - I gather Belarus is the same as Russia in most regards? Nobody will steal 'domestic appliance components' with a declared value of $3 surely? Especially if not wrapped in inviting looking USPS boxes.
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Got my USPS parcel today!
... Dispatching date, let me remind you, was December 28...
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(a food processor and a hand mixer)
Just a thought. The US is on 110 volts? Belarus will be on 220 volts as is Russia and Europe I expect. :duh:
Got my USPS parcel today! Dispatching date, let me remind you, was December 28...
5 ish weeks is the same time from UK to Russia. Seems reasonable.
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Manny, don't worry. As noted in my first post in this thread they are
two relatively small 220V kitchen appliances
Although "relatively small" is a matter of opinion. The food processor is actually quite large and looks like one could pilot a jet with it. Good for making lots of stuff to feed my hungry men, though! Bonus -- with instructions in Russian, DM can try using it if he dares. :o
You must have a fascinating story. I do not hear very often of many women from the US marrying someone from Belarus and moving there to live. Did I miss the post where you introduced yourself?
Rasputin, my introductory post was some months back. I think I told at least part of DM's and my romantic comedy in that, but you may very well not have seen it. We met for the first time during what was a sort of a personal pilgrimage for me. In late 1999, following an almost year-long search conducted mostly via the internet, I located my mother's paternal relatives in Belarus. They were very excited to be found and immediately invited me to visit, which I did the following summer.
I've visited them annually since. DM was married when we first became acquainted, but then he wasn't married anymore (which I had nothing to do with). We became a couple about three years ago, meeting several times a year in Ukraine. The Ukrainian visa-free regime was a real boon, since it meant we could plan to meet on fairly short notice.
We knew fairly early on that we wanted to marry and our original plan was for him to come here. He was pretty apprehensive about America for many reasons -- he hadn't been looking for a foreign woman when we clicked. (He hadn't been looking at all, and neither had I.) He also has children from before me and contrary to the usual stereotype of FSUM, he not only pays child support without complaint but he is deeply involved in their lives. DM was clear that he would never turn his back on them, not that I would ask him to.
Last summer, I lucked into the opportunity to take very, very early retirement from a job which was crushing my soul, and I jumped at the chance. I left to see the folks less than a week later and within a day or two of my arrival DM told me we should get married already. There's nothing holding me in the US and DM and I agree that "home" is wherever we can be together. So I'm on my way.
(Apologies to all for a seriously long-a$$ed post.)
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My wife brought a huge food processor and blender to England from Russia. My assertion that such things are cheap here did not cut much ice.
We have developed a habit of sending electric tin openers though, nobody seems to have seen them in Russia and they are only about 10 quid at Asda Wal-Mart. The plug adaptor and the postage exceeds the cost of the appliance, but folk like them.
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I just sent a package from Dallas to Kharkov. In postoffice Friday 4:00 arived Tuesday 12:00 Kharkov time.
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If your from Australia, Australia Posts' Express Post International is best and securest to the FSU.
One to three Kg stretchable bags are used, and you fill in forms on bag and they are distributed to particular sections local plane international.
Dont forget to send lady information what is in the package so she can claim it as FSU customs can be rude to lady if she doesnt know what she is recieving
www.auspost.com.au
Mike
Sydney. Oz
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Just as an update to this topic, info not mentioned already.
It is claimed you can track international recorded mail inside Russia and Ukraine. I haven't tested it, so I don't know how reliable it is. (And I prefer un-tracked air mail anyway for the reasons already stated.) But if anyone wants it, the sites are here.
Russia: http://www.russianpost.ru/portal/en/home/postal/trackingpo
Ukraine: http://www.ukrposhta.com/
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For those considering trying to send stuff here is my recent experience.
I recently sent something to Moscow Via USPS Express mail. The package was tracked with delivery confirmation to it's ultimate destination. The box was labeled in English only, this was at the end of November. Shipping time was 7-10 days and package arrived undamaged, and unmolested.
YMMV..
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I have used USPS for all cards and packages.
I have sent many cards this year to Ukraine. Just recently I sent 7 New Years cards to my fiancee family and friends. All cards have arrived. The funny thing is she has one friend in Canada and she is always the last one to receive our cards.
I have also sent many packages, all have arrived. She has to go to post office and show her passport to pick up package. Then she has to open package there and make sure everything is there.
It takes anywhere from 5 to 10 days for things to get to her, she lives in Rivne.
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Parcels from Australia to Russia by avia takes 3 weeks and it is saved! :party0011: But looks like a way from Russia to Australia is a little longer...we will know it later.
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I have a question about US Mail to the FSU.
They used to have surface mail (ship), airmail, priority mail and express mail.
It now appears that they have first class mail, priority mail and express mail and global express guaranteed.
My question is this, did they eliminate surface mail or airmail. Does "first-class" mail to Russia go by surface mail or by airplane? They only say delivery time for first class mail "varies". I can seem to find out anywhere if first class mail is actually transported like the old airmail. The rates are the same as the old airmail.
Anybody have any facts, ideas or opinions on this question?
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I also have a question about the "theft" problem with mail from the US to Ukraine. How bad is it. I have been sending things via DHL, but it is way to expensive for a letter or card, small parcel, etc.
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I also have a question about the "theft" problem with mail from the US to Ukraine. How bad is it. I have been sending things via DHL, but it is way to expensive for a letter or card, small parcel, etc.
I recently sent 7 cards to my fiancee's family and friends. I also recently sent 2 package to her and her family. My mother also sent a package to her. All packages had gifts inside them. Everything arrives in about 10 days. I have never had any problems sending cards or packages by USPS. I would use nobody else can not beat the price!!!
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Russia and Ukraine has turned their postal services over to semi-private corporations and they're starting to weed out a lot of the corruption and introduce the idea of customer servie. It'll take some time to change that part of the culture (slowness, bad service, theft, bribes) but they're doing a decent job already.
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My question is this, did they eliminate surface mail or airmail. Does "first-class" mail to Russia go by surface mail or by airplane?
They only say delivery time for first class mail "varies". I can seem to find out anywhere if first class mail is actually transported like the old airmail. The rates are the same as the old airmail.
Anybody have any facts, ideas or opinions on this question?
I've created a looooong thread in ebay "Package & shipping" forum about it, but it seems it's already lost somewhere deep down... (though you might try to google "Shipping from USA to Russia: Moscow-based buyer's experience").
Briefly:
1) First class and Priority have about the same delivery times. Both go by air. Both are handled here by Russian Post. www.russianpost.ru
2) A package sent by First class mail is treated as "Recommande" here (even though it shouldn't be!) for the simple reason: there is a bar code and a AX123456789US number on the green custom label!
3) Priority Mail International parcels, instead of their original numbers (LJ123456789US for large envelopes with postage paid online, CP123456789US for parcels with postage paid at the office, CJ123456789US for parcels with postage paid online) are getting the NEW Russian tracking number (RA123456789RU) after leaving customs.
There's no chance for you to find out this new number before you actually receive the parcel...
4) Express Mail International is what makes the difference! Here in Russia it is treated by EMS GarantPost www.emspost.ru .
They have in their system the original tracking numbers (EB123456789US, when postage is paid at the office, or EC123456789US when postge is paid online), thus knowing this number the sender can track the parcel at any stage, and the recipient - to call EMS and inform them about the comfortable delivery time.
5) The biggest delays are during Russian part of the journey. The most time-consuming step is... collecting dust in the International Post Office warehouse, waiting for customs inspection >:(
6) Express Mail International parcels do somehow spend less time waiting to be inspected than Priority and First Class. Sometimes EMS operator can tell you something like "your parcel will be submitted for inspection tomorrow". With Priority and First Class you never know when this day will come...
7) Parcels under 2 kilos are usually inspected quicked than heavier ones.
8.) Customs delays are the worst in second half of December and the whole January.
From my personal experience, the longest delivery time from USA was with a real heavy Priority Mail International parcel: sent from Chicago on December 28, passed customs inspection on February 1, arrived to my post office (for self pick-up!) on February 7.
The shortest delivery time with Express Mail International was 1 week: shipped from New York on Monday - delivered by courrier into my hands next Monday.
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1) First class and Priority have about the same delivery times. Both go by air. Both are handled here by Russian Post.
I'm not so sure.
I mailed in mid-December several Christmas Cards to Russia by "first class" and they took between 6-7 weeks for delivery - more like surface mail. The letters were sent to Moscow, Volgograd and Volzsky
A Priority Mail package mailed in mid-January was delivered in 8 days. It was sent to Volgograd.
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1) First class and Priority have about the same delivery times. Both go by air.
Both are handled here by Russian Post.
I'm not so sure.
I've got First Class Mail parcels two times so far (prefer having my purchases shipped with a trackable option!); delivery time was 2 weeks +\- a couple of days.
