<p>I'm so sorry to hear about all the hassle, snowball!</p>
<p>On the upside, these are the stories she'll have the most fun recounting some weeks, months, or years down the road! As someone whose time abroad has included every hurdle from temporary homelessness to trudging through the snow to buy my own ginger ale (for flu) to getting officially detained by customs--and this is merely the tip of the iceberg--I assure you that in some hard-to-see, counter-intuitive sense, your daughter will benefit from these trials and tribulations ;)</p>
<p>(That said, possible benefits aside, I do hope that the frustration stays at a minimum + that her package arrives before too long. Best of luck to her during the rest of the trip!)</p>
<p>Has anyone ever sent a parcel to Vietnam? My daughter left yesterday for two months volunteering, and I came home from the airport to find the battery charger for her camera in her room. FedEx quoted me $80-something dollars to send a small parcel - expensive, but cheaper than a new camera! But after reading these posts, I'm worried.</p>
<p>Well, my daughter's package was redelivered Wednesday. While she is happy to have the package, she is in no hurry to get another package while in Spain.</p>
<p>It is my daughter's understanding that since I listed each clothing item in the box, customs curiosity was peeked. Because I didn't put used clothes or for personal use, my daughter thinks customs was afraid she was going to resell the clothes. My question is, if I had put used clothes on the custom's label, would they have sent the package through without a thought? What would keep a reseller from doing that all the time?</p>
<p>My brother lives in China and we send packages all the time. I don't think you can really predict customs. It all depends on who the officer is and what kind of mood they are in :-P</p>
<p>We've had packages held up there and packages held up in US customs, too. The most important thing is to fill out all the paperwork carefully so that no one needs to stop to think, clearly mark if it is non-dutiable, and send it by a courier (FedEx, DHL, UPS) if you want it to get there in most countries - the postal service in many countries is totally unreliable. I understand the USPO is partnering with FedEx for delivery with some of their shipment methods.</p>
<p>huguenot - Which company have you found to be best for shipping to China? Do you have any specific tips that would help a package get there quickly and without duty? Thank you.</p>
<p>DHL is by far, far, the fastest. We shipped a huge package last Friday at a "We Ship It" kind of storefront we were driving past in Columbia, SC and it arrived in China by Sunday night our time!</p>
<p>Be sure to include every form they tell you to. We have to include a commercial invoice, but I don't know if you do if it is personal property. DHL's website will walk you through it and will make far fewer mistakes than going to a shipping place. China doesn't like you shipping stuff made in China back there (they assume you are trying to steal business from another Chinese company), so snip out made in China tags. We ship mainly samples, so we mark them "manufacturing samples" with a nominal value only. I believe the American embassy in Shanghai has some guidelines on their website for shipping personal property.</p>
<p>The only terrible experience we've had was when we had a sample shipped directly from the retailer. Evidently they didn't fill out the forms right and it was held up in customs forever and cost a fortune in duty. I will never, ever have something shipped from where I purchased it again - the shipping seemed cheaper, but it was ever so much more expensive in the end.</p>
<p>Also, if you ship a lot, ask DHL for a commercial account and ask for discounts - it's amazing how much cheaper it is.</p>
<p>The secret with all bureaucracies is make it easy - fill out all the blanks -- make sure no one has to think. It's that thinking that gets them :-)</p>
<p>I just don't know if in this day and age we want to be hauling suitcases for other people.....sounds a little dangerous practice to me. Besides they always ask it is yours. I personally don't want to fly on planes where people are taking extra suitcases for other people....yes most people are honest but we all know that it only takes one dishonest one to bring down an airplane.</p>
<p>Parents need to think ahead, students too and take enough clothes.</p>
<p>I know it doesn't matter anymore to the OP, but I found the cheapest option to transport extra stuff is often to bring an extra suitcase on the plane (Europe-US for $100-$150 per suitcase).</p>
<p>Why do they need so much stuff for one semester? My son went to Germany for a year-long high school exchange with 2 suitcases and a carry-on. No extra baggage, no extra expenses. He is a little concerned he may have too much to bring back with him next summer, but he can leave behind the worn out clothes to make room for the souvenirs he has purchased. Or, we may bring one bag back for him in May when we go to visit, since my husband and I plan to take only one carry-on each for our 2 week train trip through Germany, thus leaving us with extra baggage allowance to spare. People just need to learn to do with less.</p>
