ARF's guide to international shipping
I would like to share my tips and experience with you all to make international trade easier simpler and safer.
The construction which is most suitable for lock trade
from the US
USPS: Priority Mail International® Small Flat Rate Box
Value of contents can not exceed $400.00
USPS-Produced Box: 8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8"
Maximum weight 4 pounds.
There are also Priority Mail International® Medium and Large Flat Rate Boxes available for bigger weights and volumes.
As of now the small flatrate costs around 24$ to anywhere in the word and AFAIK that includes tracking and maybe even some coverage against loss (not sure about the details.)
The medium flat rate box is 62 but it accepts a huge amount of stuff. I never needed a large flatrate until now.
Outside of US you might wish to explode the options of the local post apart from FEDEX, UPS, EMS and similar companies, they often offer much cheaper options with the only difference of slightly slower service.
Sometimes when it comes to lighter packages in smaller boxes it might be better to send them as letter not a s package. Much better prices, but some restrictions to weight and size.
The basic:
For addressing it's wise to use waterproof marker or pen, with evenly sized bigger legible (block) letters.
The advanced stuff:
-> What I always do and can strongly recommend is to cover the whole box in 1 layer of see-though broad (like 3-4 inch broad) scotch tape. Not sure if that's the exact name. It gives a lot of added strength to the box and since it's perfectly clear and see-through you can cover the address wit hit as well.
This has several benefits: firstly as I mentioned it gives a lot of extra strength to the box. Since it covers the whole surface it makes sure the address is not soaked and smudged so it guards against it becoming unreadable.
Sometimes careless postage workers throw the boxes around, so the box can get seriously deformed and even torn at places with heavy jagged objects like locks.
At occasions the box can get wet further weakening the cardboard.
Keys and such can get lost in even small holes, I did have keys getting lost that way!
Plus when a box is covered with tape it's a discouragement for "curious" post workers to open it and find sth he fancies...
-> As for keys. You may consider to either fix them to the locks with scotch tape or fix them all on one piece of cardboard to makes sure they don't rattle too much and further reduce the loss eve nif it gets opened and messed with at customs.
-> That is why it's wiser to avoid labels on the outside stating gift. Gift implies universal value and thus have a higher chance of getting stolen.
Rattling is also an attention grabber.
-> Generally it's important to use padding, either those poppable plastic sheets, or just newspaper, you can get somewhat inventive here. It's important to protect the locks from each other and from tearing the sides of the box.
-> What I often do is I include a little piece of paper on the inside with the address and declaring the contents value and so on. If it's a gift you should write that here instead of the outside.
That is because if the address gets mangled the post the workers will open it to try to determine the sender or the addressee.
It may get opened at customs as well.
-> It's also important for the receiver to be clear on the customs and charges he might have to face when he gets the box.
-> Also if you ship a lot of stuff which are valuable it might make sense to divide it to 2 boxes, (depending on the amount of stuff) to minimise damage in case of one gets lost. (This clever idea is from Gwiens so the credit is his! )
That is my little guide, I hope you found it informative and useful for the future.
=== WARNING DANGER OF TYPOS!===
Arfspeak: calnin cladycomes: you allow her key in themodning
Equals in plain English: cleaning lady comes: you allow her key in the morning