Priority takes the same to Moscow, IME.
The extended delivery times you experienced was most likely due to Christmas period & Russian holidays till January 11th (read above about my Priority parcel last year!).
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Use MEEST. Look them up on a google search. We use the one in Boston. Roman Malko gets the job done. Never had a problem with this service. You can send up to 70 lb (30 Kg) in a package by sea and it gets there in about 5 weeks. (Ukraine).
Forget the post office!!!!!!
Chris
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Out of curiousity has anyone here been 'brave' ( or crazy, or stupid, depending on your opinion, and choice of adjectives) enough to try to send a laptop via the mail to Russia and was it delivered sucessfully?
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Out of curiousity has anyone here been 'brave' ( or crazy, or stupid, depending on your opinion, and choice of adjectives) enough to try to send a laptop via the mail to Russia and was it delivered sucessfully?
I think someone has already posted here a story about sending a laptop by DHL to a scammer who claimed being a "poor Russian girl with no means to buy a computer"?
Anyway: got a Priority Mail International parcel today.
Shipped from Florida on February 23, Monday (weight 2 lb 3 oz, postage paid online).
Arrived to Russia & cleared customs on March 1.
Total delivery time - 10 days.
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Well since the wife has been in the US, the postal office has changed a tad wee bit.
They now only offer Air Mail versus standard post. So everything goes via Air Mail which is a bit more expensive.
We shipped out some toys about 6 months ago to her mother's address for her sisters son.
We made sure to remove the toys from their packages before sending them and marked them as a gift.
It arrived about 5 weeks later intact with no issues. Her mother had to go to the post office to pick up the package.
On Feb. 21, 2009 we sent another package with Baby Books! Yeah Anya put together several baby books with pictures of our baby/family. She put some of our pictures in frames via photoshop and printed them and stuck them in the books. One for her mother, grandmother and sister. Sent some CDs with some software/pictures for her friends and a purse with cosmetics inside. I put everything in separate "One Gallon bags" just in case the box got wet. The package was about 10lbs and cost us $28.00 to ship via air. I did not purchase insurance as I have no idea how I would recover anyway. (Thats another story) so when I ship I tell Anya we are shipping with the hopes that it arrives and if it does not oh well.
The good news is that they received that package today. This time we had shipped it to her grandmothers home, and what we learned was that the Ukrainian post woman knew that the tenant of that apartment was a grandmother and had decided to take the box to her instead of having her walk to the post office!!! That was nice, and the post woman told her grandmother to call them if she is expecting any other packages, and they will drop them off at her home. (An advanced warning). So for now on we are shipping our items to her grandmothers home.
For both instances no customs money were due. :)
Anyway another happy mailing.
PS. Her parents are so happy to have pictures of our baby and family!
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Here's my personal "complaints corner" for today :crybaby: :GRRRR: :crybaby: :GRRRR:
Placed an order at Amazon.de on March 6. My credit card has been charged on March 14. Order has been shipped on March 16, left Germany on March 17, and arrived to Russia on March 18.
From March 19 I am staring at a line saying "submitted for customs control on March 19, 13:07".
This morning I called the Russian post hotline (8-800-200-58-88), and was told that my parcel is "retained by customs" - thus I have to arrive personally at the Central International Postoffice with the printouts of all the documents related with my order. Usually that means that Amazon forgot to put the invoice inside, and I will have to prove my poor 2 CDs are worth only 16 euros 84 cents, not 10.000 roubles.
However at the Central International Postoffice I have been told the following:
1) that they are receiving "an incredible amount" of parcels from Amazon;
2) that all parcels & packages from mailorder companies are subject to "консигнация";
3) that on March 16 they have already returned to Amazon more than 400 parcels, that arrived to Russia in January and February;
4) that they had a "special meeting" about this problem in their headoffice today at 15:00;
5) and that they still haven't decided what to do with parcels from "Amazon" that arrived in March; the final decision will be made on Friday, March 27, and most likely all other parcels will be returned too.
A friend of mine, who had 3 parcels delayed (retained), went with me - to find out that the parcel shipped on January 24 has been sent back to Amazon on March 16, because its "storage time expired"!!! :GRRRR:
Arriving home, I checked the meaning of the word "consignement" in the dictionary; if I understood correctly, it means that the SELLER has to pay the POST for processing & handling of the goods sold. So it seems our wonderful Russian post just wants some money from Amazon :-\
I know our post is very far from being perfect, especially after January 11, 2009 – when ex-Sberbank guy who was their boss since November 2007 quit. His departure meant the immediate tariffs growth (from Feb.1), website going lethargic in the middle of the working day, some stupid "graphic info confirmation" appearing in the Russian version of "Tracking" option, English version of "Tracking" option not working proprely, and so on.
But still I think this is not RIGHT that the final victim of the problems between two big companies, Amazon and Russian Post, is the BUYER!
I’ve paid the order on March 14, I have submitted the correct address, I was tracking the parcel online every day starting from March 16, I have spent half a day today traveling across the whole Moscow to the Central International Postoffice (not to mention the money for subway & trams to get there) – and all in vain??
I truly hope that at least Amazon can make an effort from their end too – and to contact Russian Post authorities to clarify the situation. :GRRRR:
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Olga, I'm looking at the term консигнация thru a Western "filter" naturally, and that usually means that Company A gives a product to Company B to sell. Once Company B sells the product, the two companies share some percentage split on the money.
This seems to be an extortion play by the Russian postal service to get money from Amazon, by holding you hostage. They see Amazon as company A and wish to insert themselves into the deal as company B. They know that if Amazon doesn't pay them bribes, you will demand a refund and Amazon will lose money.
This helps me understand something which just happened to us. My wife and I sent a package to Russia in mid December to our Moscow address. My wife returned to Russia later and beat the package home. I went there in mid-late January and it had still not arrived. Just this week on Sunday it arrived in Moscow. It had sat in Russian customs for almost 3 months. My MIL picked it up and apparently had to pay some sort of "fee" to redeem it.
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This seems to be an extortion play by the Russian postal service to get money from Amazon, by holding you hostage. They see Amazon as company A and wish to insert themselves into the deal as company B. They know that if Amazon doesn't pay them bribes, you will demand a refund and Amazon will lose money.
Mendy, there seems to be a more serious problem than just my poor Amazon CDs.
Russian customs authorities got an order "from above" saying that more taxes shall be collected. On March 4 the "customs boss" (forgot the name...) sent a note about it to all his subalterns.
So now they do the following:
1) Block the parcels from internet shops like Amazon, UggStop (Australia), T.M.Lewine (UK, I think...) - and all other possible internet shops where Russian residents can purchase items (CDs, shoes, clothes) cheaper than in Russia.
2) In case a RF resident has purchased an item with discount, they base their "customs duty" calculations NOT on the "after discount" digit, but a "pre-discount" digit!
3) In case the item's price is under "tax free limit", but the price + shipping is OVER "tax free limit", they base their calculations on... price + shipping digit!
There are 30 pages and 293 posts about this problem on a Russian forum dedicated to all the customs-related issues:
http://www.tks.ru/forum/showthread.php?t=194237
There are also 2 court cases "citizens against customs" running now. I will not jump in, as paying 10.000 roubles for a lawyer to receive my 2 CDs worth 19.35 EUR is not the smartest move; but the whole "f***ed by customs community" watches these cases with interest (one guy ordered a suit \ shirts \ tie from T.M.Lewin - and he happens to be a lawyer himself; another girl ordered uggly boots from Australia that got shipped back).
My MIL picked it up and apparently had to pay some sort of "fee" to redeem it.
The "fee" was "customs tax", I presume? What was the declared value of the parcel? More than 10.000 roubles (approx. $330)?
ATTENTION RULES CHANGE
The "tax free" declared value of incoming parcel shipped with DHL, UPS, TNT, EMS, other courrier delivery companies is 5.000 roubles (or equivalent in the country of origin's currency) per person per month now.
The "tax free" declared value for packages shipped via Russian Post is still 10.000 roubles per person per month, BUT there are talks that this will be soon brought down to 5.000 roubles as well.
Moreover, the customs now do their best to prove the sender lied to them and deliberately underrated the value of contents. So, if some lucky Russian won something on ebay, it will be a pain in the ass to prove this 1973 Fender guitar really costs $273, not $6000!
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Wow, that is a big problem.
The "fee" was "customs tax", I presume? What was the declared value of the parcel? More than 10.000 roubles (approx. $330)?
I think the value was around $150-200, certainly supposed to be under the limit.
While I can't prove it, my suspicion is that they held the package for a long time and then someone pocketed the "fee" for themselves.
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I think the value was around $150-200, certainly supposed to be under the limit.
While I can't prove it, my suspicion is that they held the package for a long time and then someone pocketed the "fee" for themselves.