<p>2sonmama, you may have answered your question with the first two words of your second sentence - "My son". As many of us parents of daughters can attest, there is often a huge difference in what a boy "needs" and what a girl "needs". Just like when they moved into the dorms.</p>
<p>I'm looking at a job-related move, not a semester abroad. United says it will cost $104 for a third 50 lb. suitcase to China. Thank you for the shipping tips huguenot.</p>
<p>Yes, as the mother of a girl, her "needs" we great! She took the 2 suitcases she was allowed as well as a carry on, but the winter clothes (coats, boots, sweaters) took a good bit of room. We did send a good bit in the way of toiletries as we were not sure if she could find the brands she liked. As most of that will not come back home, we are hoping that gifts she bought will fit in that space. Plus, a girl can never have too many pairs of shoes. :-)</p>
<p>Now, my son could leave with 1 pair of shoes and a pair of rainbows, 1 pair of jeans and 1 pair of khakis plus shirts and be happy.</p>
<p>When I took one of my girls to the airport for a school trip to Japan I told another mother there that I had no idea what my daughter had packed. She said that her son had no idea what SHE had packed for him!</p>
<p>Puzzled-That could have been me! Somehow I have raise my son to turn to me to do anything he doesn't want to do. Of course, I still pack for my husband much to my dismay. He swears he can't do it the way I do, and everything will be wrinkled if I don't do it or he will forget to bring the right outfit. At 50 I have giving up trying to make him to it himself; it is a lost cause! As far as my son, I hope he marries a stronger woman than myself!!</p>
<p>I highly recommend you take the extra suitcase route!! It costs over a hundred dollars to send a 5 pound package by a reasonably fast shipper. It is much cheaper to take it with you. Now, most everything you need is available there and cheaper there (esp suitcases - do <em>not</em> buy nice ones for this - suitcases are dirt cheap there). Here's what's hard to find in Shanghai - American style underwear, large sizes in shoes and clothes, some American meds, esp cough drops and rolaids <lol>.</lol></p>
<p>As soon as you know you are moving for sure, talk to your doc about immunization requirements, it can take a while to get the vaccines depending on where you live. Also ask your doctor for a prescription for Cipro (antibiotic) and Phenergan (anti-nausea). Take your favorite over-the-counters, too. This way you can self-treat most things. Nearly everyone gets sick in the first few weeks, but it does pass. Esp if you take heed to this: never drink water unless it is bottled, no matter what anyone says!</p>
<p>We love China! It is a fantastic, exciting place to be right now!</p>
<p>Best way to ship stuff to semester abroad??</p>
<p>Don't. There are stores in the UK. When DS was in the UK for a semester, his college advised against shipping ANYTHING to the students. He packed whatever he needed. One thing we did was keep in touch with other families who visited throughout the semester. Most were willing to take an item or two for our kid if we had needed that. We didn't. He did buy a couple of odds and ends...that cost WAY less than shipping back and forth from here.</p>
<p>Another thing we did was send some items on a "one way trip". We told DS to leave the linens in England, as well as any underwear. We purposely sent over the oldest of that stuff so it could be left behind on the return trip.</p>
<p>Thank you again hugeunot for all the good advice. It is my recent graduate who is moving and we've already been stocking up on the things you recommended. It's a great adventure and while I'm a little bit anxious I'm also very excited for her.</p>
<p>my daughter has a missing bag from Georgia, Atlanta to the UK finally to Spain
We have to replace 90 percent of her belongings because she was told to only pack one bag as allowed by the program she is abroad with. So does anyone have suggestions on the least expensive ways to send care packages with clothes, jackets, personal neccessities and so forth other than UPS or FedEx? Does the US postal service guarantee delivery?</p>
<p>Seems obvious from this thread that there is no truly cheap way to ship overseas; much better to buy things there. If the bag was truly lost, did you/she get some reimbursement for the lost items? Use it to buy some new stuff there.</p>
<p>No carrier would “guarantee” delivery. You can insure the parcel, and that’s about it. Sometimes I wonder where our research samples shipped overnight overseas and lost by FedEx ended up…</p>