Keyboards are big and heavy and often times shipping them costs an exorbitant amount.
Anyone got any good tips for shipping things internationally at cheaper prices?
This could be anything from shipping items separately to websites for finding low shipping rates.
For reference, I'm located in the US.
Any tips for shipping keyboards on the cheap?
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snacksthecat
- ✶✶✶✶
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: SSK
- Main mouse: BenQ ZOWIE EC1-A
- DT Pro Member: 0205
- Contact:
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Blaise170
- ALPS キーボード
- Location: Boston, MA
- Main keyboard: Cooler Master Quickfire Stealth
- Main mouse: Logitech G502
- Favorite switch: Alps SKCM Blue
- DT Pro Member: 0129
- Contact:
Depends on the size and destination country but on the consumer end, the cheapest I've found is shipping via First Class Letter and choosing "large envelope" (naturally this requires a padded envelope, no box). Once you hit the maximum weight for First Class Letter (varies by country, usually 4lbs max), it can be a free for all, FedEx and UPS are generally cheaper than USPS though. Cheapest domestic is typically First Class up to 16oz, then priority mail up until about 10 lbs. After 10lbs FedEx Home Delivery/Ground is often cheaper, and then UPS Ground becomes cheapest at about 30 lbs.
On the commercial domestic end, FedEx SmartPost is usually cheapest to about 40 lbs, at which point USPS Parcel Select or UPS Ground becomes cheaper. For short distances, USPS may be cheaper than FedEx. For commercial international, DHL is often the cheapest, followed by FedEx, UPS, and USPS respectively.
On the commercial domestic end, FedEx SmartPost is usually cheapest to about 40 lbs, at which point USPS Parcel Select or UPS Ground becomes cheaper. For short distances, USPS may be cheaper than FedEx. For commercial international, DHL is often the cheapest, followed by FedEx, UPS, and USPS respectively.
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snacksthecat
- ✶✶✶✶
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: SSK
- Main mouse: BenQ ZOWIE EC1-A
- DT Pro Member: 0205
- Contact:
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green-squid
- Location: --
- Main keyboard: --
- Main mouse: --
- Favorite switch: --
- DT Pro Member: -
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snacksthecat
- ✶✶✶✶
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: SSK
- Main mouse: BenQ ZOWIE EC1-A
- DT Pro Member: 0205
- Contact:
Psh, what do you care if a package I'm sending doesn't make it?
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Blaise170
- ALPS キーボード
- Location: Boston, MA
- Main keyboard: Cooler Master Quickfire Stealth
- Main mouse: Logitech G502
- Favorite switch: Alps SKCM Blue
- DT Pro Member: 0129
- Contact:
This seems to pretty accurately reflect my comments. DHL is incredibly cheap internationally many times. I had a 13kg package delivered to me from China in about 5 days and it only cost $170. EMS was quoting around $500.
P.S. For anyone who isn't really in the know about parcel companies, EMS is an organization that basically groups all of the world's postal services together for express shipping. So USPS, China EMS, Japan EMS, Canada Post, Royal Mail, etc. are all part of the EMS organization.