Mendy:
If you check the usps web page and consult the International Mailing Manual (IMM) you will see that the actual published postal regulations are MUCH different than what has been outlined in this thread so far -
From the IMM -
"Items containing articles admitted as imports are delivered to addressees subject to payment of customs duties at the rate of 30% of the cost of the articles:
If the cost of the contents is between 101 USD and 1,000 USD.
If the quantity of articles imported exceeds three times the limit according to the internal standards set.
Items containing articles admitted as imports the cost of which is between 1,001 USD and 10,000 USD are delivered to addressees subject to payment of the customs duties at the rate of 50% of the cost of the articles. "
So it would appear that packages containing less that $100 stated value will be admitted duty free, not 5,000 or 10,000pyb
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"Items containing articles admitted as imports are delivered to addressees subject to payment of customs duties at the rate of 30% of the cost of the articles:
If the cost of the contents is between 101 USD and 1,000 USD.
.....
So it would appear that packages containing less that $100 stated value will be admitted duty free, not 5,000 or 10,000 pyb
The "tax free" limit was $100 before 2007 or even 2006.
Then it has been raised till 10.000 roubles for Russian post and till 5.000 roubles for courrier companies.
http://www.tks.ru/nat/0020000001/print
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SS, as International mail is done by treaty and inter-postal agreements, does this mean the Russian side is ignoring what they've agreed to in the past?
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While I can't prove it, my suspicion is that they held the package for a long time and then someone pocketed the "fee" for themselves.
The fee for what? For storage? They can't charge for that (legally, at least).
If that was a customs tax, your MIL should have gotten an official telegram from customs, with the bank account number to which the tax must be paid. Then collecting the parcel from the customs would be possible after showing tax payment confirmation only.
However these cases used to be easily arguable - normally it took a printout of the confirmation e-mail from the seller (Amazon, Ebay, etc.) and a personal visit to Warsawskoe chausse, 37 to bring the greedy customers back to their senses. Don't know about now, though ::) ... after that famous Mr.Andrej Belyaninov's order from 04.03.2009...
http://www.ete.ru/news/detail.php?ID=75536
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SS, as International mail is done by treaty and inter-postal agreements, does this mean the Russian side is ignoring what they've agreed to in the past?
I don't know. I was only trying to explain why your package that had a value of over $100 would have to pay an import duty. The IMM on the www.usps.com web page is version 2009 so I'm pretty sure the postal regulations stated therein are accurate and up to date with current existing treaties and inter-postal agreements.
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Wish I could have been there to see the details. MIL is pretty savvy about what is legal, etc, and her suspicion is that the fee was paid for "redeeming" it, if you follow my drift.
The stuff inside was worth maybe $150 but it was so long ago that I don't remember what we listed on the customs slip.
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I sent a very small package worth maybe $45-50 in mid-late February which has yet to arrive in Moscow. Another very small package went in early March and it has not yet arrived either. The March one I'm not surprised at, but the February is a little long even for Russia.
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The IMM on the www.usps.com web page is version 2009 so I'm pretty sure the postal regulations stated therein are accurate and up to date with current existing treaties and inter-postal agreements.
:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
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I just sent a package to my lady through US Post Office, I put insurance on the package. Has anyone had any experience sending packages FSU using regular mail and not UPS or DHL?
Packages from Canada to Ukraine usually arrive, but months late. Most packages mailed from Ukraine have gone missing
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My most recent package was sent to Russia (Kaulga) about 2-3 hours outside of Moscow On April 10th and I sent it with USPS.
being sent International, I had to fill out (as always) a Customs Declaration form.
Declared Item and value;
"TOY" and "$30.00" (USD)
Package was received by Olya on April 20th (10 days from when I shipped it). Cost to me was less than $30 to ship
I have always used USPS to ship packages to Russia and have never had any problems
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When I moved here last September, I sent five boxes of various things via Meest in three separate shipments. They advised me to be sure each one was valued at not more than $300.
One shipment was by their regular air service; the other two by sea. The longest time in transit was about three weeks and the rate was, I thought quite reasonable.
Everything arrived intact and the boxes weren't even opened.
YMMV, and all that--but I would use Meest again, as they were a fraction of the price of the USPS...but then, I think the lightst box was about 30 pounds, the heaviest nearly 60.
Of course, I was sending many items of clothing for my wife and stepson, as clothing is often more expensive here than in the States. My own items weren't all that extensive. If I had it to do over, though, I would bring even less--I'll be getting rid of quite a few of my own things, as I am unlikely to wear them.
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I sent a package with a coat and some other items from Texas to SPB Fedex Economy for $63 and it got there in 7 days. Unopened and very happy girl to have a new wool coat for the winter.
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I sent some documents from Norway to Barnaul using DHL, picked up friday afternoon, arrived monday morning. Not cheap though, about 100 Euros.
Not sure if I want to know what it would cost to send an actual package of more substantial weight/size. :o
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The bigger problem seems to be getting packages FROM Ukaine... :(
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I have sent two packages to St. Petersburg, RU in the last 2 months. Shipping Fedex economy 7-8 days from Texas to my girl. Nothing missing.
Matt Jones
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Some moaning and groaning: my order from Amazon.de has quit Germany on February 12, thus should have been scanned here for import on February 14 or 15. In reality it has been scanned only... today at 11:02!!!
So here's an update re. what the f :censored: k is going on with Russian Post.
1) Starting from December 22, the line "submitted for customs inspection" has been excluded from the tracking info displayed for customers.
Why?
Because according to the current legislation the customs have to take some action (release the parcel, or return to sender, or send a tax payment notification to the recipient) within 72 hours from submission.
Surely in the end of December postal customs (quite traditionally!) were not able to cope with the increasing amount of incoming international mail... and they "kindly asked" Russian post not to display this information online!
So the normal users of the Russian Post or EMS websites can now see only "import" and then "cleared customs" info; however EMS callcenter employees ARE able to see whether the parcel has been submitted for inspection or not!
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100324/158297513.html
2) DHL & UPS parcels have to go through the same customs.
The DHL & UPS representatives have already announced that they consider stopping accepting mail bound to Russia until the situation improves - as they don't want to face the angry customers' claims.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100317/158222041.html
3) Many Ebay sellers (alright... many from that small number which ever ventured to ship to Russia!) found out about current problems with incoming international mail in Russia, and now refuse to sell to Russia AT ALL.
Thank you guys! >:(
That means no new Guess handbag for me, I guess... :D
4) Internal Russian Post problems >:(
RP has (supposedly successfully...) opened a new processing center in Podolsk, where the postal codes & delivery addresses should have been read by the ultra-modern computers.
After opening that center the bosses of Russian Post...
a) Increased the prices for international mail - which nearly doubled up from February 1, 2010.
b) Fired quite a lot of employees :'( :'(
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091123/156950521.html
c) Brought the salaries for remaining ones down (!!!) to 10.000 RUR (approx. $338)!
Believe me, nowhere near Moscow can a human being survive on 10.000 roubles per month!
But... SURPRISE SURPRISE! :o that ultra-modern computer in Podolsk wasn't working properly!
The trained employees are fired. No new ones either (nobody's willing to work for 10.000 roubles per month!).
So for the moment there are more than 100.000 unsorted parcels waiting their turn in Podolsk!
Some of the dozens and dozens links in Russian re. this topic:
http://svpressa.ru/blogs/article/22525/
http://www.rian.ru/society/20100324/216164004.html
http://www.newsru.com/russia/24mar2010/custom.html
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Olga, I understand your frustration....
I think they should hire some consultants from NL or Germany to sort your postal system.
Within NL 98+ or so % gets delivered next day (except for Sunday and exception is Cash On Delivery items which are not delivered on Saturdays).
Our postal system is very reliable. I have similar experience with the German post which usually delivers in 2-3 working days from anywhere in Germany to my home in Amsterdam :)
From the UK by Royal Mail is a different story though: From NL to UK with international mail is 2-4 business days, from the UK to NL it often takes 2-3 weeks, go figure :'(
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The DHL & UPS representatives have already announced that they consider stopping accepting mail bound to Russia
The agent we use to send courier stuff within the UK and abroad (with Fedex, Parcelforce and DHL) will no longer accept shipments to Russia - even on the "Fedex Eastern Europe Delivery Service". :D
They will deliver to Ukraine and Belarus though. ???
We are still having good results into Russia with regular untracked, uninsured air mail parcels (addressed in handwritten Cyrillic only - the only Latin on them being "Russia" which is all the UK Post Office need to know) in the crappiest looking recycled packaging we can find. The CN22 customs form is also filled in using Cyrillic only (declaring surprisingly low values in pyb - usually less than the postage cost.)
