SIGforum
Shipping things from Sweden to USA

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April 19, 2024, 10:29 AM
bryan11
Shipping things from Sweden to USA
Are they creative ways to ship things from Sweden to the USA for reasonable prices? My son picked up a piccolo balalaika cheap at a thrift store and quotes to ship it back to the USA ranged from $590 to $900.

At this point it may be cheapest to take it home as a checked bag on the flight home in a couple months.

Do the Sigforum oracles have other shipping ideas?
April 19, 2024, 12:02 PM
Georgeair
quote:
piccolo balalaika


Well, now I've learned two things this week.

Yes to the checked bag. With that much lead time he can buy a decent suitcase and packing material, pack it up securely and check it. Even with an extra bag or size fee that will come out ahead. A 30" or 32" bag should hold it easily I think and I wouldn't scrimp on the bubble wrap.

I did this with a bunch of cookware on a trip back from Paris several years ago.


You only have integrity once. - imprezaguy02
April 19, 2024, 12:46 PM
akcopnfbks
Weird. Fedex charging private customers that much? I've purchased several items through Grimfrost over the years, which is a Sweden-based company, and have yet to be charged shipping. Maybe they're eating that cost, but I can't imagine they would if it was that expensive....


_________________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than omnipotent moral busybodies" ~ C.S. Lewis

April 19, 2024, 06:57 PM
SR025
Check pirate ship with ups, have shipped things to Germany and was very reasonable. We used to to use DHL and pirate ship with ups was about half the cost.
April 19, 2024, 08:25 PM
sjtill
Does he have an exit visa for that balalaika?
When we were in Russia my wife was going to take her violin back to the US (whence it had come); she ended up having to take it to a museum in Moscow where some "appraiser" gave her an exit visa indicating it really wasn't a Stradivarius, despite the label inside.
If one is not familiar with violins, it's very common for them to have a label inside that says, in Latin I think, "Made by Stradivarius, Cremona".
We called the violin a refusednik.


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“Remember, remember the fifth of November!"
April 20, 2024, 09:46 AM
bryan11
quote:
Originally posted by sjtill:
Does he have an exit visa for that balalaika?
When we were in Russia my wife was going to take her violin back to the US (whence it had come); she ended up having to take it to a museum in Moscow where some "appraiser" gave her an exit visa indicating it really wasn't a Stradivarius, despite the label inside.
If one is not familiar with violins, it's very common for them to have a label inside that says, in Latin I think, "Made by Stradivarius, Cremona".
We called the violin a refusednik.


^^Thank you, sjtill. Relayed this to my son so he can check this out.