Best method of send parts from the UK to Europe.

[K Simmonds]

I've sold a pair of drive shafts to a member in Holland, I got quotes from various companies based on the size and weight of the the parcel, no problem, a couple said they could send them for the amount I'd quoted the member. All fine I thought.

I've just sat to do the booking and it's a nightmare, I've already established I have to declare the package as a gift otherwise it get's stupidly complicated and the member will get clobbered with tax.

One has to find a code for a specific product, I found the right one for 'Axels' but Parcel2go does not recognise it nor does ParcelHero who were slightly cheaper.

It must be more simple than this.

How do folk over here send items to members in Europe? Can someone please recommend a booking site that work with sending car parts?

I'm tempted to take the package to the post office in the morning and simply try sending it normally, it's not actually that big or heavy.... I'll know it'll cost me more and I'll have to fill out a customs form but I've done this before and it was simple and I don't care about a few quid extra.

Much more of this nonsense and I'm going to loose my temper.

[Tractor Dave]

It's got quite difficult since Brexit
I sent a parcel to Malta using dhl. They collected it from my house. 10 days later they returned it to me without explanation. I tried several times to contact DHL and sent several emails. They never responded. I was refunded by PayPal.
Parcel Force global will be an option but they are quite expensive.
When selling anything outside the UK now I make it clear to the buyer that they take the risk with postage and taxes payable.

[K Simmonds]

Hasn't it just, I sent a load of parts to a guy in Austria, that I just took to the post office and used Parcelforce and it was pretty simple.

It was DHL I was trying to book with through the sites I've mentioned, what you've just said has put me off using them. I'm going to have something to eat and do a general search on the net as it ridiculous asking for a specific code, going to the trouble of finding said code and then it not be accepted.

I trust Parcelforce, it's who I use for all my UK delivery's, they've only ******ed something up once by getting a package to the recipient a day late, nothing major.

Perhaps I should just go to the post office and use Parcelforce and avoid the stress.

[tango123]

I would go to the post office, it would be easier as they know what the different codes mean.....

[Rikki Kitto]

Parcel force maybe be a little more cost wise but we'll worth it if things go wrong and they rarely do to be fair

[K Simmonds]

Right, I found a really good solution to this, I'm quite pleased with myself.

Use Parcel2go and when they give you the various options choose 'Parcelforce local drop off' as they are affiliated with Parcelforce so the item will get sent using them.

However they offer a huge discount over Parcelforces own prices, which I checked online, they were astronomical, it would have made the 'sale' not viable.

It's still more expensive than DHL or DPD but I trust Parcelforce and it wasn't too much more and Parcelforce has better insurance options, with automatic cover to £100, pretty much the value of the items, perfect!

So go through the motions entering the weight and size of your package and the delivery address, along with phone number and email etc.

Then chose the 'drop off at local post office option' it then allows you to make the booking without having to enter a stupid code.

You get a few option's to choose from for the reason for export and you simply select one of them. The options were Sale, Sample, Gift, Personal effects or Return.

I went for 'Personal Effects' as once the member has paid me for them the shafts are his from a legal point of view. I'm not a shop or official vendor.

I thought of using gift, but who sends two Audi 80 Drive Shafts to someone in Holland as a gift, not many normal people.

Personal effects simply means items that belong to a person, it doesn't matter what they are, it could be a jumper it could be some Audi Drive Shafts.

As long as the chap in Holland just says they belong to him and a friend has forwarded them to him then he won't have to pay any import tax and technically no one's really being dishonest.

Whereas sending drive shafts as a gift does seem a little odd, well it does to me anyway. And if I'd said it was a sale then he'd get clobbered with import taxes.

Sorted, I just have to print off some labels at my folks place tomorrow then drop the package off 2 miles away at the closest post office.

[Ian Simmonds]

Right, I found a really good solution to this, I'm quite pleased with myself.

Use Parcel2go and when they give you the various options choose 'Parcelforce local drop off' as they are affiliated with Parcelforce so the item will get sent using them.

However they offer a huge discount over Parcelforces own prices, which I checked online, they were astronomical, it would have made the 'sale' not viable.