The psychology behind this is a local [identified by the handwritten Cyrillic] sending something home - knowing what they [Russian Post Office] are like - will not ship anything worth stealing or taxing. Thus it isn't worth opening even - and they don't! We have lost one parcel in four years, and wifey sends them all kinds of crap from English teabags :-\ to stuff for the dacha and even a goose down duvet recently. :o
We received various parcels from Russia around Christmas time - all brown paper and string like stuff lost in time since the 1950's....... also unmolested.
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The CN22 customs form is also filled in using Cyrillic only (declaring surprisingly low values in pyb - usually less than the postage cost.)
CN22 parcels go a different route through customs; so the untracked deliveries from Amazon.co.uk are usually quicker than Amazon.de ones (with CN23 declarations).
If only British Amazon had a bigger VAT deduction, and cheaper postage! From German Amazon I can order no matter how many items and pay only the standard 6 EUR shipping :innocent:
Most US-based ebay sellers would rather die than mark an item as a gift and use the CN22 declaration; so here's the big serious CN23 again... :biggrin:
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Use your pals in England to take advantage of free UK Amazon shipping who will repackage with "gift" and "CN22" packaging. :-*
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Well, for one thing I did write the address in Cyrillic :fighting0025:, I was told that I did not need to go this, but you guys might be right. I hope that my package does not end up on Mars or some other plant. Well, the good thing is that I did buy insurance, I just hope that I don't have to hire F. Lee Bailey to get my money back. Next time, I will follow your directions. But I certainly, hope that my package gets to my lady, because I think that she will like the very nice shoes that I bought for her. :)
I think maybe some custom worker's girlfriend has a new pair of shoes. tiphat
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Nadja tried to send me a parcel to Canada which had, among others, a can of red caviar and they called her to tell her they won't allow it to leave because of that can of red caviar. It appears they are not allowing a can to be sent. It needs to be sealed but in a jar in glass so they can see what is inside.
Now I also wanted to send her a parcel with gifts and as I know she wanted to taste our own maple syrup, I wanted to send her some cans of it. I even chose some which was freshly made from someone I know but they usually put it in a can too. Now I think it won't pass the Russian customs.
Has any of you tried or already sent some food in a can to Russia? Now I think it won't make it anyway.
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This is what a can looks like. Anyway I can buy some more in glass too. I will buy that and hopefully it will make it through the customs.
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Dan I would phone up FedEx or UPS, one of the big international courier firms, and ask them what the current rules and regulations are for shipping something like you describe. These companies are the experts and with rules and regulations constantly changing in the post 9/11 environment these companies are going to be the ones who know what the current rules are.
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Dan I would phone up FedEx or UPS, one of the big international courier firms, and ask them what the current rules and regulations are for shipping something like you describe. These companies are the experts and with rules and regulations constantly changing in the post 9/11 environment these companies are going to be the ones who know what the current rules are.
Thanks WestCoast I will call Purolator tomorrow. Hopefully they can clarify this for me. I don't care really about the maple syrups but I don't want the other gifts to not make it because of this.
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Russian customs allows 100 gm of caviar maximum to be taken/sent out of the country. While true that items should be visible for inspection, there are lots of items that are not visible and make it thru. Caviar is something the Russians don't like leaving and likely she ran into someone over reaching in enforcing the rules.
Having shipped all manner of small food stuffs into Russia, from chocolate to coffe to tea to tuna, and rarely having such inspected, your syrup should be fine as frankly, most things sent into Russia by individuals aren't inspected that closely.
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Russian customs allows 100 gm of caviar maximum to be taken/sent out of the country.
While true that items should be visible for inspection, there are lots of items that are not visible and make it thru.
The current postal regulations...
http://www.russianpost.ru/rp/servise/ru/home/postuslug/goodslist
* рыба и ракообразные - не более 2 кг (в герметической упаковке);
* икра осетровых (черная) - 140 граммов (в герметической упаковке);
* икра лососевых (красная) - 140 граммов (в герметической упаковке);
* лекарственные средства - не более 10 упаковок разного наименования.
...mention the 140 grams limit for both red and black caviar; the type of package - can or jar - is not specified; the only published requirement for a package is that it shall be leakproof.
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Wifey said she saw an item on RU News that the Russian customs are WAY behind with checking foreign mail...
We sent two parcels of clothes from the UK- via airmail ( 5 weeks ago - on the same day ) and one has just arrived
I sent some docs to Spain ( Mallorca) -via airmail - and they took 6 weeks...
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The current postal regulations...
http://www.russianpost.ru/rp/servise/ru/home/postuslug/goodslist
Olga, thanks for that update. I had only looked at an airport site listing what one can take thru Russian customs and it listed 100 g.
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By far the best shipping service I have used is Meest. Far better than the USPS, as well as the mainline shipping companies--and a fraction of the price, to boot.
David
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If you look up a couple or so posts you'll note we posted two parcels of clothes from the UK in Feb.. one took Five weeks to get to Siberia !
We can now report that the second parcel arrived on June 1st..
it took FIVE months
Ah well, at least it got there...
We hope the clothes we sent for Veta's sister's child still fit >:(
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Try MEEST!!!
Dan and others stop thinking like a Western Man.
Do what the expats and others like ourselves do. Stay away from western firms like UPS, FedEx, etc. which have no real base in the FSU. Send your parcel via MEEST or similar courier with a base in the FSU. We use "Polimax" based in Poland who in turn tranship via MEEST for deliver in Ukraine. For a 10 kilo parcel via air freight it costs about $60.00 and usually takes 1 to 2 weeks. The last one we sent just before our trip at the end of April and it arrived during the first week of our visit in May. They have a Website and are a major courier and provider of Ukranian television and the like here in Canada and also available in the USA I think. Their Website will have drop off information for parcels.
Also check out local Russian, Ukranian or other FSU oriented businesses like stores or travel agencies. That is how we found "Polimax" since we live in a major "Polish" area of Toronto. Again this just makes common sense think like an expat and not a western man and you will get the parcel there quickly and safely via air freight, or cheaper by surface ship rate which takes about 3 months. The 3 month rate is good for larger items and for times like Christmas where you can plan well ahead.
As to the "Maple Syrup" You can also find it in plastic containers which unlike glass do not tend to break if roughly handled. We to have sent many food items in our packages like coffee and sweets without any problems.
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Try MEEST!!!
Dan and others stop thinking like a Western Man.
Do what the expats and others like ourselves do. Stay away from western firms like UPS, FedEx, etc. which have no real base in the FSU. Send your parcel via MEEST or similar courier with a base in the FSU. We use "Polimax" based in Poland who in turn tranship via MEEST for deliver in Ukraine. For a 10 kilo parcel via air freight it costs about $60.00 and usually takes 1 to 2 weeks. The last one we sent just before our trip at the end of April and it arrived during the first week of our visit in May. They have a Website and are a major courier and provider of Ukranian television and the like here in Canada and also available in the USA I think. Their Website will have drop off information for parcels.
Also check out local Russian, Ukranian or other FSU oriented businesses like stores or travel agencies. That is how we found "Polimax" since we live in a major "Polish" area of Toronto. Again this just makes common sense think like an expat and not a western man and you will get the parcel there quickly and safely via air freight, or cheaper by surface ship rate which takes about 3 months. The 3 month rate is good for larger items and for times like Christmas where you can plan well ahead.
As to the "Maple Syrup" You can also find it in plastic containers which unlike glass do not tend to break if roughly handled. We to have sent many food items in our packages like coffee and sweets without any problems.
Why in the world would you use "Polimax" for shipping to Ukraine, since the MEEST corporate headquarters are right there in Toronto? Why not ship directly with them to begin with?
I shipped five large boxes of "stuff' to Donetsk through Meest in the U.S.--although I had to ship them via UPS to New Jersey and the Meest US offices.
I shipped all five *large* boxes (average about 50 lbs each) for less than the cost of shipping *one* of them via USPS, DHL, Fedex, or the like. The ones I shipped by air took about three weeks, including the UPS part; the ones that went by sea took about four weeks.
I would never ship very valuable items by parcel, however. Things like cameras, laptops, and the like I reserve for carrying with me on flights back and forth.
David
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Regarding MEEST, we've used them extensively to send packages to Kharkov and we have no complaints. They are slow but reliable. Last packages we sent (early this spring) took 4 weeks to get there. I should mention that we were talking to the lady that work at the local MEEST office (it is actually a travel agency) and she mentioned that packages sent to Russia, anywhere in Russia, are taking six months of longer to get there.
Please, don't shoot the messanger. :hidechair:
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Does anyone have the latest info on this subject ? My girlfriend is trying to send a parcel from England to Russia - value of around £80.00, some vinyl records and a couple of small gifts. DHL will only send commercial to commercial saying that private parcels are being returned owing to problems with Russian customs which appear to be getting worse !! I checked with another company and they said the same thing (
Does anyone have any info or ideas ?
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Hi Reg,
I have been sending parcels to Russia ever since I moved to England 4 years ago always with CN22 Customs declaration and had no problems. We sent the last one three weeks ago and it arrived in Moscow yesterday.
