sending parcel from UK to China

[worriedmum]

With Christmas fast approaching (...well, in about 8 weeks ), my question is, how reliable is the postal service in China (Beijing), please? It states on the UK Royal Mail website that surface mail can take up to 12 weeks to arrive. Please comment from your experience on both airmail and surface mail service. Many thanks in advance.

[James Johnston]

I'm afraid I have no experience of surface mail, but I have found airmail very reliable and fast from the UK to China in the past. When I lived in a big city on the east coast of China letters and parcels could take as little as 5-7 days to arrive. Even when living in a village in the mountains, post wouldn't usually take more than two weeks to arrive. This usually meant that my Christmas presents from over-cautious family would arrive about a month early.

China's postal system doesn't suffer from the sort of overload that the British one does at Christmas time, so there shouldn't be any seasonal hold ups at that end. Of course, I can't guarantee that it will all go smoothly in your case, especially given all the recent postal strikes in the UK.

Also if you're thinking of sending a big parcel, it will probably get checked at Chinese customs. Even if they don't find any problems, the receiver still has to pay a charge for this inspection and therefore must go to the main post office to pay the fee and collect their parcel.

[ABCinChina]

I'm not sure about UK, but USA to China is pretty reliable. I sent a laptop with priority mail + insurance and it got there in two weeks. I sent a Coach purse with express and it got there in less than 3 weeks.

Just make sure you insure it, and if it's worth over $500, she may get charged a customs tax unless you say the product/gift is used. Then they'll open it and check it.

[xianhua]

I've never attempted surface mail due to the reaction of the staff in the post office. I always get the impression it's a case of 'slow boat to China'.

[succkaren]

if your parcle is not large and hearvy,you may try express, though it is expensive ,it is much safer than the common, I know DHL, UPS,TNT ,EMS. We always send samples to our customers from China to many courntries. You may try EMS, it is cheaper than others, of course , it takes more time than others. DHL is the fastest, and also the most expensive one .

[liuzhou]

Postage from the UK is very reliable.

As I've suggested before, if you don't mind some slight dishonesty, it is best to state on the customs label that the contents are 'educational materials'. That seems to prevent them looking too close. Or caring too much.

Even if they don't find any problems, the receiver still has to pay a charge for this inspection and therefore must go to the main post office to pay the fee and collect their parcel.

I have received many parcels, of all sizes, over the last 13 years and have never been asked to pay any 'inspection fee'. Once some import tax on a high value item, but that is all.

[James Johnston]

I have received many parcels, of all sizes, over the last 13 years and have never been asked to pay any 'inspection fee'.

But it did happen to me. The charge was only about ￥2, so of trivial expense, but I did have to go to collect the item. It was a few years ago now and I may be mistaken about exactly what the charge was for, but whereas all the other parcels I received over several years in China were delivered to my address, this one required collecting and payment of a fee. It's just something to bear in mind.

[BFC_Peter]

Besides the normal Air Mail used for overseas mail, you can only use 'International Signed For' when posting to China which is tracked just within the UK and should be signed for on delivery (but sometimes is not).

We send quite a bit of UK mail and while around 1-2% of that sent to UK addresses is 'lost', it is higher for overseas destinations.

There is an additional cost for ISF of around 3.50, the insurance cover is only 39.00? pounds (100 x 1st class post cost) but you can pay extra for higher cover.

We've used ISF a number of times in recent years and packages have always arrived but occasionally there has been quite a delay (several weeks in one case).

You will be asked to complete a customs form for the package (outside of EU) which asks for contents, weight, cost and a signature and date.

We'll also used some of the express services (Fedex, DHL), which are obviously much faster and can be tracked online but the cost will be around 40.00 pounds for the smallest of packages (if you're just sending a few documents you can get this a little cheaper) and you need various bits of documentation - we needed this for personal stuff as well.

If you are sending a considerable amount of stuff (suitcase full or more) then there are some freight services that specialise in this.

[worriedmum]

Thank you everyone for all the comments. As my parcel will not include anything valuable, perhaps what I should do is to make up several small parcels (even jiffy bags) and send them separately, rather than put everything in one box and raise suspicion + increase in postal charge. I seem to remember that parcels under 2 kilos are classed as "small packets" and are cheaper to send.... I will definitely look into the "signed for" method, to make extra sure. Thanks everyone, much appreciated!

[Daan]

BFC_Peter, would you mind sharing the names of those freight services?

[BFC_Peter]

A friend used the following company quite recently to send his stuff back home: -

INPRIME LOGISTICS

0161-8726677

0800-0431314

I'll look for the other company details that he had and post when I find them.

[BFC_Peter]

I don't know if any of these were followed up, they are all on-line: -

• http://www.excess-baggage.com
  
• https://www.transglobal.org.uk
  
• http://www.orionshipping.co.uk
  

You can get an on-line quote with at least one of these.

There are lots and lots of freight forwarders (import/export agents) around and while some of them may not deal with small loads like personal luggage, many of them do.

[Daan]

Thanks a lot, I'll definitely be looking into those companies when I leave next year. I've really bought too much stuff. Especially books ;) Appreciate it.

[Brian US]

Sorry to go a little off topic on an older thread but anyone else have experience with US to China packages?

I'm not sure about UK, but USA to China is pretty reliable.

My family sent me a package almost one month ago by priority and it still hasn't come. Another American classmate is having the same problem after nearly 2 months. I also sent a whole application packet to a school in Beijing last year with delivery confirmation. It confirmed delivery after two weeks, but the school still claims to have never received it...

I have received one small letter from the US, so I assume I have the right address. Anyone else experience such terrible/slow mail?

[Daan]

Could be any number of reasons I guess, although I must say my mail to China (and Taiwan) has always been delivered without any problems. Did you have your family write down the address in characters? Even here in Taipei, which is a pretty Western place as cities go, pinyin will often be an insurmountable obstacle.

[liuzhou]

I've spoken about this with a number of laowai of the American variety here in town. Mail from the US seems to take a lot longer than from the UK. No idea why.

Of course we Brits invented stamps and the whole concept, so we are ahead of the game!

[Brian US]

Did you have your family write down the address in characters?

I did give my family the address in characters, but also in English/pinyin if there were any problems. I figured they would use characters, but the last letter I received was in English/pinyin. However, my roommate said BLCU in Beijing is pretty well known and it shouldn't be a problem.

[Charmel]

Hi guys, i ve got also one question to this subject, can you please answer, if you know? i am going to order some perfumes and cosmetics for me from American and British online-shops to Beijing. Will i have to pay some taxes, when it arrives? or is there some limit, which i can order without that risk? waiting for reply... thanks

[Daan]

I think you would have to pay taxes in most cases, but it's best to check with the customs service of the country you are currently residing in. They would be able to tell you how much you can have shipped to you from abroad without having to pay import duties.