<My Web site refers all inquiries, orders, and requests for information to my ordering Web page.
That page has ordering information, terms of sale, and how to reach me. This page has
specific information for my customers outside the United States.
The most recent revision of this page is June 21 2012.
For shipping outside the US our strong preference is US Postal Service, Air Mail. THey are cheapest and generally reliable. Read the information on current USPS services below carefully but I make no guarantees my description of these new services is complete, accurate or correct. There are also commercial services available and they are mentioned below. Further information is on Web sites for all these services.
SUMMARY: There is no longer "Air Mail" or "surface mail" from the US Postal Service (USPS). Ordinary US Postal Service shipping outside the US is by "first class" or "Priority Mail International" services. THESE SERVICES DO NOT PROVIDE FOR TRACKING OF PACKAGES. There are more expensive "express" services from the USPS which provide tracking services, at higher costs; and there are companies like Federal Express and United Parcel Service and others which offer more expensive shipping services. There may be other USPS services or options available. From my quote to you, you will have enough information to go to the Web sites of any of these services, and see likely costs, but IF I AGREE TO USE ANOTHER SERVICE, I'll add a fee to deliver my package to them and to give them the additional paperwork they will likely need.
< a href="http://www.usps.com/welcome.htm">The US Postal Service Web site is at www.usps.com.
Methods of shipping, non-US
United States Postal Service
What was called "Air mail" is no longer available. Services are now called "First Class Mail International", apparently for documents and letters and customer's packages; and "Priority Mail International" apparently for either customer or USPS-provided packages. Depending on the country, there may be insurance and there may be "return reciepts" available for these services. There are no tracking services available for these services if they are not recieved. Consequently we cannot confirm delivery for items shipped in this way. We can notify the Post Office of the situation if not recieved, but they do not offer any tracking services. But our experiences are that international packages shipped this way, and properly packed, seem to arrive reasonably intact and in reasonable time, often a few weeks.
There may be "registered mail" or "insured mail" options for some services to some countries. Registered mail service includes a mailing reciept when sent, and a record of delivery when recieved, but limits the amount of insurance available. There is a minimum insurance amount for some services at no cost, more at additional cost. These extra services may or may not be available, it depends on your country.
Services which apparently include tracking services are "Express Mail", "Express Mail Guaranteed" and "Global Express Guaranteed" services, in order of expense and speed of delivery. These are more expensive than First Class or Priority. These services include or have as options the following: minimum insurance with more available for a fee, faster shipping time, return reciepts, and tracking information. Inquiries to the Post Office about delays in your reciept MUST come from the shipper - that's me - no sooner than 3 days after mailing, up to at least 30 days for "Guaranteed" services and 90 days for Express Mail services.
The services available for each country can be found by checking the USPS Web site at usps.gov, and by selecting "calculate international postage" or "International postage" to determine options for a specific country and package by weight and size. Exhaustive detail is in an "International Mail Manual" on the Web site; and there is other information on the Web site.
We will provide a quote for shipping, packing and handling for the appropriate service. We charge an additional fee over shipping costs, due to costs of packing, time to pack and deliver to the post office, to the extra paperwork of customs, and to cover the occasioinal underestimate of actual shipping costs of other orders.
For customs purposes, your order is documented as "merchandize" and valued at the cost quoted: any other statement is a violation of US federal law. Insurance is necessary to provide a means to find your package or to recover value if lost. However some countries do not offer insurance services for mail. On-line tracking of your package may be available at extra cost, or as part of some of the USPS shipping methods mentioned here. Those services vary by country. Let me know if you want them.
If a package is not recieved, I must know within 30 days, in order to meet some USPS requirements of when to file an inquiry. (Some mailing services allow for longer periods to file; some services do not allow an inquiry to be filed.) The USPS will have up to 60 days to respond, if they can accept an inquiry. I can't file a request with the USPS before 30 days after mailing.
The US Postal Service Web site is http://usps.com. Their site will answer many questions and provide on-line estimates of shipping costs and services if provided appropriate information. In our quote, we will estimate the shipping weight and WE will provide a quote to you based on shipping, packing, and handling costs, plus any other service requested.