We send on average a dozen parcels a year to Russia. The average delivery time is 3 weeks. Some parcels take 6 weeks and some 2 weeks. This is all by ordinary Royal Mail parcel post (from UK) which is delivered in Russia by Почта России (Russia Post). We normally don't send anything heavier than 2kgs as it costs much more above that weight, nor do we send anything really expensive. Mainly, clothes, small gifts, chocolate and such like.
Having said that, Russian Postal service is a mess. Rules change ALL the time and local Post Offices in Russia (a) interpret these 'rules' in different ways, and (b) don't have a clue what 'rules' they should follow.
But we have not lost a single parcel yet, or had anything confiscated by customs!!
:-X
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Sorry, I have a very young child 5 months old and that is why i can not read everything in the topic, can somebody tell me if there is such service preferably russian-english company which posts bulk items to Russia for reasonable price.I always use Royal mail, but it costs so much for so little ,if it is over 3 kgs you have to pay like 35 pounds, if only there would be such service where i could pay 35 quid and send like 10kgs. My cousin from Germany found such company which posts bulk items for small prices delivered even to the door, though that company was founded by a Russian person who moved to Germany.So i was hoping maybe we have such firm here in the UK.Does anyone know similar companies?
Thanks a lot in advance
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There are several listed here:-
http://www.russianuk.com/eng/rd/parcel.htm
I couldn't vouch for any of them as I've never used any of them myself
Also, there are these people that offer a discount on Parcelforce prices. They auote about 45 quid to send a 10kg parcel:-
http://alfaparcel.com/parcelforce
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I sent my girlfriends parcel from the UK to Russia via the post office and parcelforce. The parcel was just under 5 kilos and it cost £44.00, this was a basic service without tracking.
The parcel arrived with her family in Russia after 17 days perfectly intact without any problems ))
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Jazzy, we send tons of stuff to Russia with Royal Mail. The secret is to use regular air mail (no tracking) and have each parcel below 2kgs. Over 2kgs the price shoots right up. Better to send 2x 1.99kg parcels if possible than one 4kg one. That way it stays at Royal Mail "Small Packet" rates and not exorbitant Parcel Force rates.
With Royal Mail done this way, we pay around £5 a kilo. You do a CN22 and not all the non EU paperwork stuff that way too.
I have yet to find a reliable alternative service that serves Russia and doesn't require a ton of paperwork and that doesn't end up with the stuff being stuck in customs for weeks. We probably send 6-8 parcels (under 2kgs each) to Russia each week at the moment (wifey has a new enterprise).
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Reading through this thread, I have to ask....I planned on sending (again) a relatively expensive software package via the USPS, to Odessa Ukraine....would I be smart to send copies of the disks instead of the originals? The money isn't that big a deal, but I wouldn't like to spend it more than twice if I don't have to. At least with copies, I can keep sending them until they arrive, if the mail service is as bad as everyone claims. Anyone?
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Reading through this thread, I have to ask....I planned on sending (again) a relatively expensive software package via the USPS, to Odessa Ukraine....would I be smart to send copies of the disks instead of the originals? The money isn't that big a deal, but I wouldn't like to spend it more than twice if I don't have to. At least with copies, I can keep sending them until they arrive, if the mail service is as bad as everyone claims. Anyone?
I only sent two things to Ukraine by USPS and they were stuff for the K-1. No problema.
If you send a copy of the original, label it "Pictures" just in case some one is inclined in taking property of the disc. Most probably no one will touch it. That is, if you don't label it as very expensive software, and "very" being relative.
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Reading through this thread, I have to ask....I planned on sending (again) a relatively expensive software package via the USPS, to Odessa Ukraine....would I be smart to send copies of the disks instead of the originals? The money isn't that big a deal, but I wouldn't like to spend it more than twice if I don't have to. At least with copies, I can keep sending them until they arrive, if the mail service is as bad as everyone claims. Anyone?
I would send copies personally. Originals will confuse them. Original software is quite an alien concept there. :ROFL:
Don't send them registered or in flashy USPS packaging and be sure to address the package and customs label in Cyrillic so as not to draw attention to them. On the CN22, put something like "data CD" for description (in Russian or Ukrainian), and a Grivna equivalent to about $3 as value. Someone here will tell you what to write in the "description" field in Cyrillic.
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Hi P356,
I send packages to my parents via USPS all the time. In fact, I also sent one today. Never had any problems.. yet.
I don't usually put anything down for insurance, because I don't send anything valuable. I heard horror stories about packages being open by the customs and some items missing, so I would not recommend sending any valuable items via USPS or any other services. I think it's safer to bring them in your suitcase when traveling to Ukraine/Russia next time...
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I sent things through USPS a few times and it all got there and nothing was missing. If you want it there though quickly of course then you need to use Fed-Ex. Yes, it is more costly, but it is there in less than a week. Also, I believe most of the packages got there within 3 weeks by USPS.
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I sent my girlfriends parcel from the UK to Russia via the post office and parcelforce. The parcel was just under 5 kilos and it cost £44.00, this was a basic service without tracking.
The parcel arrived with her family in Russia after 17 days perfectly intact without any problems ))
This is just robbery and now you have to pack the parcel under 2 kg to make it less than 37 pounds, that is insane, what can you possibly send to relatives and friends under 2 kg?One Easter egg:))) I already posted in another forum, does anyone know any alternative delivery service to send parcels to Russia-Moscow, can you share them with us please?Thank you so much in advance.
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Hi Reg,
I have been sending parcels to Russia ever since I moved to England 4 years ago always with CN22 Customs declaration and had no problems. We sent the last one three weeks ago and it arrived in Moscow yesterday.
We send on average a dozen parcels a year to Russia. The average delivery time is 3 weeks. Some parcels take 6 weeks and some 2 weeks. This is all by ordinary Royal Mail parcel post (from UK) which is delivered in Russia by Почта России (Russia Post). We normally don't send anything heavier than 2kgs as it costs much more above that weight, nor do we send anything really expensive. Mainly, clothes, small gifts, chocolate and such like.
Having said that, Russian Postal service is a mess. Rules change ALL the time and local Post Offices in Russia (a) interpret these 'rules' in different ways, and (b) don't have a clue what 'rules' they should follow.
But we have not lost a single parcel yet, or had anything confiscated by customs!!
:-X
I do the same and totally agree with everything:) though sometimes it is impossible to send something less than 2 kg and it is annoying because I have to spread the load into several small packages.Having a small child and a buggy gives me a headache to post all those things at once.And the trouble is Royal mail does not have any deals for Moscow either, that is just so sad.
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I sent my girlfriends parcel from the UK to Russia via the post office and parcelforce. The parcel was just under 5 kilos and it cost £44.00, this was a basic service without tracking.
The parcel arrived with her family in Russia after 17 days perfectly intact without any problems ))
This is just robbery and now you have to pack the parcel under 2 kg to make it less than 37 pounds, that is insane, what can you possibly send to relatives and friends under 2 kg?One Easter egg:))) I already posted in another forum, does anyone know any alternative delivery service to send parcels to Russia-Moscow, can you share them with us please?Thank you so much in advance.
Jazzy,
Have a word with these people:-
http://alfaparcel.com/parcelforce
They're based in Wisbech
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I sent my girlfriends parcel from the UK to Russia via the post office and parcelforce. The parcel was just under 5 kilos and it cost £44.00, this was a basic service without tracking.
The parcel arrived with her family in Russia after 17 days perfectly intact without any problems ))
This is just robbery and now you have to pack the parcel under 2 kg to make it less than 37 pounds, that is insane, what can you possibly send to relatives and friends under 2 kg?One Easter egg:))) I already posted in another forum, does anyone know any alternative delivery service to send parcels to Russia-Moscow, can you share them with us please?Thank you so much in advance.
Jazzy,
Have a word with these people:-
http://alfaparcel.com/parcelforce
They're based in Wisbech
Thank you very much for the information, I will look into it!
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Since we have some Belarus bound travelers, I thought I would share the following. Recent experience would indicate that using UPS to ship anything here is asking for a customs hassle and nearly assuredly finding of the need to pay duty for items shipped by this method here. It also necessitates a trip to just Minsk to pick up the items personally. My advice, bite the bullet and send items USPS --> Belpost-EMS-->recipient. Luka and his minions don't like competition to state run enterprises here and do their best to make others pay dearly.
Also, time frames as follows one package sent just before the December holidays sat at US customs for 6 weeks and then arrived in 2 here. Packages sent after the holidays have been averaging 2-3.5 weeks priority Intl. mail-->EMS-Belpost-->recipient's city Post office.
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I've discovered paying the extra couple of bucks for Express Mail guarantees delivery service at home, while Priority Mail usually results in a notice being sent and the receiver being required to make a trip to the regional Central Post Office. Delivery time us usually about the same.
