Lanny Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Tuesday, at Noon E.S.T., I ordered a used Math textbook for DD, from an Amazon Seller in Oklahoma City. They shipped it, via USPS Media Mail, with Tracking (my favorite shipping method for textbooks), to Miami, FL, on Wednesday. This morning (Friday), the USPS Tracking site shows it arrived in Miami at 141 A.M., E.D.T. Apparently, it misconnected, and will not be delivered to our Forwarder this morning, but, once again, the USPS has done a super job, getting things into South Florida for us. $3.99 Standard Shipping on Amazon. On previous shipments, to my astonishment, I have seen packages leave the USPS facility in Jacksonville, at 1 or 2 A.M., go South to Miami, and be delivered to our Forwarder, the same morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 Follow On: The U.S.P.S. Tracking web site is having issues today... They are showing the package went out for delivery in Miami this morning at 904 A.M., E.D.T. I suspect that it has been delivered, but that their Tracking is just not in "real time" today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriede Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 My DH and I are always surprised at how fast packages get to us here in Middle GA. It's certainly not the same feat as making it all the way into S FL, but we're usually pleasantly surprised by the USPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted August 24, 2013 Author Share Posted August 24, 2013 It was delivered in Miami, at 1051 A.M. yesterday. Media Mail, with Tracking, from Oklahoma City to Miami, in 2 days. :-) I just ordered a used Science textbook for DD, on eBay, from someone in Louisiana. Hopefully the USPS will do an equally wonderful job with that shipment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Follow on: Another great experience, with a textbook shipped via USPS Media Mail with Tracking! :-) Monday, the Science textbook I bought on eBay, last Saturday afternoon, was shipped from Lafayette, LA, to Miami, FL. It was delivered this morning (Wednesday) to our Forwarder. :-)BTW, looking on eBay, for this textbook was something that was an afterthought. The same textbook, in the same condition, on Amazon, at this time, would be approximately $50 or $60 more.. I would have waited, and kept hunting for that one, since DD doesn't need it right now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeterbug Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Curious about the forwarder...I've looked into it a couple of times and it was so pricey. Are you happy with yours? I'm in Australia, I suppose that affects the price. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Curious about the forwarder...I've looked into it a couple of times and it was so pricey. Are you happy with yours? I'm in Australia, I suppose that affects the price. :D Yes, if you are in Oz, it will be much more expensive, because of the distance. The Air Freight rate the Forwarder pays to the airline, for each kilo of weight, will be much higher. We are much closer to Miami than Los Angeles is, so the distance is short (as I recall, 1565 miles, from Miami to Cali). And, we are very lucky, because the cargo flights going South, from Miami to Colombia, are a "backhaul", with very low rates. The flights going North to the USA carry perishables (flowers, fresh fruit, etc.) and have high rates. That said. Yes. I am very happy with our Forwarder. Yesterday, the 2nd textbook I ordered for DD was delivered there. This morning, just after 8, it was in their system. I sent them information about both packages, about 830. About 2 P.M., they sent their Invoice and about 235 I paid them, with PayPal. During that time today, they Consolidated the 2 textbooks that arrived separately, into one shipment. If all goes well, it will be on a flight from Miami, tomorrow or Saturday, to Colombia. They get it thru Colombian Customs in Bogota and then they ship to Cali and then to our house and deliver the package. Now, here is where you might look for a Forwarder that will bring in small things for you. There are a number of excellent companies, in Colombia, that transport documents and (usually) small packages around Colombia. Sometimes the cartons are quite large. A number of those companies have offices in Miami, where they receive shipments for clients. I have a free account with one of those companies. I use their Miami address as my "Shipping Address" and then they do the rest. Some things, like books and textbooks, come into Colombia without paying anything to the government. Other things require a combination of taxes that can total up to 26 or 29% Check into Australian companies like UPS in the states, look on their web sites, to see if they have services like this. Look at the web sites of Australian companies that ship documents and packages around Australia! If you are going to be bringing in something large, or very valuable, then you need a true Freight Forwarder, such as Panalpina, and you are going to need a "Customs Broker", to clear the shipment thru Australian Customs. I would just let Panalpina do everything and give me one large bill. If the item is bulky, but the net weight is low, you will pay the higher of: (1) the weight for the "volume" of space that item is taking up (volume weight) or (2) the actual gross weight of the shipment Ask me how I know... After I moved here, I had a friend send one or two shipments, with special dog food and other things. I did not know that I needed an "Import License". Also, for the dog food, I needed a license or permit from the appropriate agency. After Customs being nice to me, once or twice, that's when I got Panalpina, to handle those issues for me. It depends upon what you are importing and the value of it. Paying someone like Panalpina could be expensive, because of their fees, but will save you a lot of work. And, time and possibly money... GL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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