It's still more expensive than DHL or DPD but I trust Parcelforce and it wasn't too much more and Parcelforce has better insurance options, with automatic cover to £100, pretty much the value of the items, perfect!

So go through the motions entering the weight and size of your package and the delivery address, along with phone number and email etc.

Then chose the 'drop off at local post office option' it then allows you to make the booking without having to enter a stupid code.

You get a few option's to choose from for the reason for export and you simply select one of them. The options were Sale, Sample, Gift, Personal effects or Return.

I went for 'Personal Effects' as once the member has paid me for them the shafts are his from a legal point of view. I'm not a shop or official vendor.

I thought of using gift, but who sends two Audi 80 Drive Shafts to someone in Holland as a gift, not many normal people.

Personal effects simply means items that belong to a person, it doesn't matter what they are, it could be a jumper it could be some Audi Drive Shafts.

As long as the chap in Holland just says they belong to him and a friend has forwarded them to him then he won't have to pay any import tax and technically no one's really being dishonest.

Whereas sending drive shafts as a gift does seem a little odd, well it does to me anyway. And if I'd said it was a sale then he'd get clobbered with import taxes.

Sorted, I just have to print off some labels at my folks place tomorrow then drop the package off 2 miles away at the closest post office.

Where the wisened old bat will suck her tea strained teeth and reject your ‘personal effects’ out of hand…. Well, that’s my experience at our ‘friendly’ local Post Office emporium.

[K Simmonds]

Where the wisened old bat will suck her tea strained teeth and reject your ‘personal effects’ out of hand…. Well, that’s my experience at our ‘friendly’ local Post Office emporium.

Fortunately I know the staff at the local post office quite well, their all quite laid back types who just want to get the job done, as rule they're actually very helpful...

I know as long as all the paperwork is there and correct they won't even raise an eyebrow, they'll just type in the details to their computer, briefly check that I have the right documents then ask me to put the box in the wheeled cage thing the Parcelforce guys use to pick all the large packages.

I don't really want to get too deeply into politics as that is a personal matter. Unless your a total left wing, super woke nutter I really don't care what your affiliations are, it's your choice as a free person. Both the major parties in this country are currently pretty useless, effectively two sides of the same coin, I don't like either of them...

It was a difficult choice, however I will say I was pro Brexit, I'm a Libertarian so object to unnecessary rules which we have enough of as it is without being governed over by a further body of bureaucracy. Not to mention the vast sums of money that's wasted on ridiculous jollies that MEP's get to attend, funds that could be better spent helping less well off members of society.

But seems that in return the EU has decided to make as difficult as possible for private individual's to conduct any sort of trade.

You really can't win.

[Rikki Kitto]

Great solution bud hop[e it works out

[Rikki Kitto]

I got an ally rad from Norway that was sent as replacement parts which doesn't involve having to pay tax only have to pay tax on new parts I think

[struikie]

Much appreciated Kit

JW

[K Simmonds]

No problem Jan, I’m at my folks place now about to print the labels and paper work out, going to get it on it’s way this afternoon….

Just remember, their your drive shafts I’m merely forwarding them

RIkki, as soon as you say there’s been a sale or trade involved you need the stupid codes that don’t work and an international trade number which you have to apply to HMRC to get and takes weeks. The only way’s around it are the Personal Effects or Gift options, I played about with the settings and I reckon Personal Effects was the most appropriate.

[K Simmonds]

Dropped of at the Post office no problems whatsoever, my method of circumventing EU bureaucracy appears to work.

[struikie]

Just remember, their your drive shafts I’m merely forwarding them

You borrowed them to test fit them. And now you are returning them

Dropped of at the Post office no problems whatsoever, my method of circumventing EU bureaucracy appears to work.

Now lets see what de Dutch customs think...

JW

[K Simmonds]

I'd imagine all Dutch customs are bothered about is the vast quantity's of white stuff that flow through the country from South America, I don't expect them to give much of a stuff about a couple of Audi 80 drive shafts.

Yes, that's a good one, I borrowed them to test fit, I'll have to remember that, good thinking.