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I do the same and totally agree with everything:) though sometimes it is impossible to send something less than 2 kg and it is annoying because I have to spread the load into several small packages.Having a small child and a buggy gives me a headache to post all those things at once.And the trouble is Royal mail does not have any deals for Moscow either, that is just so sad.
Jazzy
I have used these (http://www.wedelivertheworld.co.uk/quote/index.php) numerous times to send packages all around the World over the last 3-4 years, including Russia, and some pretty obscure places too and never had a problem. Based on a 5Kg box the cheapest cost is around £35 to Russia, and the best bit of all, they will collect from you, you don't even have to go to the Post Office :nod:
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I do the same and totally agree with everything:) though sometimes it is impossible to send something less than 2 kg and it is annoying because I have to spread the load into several small packages.Having a small child and a buggy gives me a headache to post all those things at once.And the trouble is Royal mail does not have any deals for Moscow either, that is just so sad.
Jazzy
I have used these (http://www.wedelivertheworld.co.uk/quote/index.php) numerous times to send packages all around the World over the last 3-4 years, including Russia, and some pretty obscure places too and never had a problem. Based on a 5Kg box the cheapest cost is around £35 to Russia, and the best bit of all, they will collect from you, you don't even have to go to the Post Office :nod:
Thank you very much , I will see what they can offer:)
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Since we have some Belarus bound travelers, I thought I would share the following. Recent experience would indicate that using UPS to ship anything here is asking for a customs hassle and nearly assuredly finding of the need to pay duty for items shipped by this method here. It also necessitates a trip to just Minsk to pick up the items personally. My advice, bite the bullet and send items USPS --> Belpost-EMS-->recipient. Luka and his minions don't like competition to state run enterprises here and do their best to make others pay dearly.
Also, time frames as follows one package sent just before the December holidays sat at US customs for 6 weeks and then arrived in 2 here. Packages sent after the holidays have been averaging 2-3.5 weeks priority Intl. mail-->EMS-Belpost-->recipient's city Post office.
Just seconding on this one. While it seems prices have gone up via USPS, Priority has taken in the same ballpark ECR mentions, 2-3 weeks.
It is not nice to send UPS to find out later that the recipients need to go to Minsk to pick it up if they don't live there; more than a few packages have been ignored and abandoned by people when you consider getting to Minsk can be an all day experience for some (I think up to ~5 hours total in train time one-way, plus getting to the train, depending on location).
We are still looking for more reasonable rates on heavier items after it cost $40 to send ~$100 worth of lighter goods recently. :( (but UPS won't be among the options!)
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The reports of FSU postal theft seemed to have tapered off quite a bit in the last few years. Even so, I would be reluctant to mail anything of considerable value.
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I sent a package to Ukraine today (Dnepropetrovsk) by bog standard uninsured, untracked Royal Mail air mail.
I did what I always do with packages to Russia outlined in this post (http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=2670.msg31252#msg31252). I asked the recipient to let me know when it arrives; and if it arrives unmolested. It will be a useful data point perhaps. I'll report when it arrives.
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I sent a package to Russia around December 20, by US Postal Service (priority international I think). The post office said it should be there by Dec. 31 (I did not hold my breath); it consisted of Near Year's presents for my girlfriend and her family. After a month I had pretty well given up on it, but around Feb 1 my girlfriend told me she got a call and arranged for taking delivery of the package. She was told that they tried to call her much earlier but did not reach her. This made sense bc in December and much of January she was having problems with her telecom. provider - calls were not getting through.
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How is that for postal service!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Letter_to_Russia_with_krokozyabry.jpg
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I sent a package to Ukraine today (Dnepropetrovsk) by bog standard uninsured, untracked Royal Mail air mail.
I did what I always do with packages to Russia outlined in this post (http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=2670.msg31252#msg31252). I asked the recipient to let me know when it arrives; and if it arrives unmolested. It will be a useful data point perhaps. I'll report when it arrives.
The guy got the package he told me today. (I am assuming he got it yesterday as today is Sunday).
Ten days from the UK to Ukraine, untracked standard air mail, and addressed all in Cyrillic only (including customs CN22 form) apart from "Ukraine" in English so the UK Post Office knew what country to send it to.
Pretty good really.
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I sent a package to Ukraine today (Dnepropetrovsk) by bog standard uninsured, untracked Royal Mail air mail.
I did what I always do with packages to Russia outlined in this post (http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=2670.msg31252#msg31252). I asked the recipient to let me know when it arrives; and if it arrives unmolested. It will be a useful data point perhaps. I'll report when it arrives.
The guy got the package he told me today. (I am assuming he got it yesterday as today is Sunday).
Ten days from the UK to Ukraine, untracked standard air mail, and addressed all in Cyrillic only (including customs CN22 form) apart from "Ukraine" in English so the UK Post Office knew what country to send it to.
Pretty good really.
They can deliver on Sundays too, usually the recipient has to collect though from the local office.
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I do not really rely too much on Royal mail, their pricing is so expensive for what they are offering, I recently sent one parcel to my friend in Russian town and it is now 2 months since it is sending:))) 37 pounds for parcel force services and the parcel has not reached her yet. Sometimes it makes me think of launching an alternative delivery service from UK to Russia, if only i had an opportunity to do so:)
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Parcel Force is not Royal Mail as such. Even though you buy either service at the Post Office. Better to send less than 2kgs at a time with RM Air Mail.
However, 6-8 weeks to Russia is pretty typical. That is not the fault of Royal Mail/Parcel Force, that is the fault of Russian customs who delay everything for weeks on end.
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Parcel Force is not Royal Mail as such. Even though you buy either service at the Post Office.
Actually they are under one roof. Both belongs to Royal Mail Group Ltd
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Better to send less than 2kgs at a time with RM Air Mail.
This is the key if you can do it, it means splitting things up into smaller packages and several fees but it is the way to go if you can. We send quite a bit to Ukraine this way. Larger things I use couriers and put up with the extra cost.
That is not the fault of Royal Mail/Parcel Force, that is the fault of Russian customs who delay everything for weeks on end.
and the reason things take so long to deliver over there.
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The reports of FSU postal theft seemed to have tapered off quite a bit in the last few years. Even so, I would be reluctant to mail anything of considerable value.
Tom, that is true and verified statistically in an annual report to President Medvedev.
The catch remains with the customs delays. Medvedev wants this streamlined but certain forces have fought tooth and nail to resist reforms. So, we wait...
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Trivia:
Q: Who was the first US President to have a RUSSIAN souvenir stamp produced on his birthday?
A: Barrack Obama was honoured by Russian postal on his 50th birthday, 4 August 2011.
Alexander Kiselev, General Director of Post of Russia, made the presentation of a souvenir stamp and collector's envelope to Mr. Obama in Moscow. The series can be purchased by Russian citizens as a souvenir. The stamp has no postal value, but the number "50" is shown to commemorate Mr. Obama's 50th birthday.
Mr. Obama autographed several of the sets for Russian government officials.
See it here: http://www.russianpost.ru/rp/press/ru/home/newscompany/item?newsid=5505
[attachimg=1]
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If you have a Russian post receipt you can track your packages. Use this link: http://www.russianpost.ru/rp/servise/en/home/postuslug/trackingpo
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I have sent several packages to the Ukraine though USPS 10 working day delivery. Usually takes 14-16 days. I never have insured and all arrived. Some packges had cloths and jewelry. One box had 4 pounds of assorted choclate. I use 2 address labels - One in English and one in Russian. I send it to the post office and she picks the package up. The first pacakge I sent directly to her and it got tangled in customs, I am sure she offered a small fee to get it. Shipping not including box etc costs $55 -$85 Hope this helps :)
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I had to comment here. This was 2 years ago-- I am presuming not much has changed. I sent laptop to Ukraine via ordinary airmail--- it was in Kiev within 4 days-- all good so far .Then nothing for 6 weeks!! Finally delivered-- after causing considerable friction about whether I had really sent it. Eventually it showed up--- but screen had problems-- most likely from being dropped or similar.I sent 2nd hand( not unusual here to use !) mainly because I was concerned if it would get there-- and that it would get there in one piece. I was planning trip-- and thinking I would take new computer as a gift then.
So - sending broken computer has not gone down well at all. We sort of get over that and my trip is delayed again and again.I decided to send another computer-- a netbook that I was thinking would be usefull to travel with in the future-- I am wary of previous experience so decide to use FeDeX-- at considerable cost.
Great tacking system and is in Kiev faster than I could have got there( 28 hours!).It took many calls,the SE Asian manager personally handling and calling their agent in Kiev directly on a daily basis!! -- to find out in 5 weeks that Ukraine customs wanted to see receipts from purchase,proof of ownership and some other ridiculous requests.To cut a long story short-- it cost me more to" pay" them to release it than the Fedex delivery($180) plus the cost of the computer!!