We can if necessary ship internationally by United Parcel Service (UPS) or Federal Express (FedEx). We will not use DHL due to poor service. If you have an account with FedEx or UPS, we will need your account number, and YOU MUST SPECIFY THE EXACT SERVICE you wish from them, as they offer many kinds of shipping services. Please note that they may limit the kinds of services they allow us to use with your account. We will charge you a fee for packing and handling, and for the additional paperwork and effort required for use of these services.
We will not ship via other services, even if they are in the United States. If you insist on using a shipper other than the ones specified, I suggest you find a way for us to ship an item TO that service, who will then ship to you; it is up to YOU, not us, to make any such arrangements.
In any and all events, we are not your agent. We will not contact your agents or third parties, make arrangments for you, represent you or your order, arrange for pickups by couriers or services. We will only SHIP TO, at your expense and prepayment, either you or your designated agent. Period.
I ACCEPT US checks or US money orderss in US dollars; International Postal Money Orders in US dollars; payments through Western Union and payments through MoneyGram. Many financial services provide checks from US banks or financial organizations in US dollars. I don't take non-US payments because, simply put, US banks charge a lot to take checks from non-US banks and/or in non-US dollar currencies. I'll take US currency (dollars) but that's some risk for you to mail currency. Details are below.
I DON'T ACCEPT credit cards or online payments or PayPal; or bank wire transfers to my bank account. These services or methods are either expensive, put my funds at risk, or require me to pay for a complicated service. (Bank account transfers are not commonly done in the US except for very large amounts.) I have more notes on why these are not acceptable. Read below for what I DO accept.
This is how my US customers pay me. If you have access to a US bank account, so can you! Personal checks from US banks, credit unions, and other US financial institutions are fine. Bank checks from a US bank, US financial service, etc. in US dollars are fine. In addition, Some international financial service companies, offer check payment services from the Web. You pay them with a credit card or other means. Some of them mail checks from within the US to me directly: this may save you postage AND get to me faster. It is up to you to find such companies and determine if such companies can provide a check as I've described, by postal mail. I will not join a service (like PayPal) to "accept" payments. You are responsible for any service you choose to send payment.
It's not enough to "get a check in US dollars" but from a non-US bank or financial service. Many international banks or financial services have offices, branches in the US. They can provide you with a check "payable" from their US branch, in US dollars. You can ask them to create a check from that branch or office and send it to you, or they may be able to send it directly to me. Often the branch is in New York City; for instance, the check will say "the Bank of England, issued from New York City, NY, USA". Contact your bank or financial service for more information and costs. These are likely to cost several US dollars, to a few tens of US dollars.
Many non-US customers pay by International Postal Money Orders, from their Postal Service, in US dollars. My customers in Japan and Canada often use this service. Where available, International Postal Money Orders are the cheapest method, often costing only several US dollars. Contact or check the Web site of YOUR Post Office or Postal Service in your country, for more information and fees. Some Postal Services use MoneyGram services, which are described on this page.
Western Union offers on-line payment methods using customer's credit card on line, or by telephone, or at a physical location near you. I can often pick up payment in a day or two after you pay Western Union. They will charge you a fee, examples are below. If you pay on-line, your must set up an account with Western Union. Western Union has offices around the world, and are available at check cashing facilities, shops, and other locations. At those facilities, you can pay them in local currency, no account needed. They are a popular choice for international private money transfers by individuals. Review the information on their Web site for your country to find locations and details of how to send payment. Check ahead for costs before you send payment! Examples fees are below.
There is a simple procedure about using Western Union or MoneyGram, so please review these instructions.
Western Union charges the sender for payment. That fee varies by country, from several to 15 US dollars (the equivalent in your currency). Please contact Western Union to find out the fee in your country.
MoneyGram offers on-line payment methods using a customer's credit card on line, or you can pay at a physical location near you. I can often pick up payment in a day or two after you pay MoneyGram. They will charge you a fee, examples are below. If you pay on-line, your must set up an account with MoneyGram. They have offices around the world, and are available at check cashing facilities, shops, postal services in some countries, and at other locations. At those facilities, you can pay them in local currency, no account needed. Review the information on the MoneyGram Web site for your country to find locations and details of how to send payment. Check ahead for costs before you send payment! Examples are below.
