Are there any inexpensive international shipping options?
Back in the day you could send things through the USPS via boat from the USA to Japan inexpensively. I’d like to send between 50 and 100 lbs. worth of stuff to Japan as cheaply as possible. Do you know of any service that does so for less than $2 a pound? It doesn’t matter if it takes 3 weeks (or even 3 months!) to get there. The price is over $4 a pound through the USPS as they don’t seem to offer the slow boat option anymore. Rates through DHL and UPS are even worse. Any ideas?
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July 15th, 2009 at 3:11 am
The slow boat option by USPS still existed 4 years ago (last time I used it) but for books only.
Luckily I had lots of books to ship, and I gotta admit, most of my boxes didn’t have books only, not sure what would have happened if the customs had checked them though.
July 15th, 2009 at 6:50 am
That slow boat option is now gone. They still have an M-Bag option for books, etc. but it is airmail and the rates went way up ($5 per pound) to an even higher rate than priority (which makes no sense and basically means that no one should be using the M-Bag option if they want to save money).
July 17th, 2009 at 1:32 am
I don’t have a good answer, it’s been a real hassle since they made it airmail only. And since then, the luggage restrictions with the airlines make it all the worse. If you do the math, it might be less expensive to pay for an extra checked suitcase than sending by mail. We used to buy stuff in the summer and ship it back to Tokyo, it would arrive 2 months after we returned, but those days are over.