This was now about 6 weeks-- literally hundreds of emails and phone calls later trying to get it delivered.During this time my relationship had exploded-- partly because I had to tell her the computer was on the way.It had been my intention to surprise her -- but as the weeks went on it got closer to her going away on summer holiday-- so I had to get an alternative address to deliver to and authorities.All this sounded like bs to her-- and she became increasingly more annoyed with me-to the point of not speaking.
Finally we got to the point of customs releasing for delivery. I then tried to contact my lady-- who I knew was due to go away at about this time-- she basically said-- I will not be here-I will not give you another address- and I dont want this ficticious computer-- and please go away!!This was not going well !!
My choice to have Fedex send it back to me at my expense--or give it to someone else. was During the off and on parts!! Over the previous 6 months I had developed a friendship with another girl in a different city . So-- with a great deal of trouble I get Fedex to agree(at my cost) to change the name and delivery address-- which they do as instructed-- change it on the parcel itself.
What happens-- they then deliver it the ORIGINAL girl-- with the second girls name on it !! The phone call came at 3am my time and I had never heard so much English from her and so well spoken from her before--let me say it was a torrent !!Who was this girl/why was I sending "her" computer to someone else!! Needless to say--my head was spinning trying to work out what had happened.
There are so many sub-plots here I am not sure where to end! The second girl was busy looking and waiting for the computer to show up-- and to rub salt into the wound the Ukraine agents for Fedex sent her a bill for all the changes of address.
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I was waiting for a package from england, went air mail
i live in odessa and maybe 3 weeks would be ok
I tracked it to china and then it sat there for 2 weeks,
i was then told it would go back to england and be another 3 weeks.
3 days later i had a call in russian that i pretty much understood from dhl who were the final carrier.
6 weeks and 3 days, nice!
one thing you forget is so good in europe and u.s.!
oh yes and when i got the pack eventually it looked like a dog had chewed it!
My apartment doesnt have a letter box or a bell and if anything comes here a courier will call from outside or it will be left at the local post office. This post office has moved 4 times in the last 5 months, not easy to keep up buts thats ukraine for you.
I have never seen a postbox EVER!
Beware, not for the faint hearted~~
J :bow:
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My experience has been with Ukraine and items shipped to Nikolayev: From 2002 to today (9/2012) either I or my ex sent over 40 all packages. All packages that shipped via Meest arrived undamaged. Travel time was generally 3-6 weeks with a few times longer because of some unexplained delay in customs. USPS was not used for packages because of lack of accountability once the package leaves the USA. All mail (letters) were sent via USPS and all arrived safely. In July 2008 I sent 6 large packages back home to me in Las Vegas from Nikolayev using Kiev Post. All packages arrived... Significantly beat up, but they did arrive and their contents were unmolested.
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Dice:
Just to restate from Toronto, Canada (Meest home office etc.) we ship via "Polimax" as there office is across the street from us via Poland where it is transferred to Meest for deliver in Ukraine. Timeline "Air" packages take about 1 week and "Sea" packages 4 to 5 weeks to arrive in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. This included our Summer 2012 shipment of a complete Gas Barbeque for the family that has since been assemblied and in use there.
Shipments from Ukraine to Canada are usually Meest and either arrive here directly, or we have to go to their main office on the other side of the city (1+1/2 drive away) and pick them up.
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http://www.parcelflight.co.uk
Used these guys for a parcel in the past few weeks, delivery to Russia within 14 days, not working days either.
Excellent service, a 10kg package insured for £200-£300 (from memory) for less than £90, (£87?)
Full tracking, collection from your door and they'll deliver direct to either home or work address.
I sent to a work address, but according to the very helpful people they will deliver to either without a problem.
All I had do was complete a customs form and include 3/4 copies of invoice, according to the helpful staff you only need do one, but I still completed both, better more than less IMO.
Even so, excelled with superb delivery speed, will certainly be using them again tomorrow.
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Good timing Ashby. I use a site called parcel2go for a lot of courier deliveries from the UK worldwide, they always offered Ukraine, but they never offered Russia until today. Today, I got this email:
Dear Customer,
We have even more international delivery options available for you at Parcel2Go.com (http://www.parcel2go.com/)
Unlike many other parcel delivery websites, we can now offer you parcel delivery to Russia. We'll also do it from the great price of £32.27, so if you've got something to send head over to our site and select "Russian Fed" as your delivery destination on our quick quote form.
We're also offering you a 5% discount off the next parcel you send to Russia. Just enter the following code into the preferences page of the order process:
Your 5% discount code is: P2GRUS5
As Russia is non-EU, there will be no VAT on the price. Non EU is zero-rated.
If you fund a prepay account with £100 (that can be used with any service they offer), you get 5% extra by way of a £105 credit, so with the discount code that makes a a 10% discount.
:RUS:
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I must admit I was quite expecting some sort of import tax at the other end, specially with the recent nonsense we hear about, happily nothing to pay :)
Interested to know Manny, what is the weight on that parcel?
The one I sent was max 20kg and a size of 100x50x50 from memory, that's a sizeable package when in front of you.
Mine arrived some 2000 miles away from Moscow within 10 business days from date of collection in UK, fully insured, remarkable :nod:
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I haven't run it through weight/dimension yet, that was just the promo email I got. We spend a lot of money with P2G and I was bugging them for ages that the only service they offered there was the corrupt Parcelforce [who find a reason to disallow it and return it to you keeping your money - I lost about £300 with the Parcelforce Russia scam over time].
That they are trumpeting this, means they did a deal with a proper outfit like UPS, Fedex or DHL - you wont know who until he collects - how it works. P2G are pretty switched on. Once you spend a few bob you get upgraded to a VIP account and one girl looks after your account. We probably spend £1500-£2000 a month with them. They are sound as a pound with us. Just avoid Parcelforce services.
For 20kg though, the price you got was super!
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There's another service in Peterborough, they pack and send for you, never used them though, about the same costs, maybe a couple of quid cheaper, but I don't like that they pack and send.
This one though is as cheap as I have ever found, super quick also.
Operator they used TNT, if that helps anyone, certainly cheaper via these chaps.
Be interested to know a service that works quicker and cheaper than this.
Of course my invoice was completely legitimate, according to the import regs there should of been some sort of tax, the guys at the postal service assured me otherwise, they were right :king:
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Of course my invoice was completely legitimate, according to the import regs there should of been some sort of tax, the guys at the postal service assured me otherwise, they were right :king:
There is a big sorting hub at Samara that routes from Germany. It goes in on the Lufthansa flights. A lot of courier stuff from the UK and Europe goes this way to central and eastern Russia. I think they are too lazy to bother applying duty as they get nothing out of it. KUF is not known for its efficiency. :)
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Of course my invoice was completely legitimate, according to the import regs there should of been some sort of tax, the guys at the postal service assured me otherwise, they were right :king:
There is a big sorting hub at Samara that routes from Germany. It goes in on the Lufthansa flights. A lot of courier stuff from the UK and Europe goes this way to central and eastern Russia. I think they are too lazy to bother applying duty as they get nothing out of it. KUF is not known for its efficiency. :)
My parcel was in Moscow Custom's on Friday (according to the website), delivered on Tuesday some 2000 miles away, by way of example.
I'm going to try 20kg with a value of £300-£400 next, see how that maps out, keep you posted !!
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Glad this came up again. In the near future I will be shipping a package (about 2-3 pounds of documents) to Russia. Given the info on this thread is a bit dated, with the exception of AC's recent post, and the goings on with DHL, the non-existent war and many other factors, what is the best way to ship there now? All answers welcomed of course, but those in the USA would probably be closest to what I am seeking due to locale. Thanks in advance.
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Glad this came up again. In the near future I will be shipping a package (about 2-3 pounds of documents) to Russia. Given the info on this thread is a bit dated, with the exception of AC's recent post, and the goings on with DHL, the non-existent war and many other factors, what is the best way to ship there now? All answers welcomed of course, but those in the USA would probably be closest to what I am seeking due to locale. Thanks in advance.
Normal mail should be fine for documents, works from the UK anyhow.
It's only items of resale value that tend to create problems.
Perhaps someone else can confirm, or check with the US postal service on options.
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Glad this came up again. In the near future I will be shipping a package (about 2-3 pounds of documents) to Russia. Given the info on this thread is a bit dated, with the exception of AC's recent post, and the goings on with DHL, the non-existent war and many other factors, what is the best way to ship there now? All answers welcomed of course, but those in the USA would probably be closest to what I am seeking due to locale. Thanks in advance.
Normal mail should be fine for documents, works from the UK anyhow.
It's only items of resale value that tend to create problems.
Perhaps someone else can confirm, or check with the US postal service on options.
I typically use FedEx due to USPS being unreliable at times and these documents are pretty important. I wasn't sure if USPS was viable with Russia right now anyway but I will check. Was just wondering if there was any recent experience that could be passed on. Thanks sir. tiphat
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I wasn't sure if USPS was viable with Russia right now
I don't think relations are that bad just yet. :) But customs in Russia can be slow, four weeks isn't unheard of - although it is improving (although I had a Post Office item stuck in US Customs four weeks recently).
For important documents, I would use Fedex, UPS or DHL. Documents clear faster with the couriers. Internationally generally, I prefer UPS. If it matters, thats who I use.
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I wasn't sure if USPS was viable with Russia right now
I don't think relations are that bad just yet. :) But customs in Russia can be slow, four weeks isn't unheard of - although it is improving (although I had a Post Office item stuck in US Customs four weeks recently).
For important documents, I would use Fedex, UPS or DHL. Documents clear faster with the couriers. Internationally generally, I prefer UPS. If it matters, thats who I use.
Noted, thanks.
To be honest, the FedEx office is a few blocks from my house and the UPS place is across town...the closer one wins :chuckle:
I'll compare them and see if a drive is worth the effort...
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Everything works fine in RU at the moment as far as UPS, FEDEX, USPS, etc... BY I'd recommend you stick solely with USPS.
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I wasn't sure if USPS was viable with Russia right now
I don't think relations are that bad just yet. :) But customs in Russia can be slow, four weeks isn't unheard of - although it is improving (although I had a Post Office item stuck in US Customs four weeks recently).
For important documents, I would use Fedex, UPS or DHL. Documents clear faster with the couriers. Internationally generally, I prefer UPS. If it matters, thats who I use.
Noted, thanks.
To be honest, the FedEx office is a few blocks from my house and the UPS place is across town...the closer one wins :chuckle:
I'll compare them and see if a drive is worth the effort...
Mike, they'll come to your place and pick up the package FWIW. Just call them.
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We have a domestic DPD (http://www.dpd.co.uk/) business account. They are awesome in the UK, and pretty slick within the EU and Eastern Europe (Czech, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, etc).
So when our DPD rep visited recently, I asked him about Russia. Surprisingly, he said Russia was a big market they hoped to expand into, and they go there already. You need a company reg number or an internal passport number to send there, and five copies of the invoice. No biggie.
He enabled our account to send to Russia. For those who do not have an account, you can access them via sites like parcelmonkey or parcel2go.
So today we had an order from Russia, St Pete. As a point of reference the box was 33 x 46 x 26cms and 5.7kgs. Our price calculator shows that @ £65 (no VAT as outside the EU). Not bad I thought.......
The DPD system (in the UK) does not accept the Cyrillic alphabet (it throws an error when we tried), so we transliterated it into English. Invoices were in Russian to speed local customs clearance.
It was collected today, so I will track it and see how long it takes it to get there, clear customs and be delivered. Site estimate says 5-8 days.
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We have a domestic DPD (http://www.dpd.co.uk/) business account. They are awesome in the UK, and pretty slick within the EU and Eastern Europe (Czech, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, etc).
So when our DPD rep visited recently, I asked him about Russia. Surprisingly, he said Russia was a big market they hoped to expand into, and they go there already. You need a company reg number or an internal passport number to send there, and five copies of the invoice. No biggie.
He enabled our account to send to Russia. For those who do not have an account, you can access them via sites like parcelmonkey or parcel2go.
So today we had an order from Russia, St Pete. As a point of reference the box was 33 x 46 x 26cms and 5.7kgs. Our price calculator shows that @ £65 (no VAT as outside the EU). Not bad I thought.......
The DPD system (in the UK) does not accept the Cyrillic alphabet (it throws an error when we tried), so we transliterated it into English. Invoices were in Russian to speed local customs clearance.
It was collected today, so I will track it and see how long it takes it to get there, clear customs and be delivered. Site estimate says 5-8 days.
Well that was a pile of bollocks.
A week or so ago the customer started screaming non-receipt. We looked into it and it was held at customs in Moscow. DPD in the UK were useless; said they couldn't access the data. Wifey phones the Moscow office, they denied even having it. :-\
A bunch of phone calls later, they claimed they had no recipient internal passport data, but it was on the invoices attached so that was crap. Then they claimed there was no sender VAT/EORI number, which was also crap. Then it suddenly got discharged and returned to sender for unspecified reasons. We got it back today unmolested.
So it seems DPD does not work to Russia despite what they say. My bet is DPD are not greasing the right palms in Russia. :coffeeread:
We'll split it up and send in a few smaller parcels a few days apart each by the good old untracked Royal Mail method: All in Russian with a CN22 attached, marked "gift" showing a 500pyb value. Stuff arrives that way.
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We have a domestic DPD (http://www.dpd.co.uk/) business account. They are awesome in the UK, and pretty slick within the EU and Eastern Europe (Czech, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, etc).
So when our DPD rep visited recently, I asked him about Russia. Surprisingly, he said Russia was a big market they hoped to expand into, and they go there already. You need a company reg number or an internal passport number to send there, and five copies of the invoice. No biggie.
He enabled our account to send to Russia. For those who do not have an account, you can access them via sites like parcelmonkey or parcel2go.
So today we had an order from Russia, St Pete. As a point of reference the box was 33 x 46 x 26cms and 5.7kgs. Our price calculator shows that @ £65 (no VAT as outside the EU). Not bad I thought.......
The DPD system (in the UK) does not accept the Cyrillic alphabet (it throws an error when we tried), so we transliterated it into English. Invoices were in Russian to speed local customs clearance.
It was collected today, so I will track it and see how long it takes it to get there, clear customs and be delivered. Site estimate says 5-8 days.
Well that was a pile of bollocks.
A week or so ago the customer started screaming non-receipt. We looked into it and it was held at customs in Moscow. DPD in the UK were useless; said they couldn't access the data. Wifey phones the Moscow office, they denied even having it. :-\
A bunch of phone calls later, they claimed they had no recipient internal passport data, but it was on the invoices attached so that was crap. Then they claimed there was no sender VAT/EORI number, which was also crap. Then it suddenly got discharged and returned to sender for unspecified reasons. We got it back today unmolested.
So it seems DPD does not work to Russia despite what they say. My bet is DPD are not greasing the right palms in Russia. :coffeeread:
We'll split it up and send in a few smaller parcels a few days apart each by the good old untracked Royal Mail method: All in Russian with a CN22 attached, marked "gift" showing a 500pyb value. Stuff arrives that way.
Anything which is sent to me from the UK is via Int signed for, it usually takes a couple of weeks and always arrives..
Been using this way for the last 15 years, no losses yet touch wood...
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We have a domestic DPD (http://www.dpd.co.uk/) business account. They are awesome in the UK, and pretty slick within the EU and Eastern Europe (Czech, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, etc).
So when our DPD rep visited recently, I asked him about Russia. Surprisingly, he said Russia was a big market they hoped to expand into, and they go there already. You need a company reg number or an internal passport number to send there, and five copies of the invoice. No biggie.
He enabled our account to send to Russia. For those who do not have an account, you can access them via sites like parcelmonkey or parcel2go.
So today we had an order from Russia, St Pete. As a point of reference the box was 33 x 46 x 26cms and 5.7kgs. Our price calculator shows that @ £65 (no VAT as outside the EU). Not bad I thought.......
The DPD system (in the UK) does not accept the Cyrillic alphabet (it throws an error when we tried), so we transliterated it into English. Invoices were in Russian to speed local customs clearance.
It was collected today, so I will track it and see how long it takes it to get there, clear customs and be delivered. Site estimate says 5-8 days.
My dpd package from latvia to nl took 5 business days. It arrived unharmed
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Yes, DPD works great all over the EU. Pretty fast UK - Estonia too. Clearly the issue here is at Russian customs.
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So it seems DPD does not work to Russia despite what they say. My bet is DPD are not greasing the right palms in Russia. :coffeeread:
Therein you hit the nail ... the issue is within Russia ... WHY should a firm need to grease palms?
Sending anything other than docs from the UK to Russia is - sadly - fraught with issues ...If I want to get hardware in I send it via Cyprus .... no issues
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So it seems DPD does not work to Russia despite what they say. My bet is DPD are not greasing the right palms in Russia. :coffeeread:
Therein you hit the nail ... the issue is within Russia ... WHY should a firm need to grease palms?
Because it's how it works.
Amazon didn't grease palms, everything got held up, now they do.
eBay "Global delivery" works OK to Russia, so they must grease someone.
Perhaps someone should grease someones palm in Canada. The customs/mail there is tragic. Even Royal Mail have delay advisories on their website about it. I'm so sick of refunding Canadians for non-delivery that I have blocked shipping there on all sites today.
Yet I had an untracked RM parcel delivered from Manchester - Minsk in 5 days recently. Go figure.....