There is a simple procedure about using MoneyGram, so please review these payment instructions.
MoneyGram charges the sender for payment. That fee varies by country, from several to 15 US dollars (the equivalent in your currency). Please contact MoneyGram to find out the fee in your country.
I certainly accept "cash", paper currency, in US dollars. But you are not protected if that cash is lost in the mail. It's possible that some countries limit the mailing of currency. But for small-cost orders, the risk is acceptable to many of my customers. US dollars are available at some banks, post offices, travel agencies, currency exchanges, etc. Please don't send YOUR CURRENCY - pounds, Euros, etc.
Many banks, travel agencies, airports, hotels, and some Postal offices offer Traveller's Checks in US dollars. Costs may vary, from zero to some percentage of total value. They are in fixed denominations, and so I may have to adjust the price (or you may have to send slightly more payment). These require your signature when you send them; then I must sign them at the bank where I deposit them. These are somewhat inconvenient all around, but it may happen that you have some on hand or you are more comfortable using them.
I don't take Paypal because it would cost me about 9% of each transaction to do so. That is based on PayPal's 2007 fees for currency conversion, cross-border payments, etc. etc. Also they have a complicated set of rules and no appeals to their decisions. They make it easy, and free, for buyers and payers of course.
I don't take credit cards because of their fees and costs, much like PayPal.
I generally don't take non-US checks. US banks charge me about $40 US or more per such checks.
I don't take non-dollar currencies because US banks don't accept non-US currencies. Few businesses in the US know what to do with non-US currencies, period. Only American Express in the USA seems to offer currency exchange, and I've not checked on that lately.
Brief description: I don't have a Western Union or MoneyGram account, and you don't need an account to send payment. You can go to a local Western Union or MoneyGram service and send payment immediately. (Or you can use their Web services, that may require an account.) Then I pick up your payment at my local service, after identifying myself and identifying the transaction number you are given, and I tell them the amount and the sender's name and address. You the customer gets that transaction number when making your payment. You pay a fee for sending payment. I can pick up payment shortly after I know you've sent it when you give me the information I've described. Details are below.
If you wish to use a Western Union service or a MoneyGram service, you'll have to locate one convenient to you. Their Web site will help you find a physical location where you can pay locally. They also offer on-line service. Your Postal Service may use one of these services, check your postal Web site. You can pay at one of their local offices, without an account. Or, you can pay on the Web (online) with your credit or debit card, if you set up an account with them. In the United States, their offices are found in places which cash checks privately (but not banks), and in groceries and department stores. Be sure you know the costs of this service to you.
Details:
This describes the information you need from me to make the payment; and information I need from YOU, to RECIEVE the payment.
To make a payment at a Western Union or MoneyGram office or on-line service, their agent will need to know my name, postal address and US phone number. I will provide those with my quote. They may not need my street address or phone number, that's fine, provide what their forms request.
In addition, they will request the name and address OF THE PERSON PAYING. I need that information too, especially if you the buyer are not making payment, so please provide that information to me. I also need to know the CITY and COUNTRY where payment was made, as it may not be the same location as your shipping address.
When you make payment, they will provide you with a "transaction number" with your payment form. It's a nine or ten-digit number. I need the transaction number, and the exact amount in US dollars sent to pick up the payment. This is the most important information I need.
Make sure the payment refers to my CORRECT ADDRESS AND NAME. Check your reciept and confirm my city is "EWING" and my "state" is NEW JERSEY, initials "NJ", and country as the United States.
After you pay, send me an email and provide me with the information above - the name of the person paying (probably you), where YOU PAID (city and country), the amount, and the TRANSACTION NUMBER. I may need all of this information to pick up payment.
Sometimes the Western Union or MoneyGram agent will tell you "he only needs the transaction number". Also these services may caution you about "fraud", or "buying from strangers over the Internet". It's good that these services are cautious about fraud and deceptions. I don't engage in fraud, you can look all around my Web site and make that decision. I need the information I request, to fill out the forms I fill out, and I don't want to argue with the clerks who give me my payment, about what information they "need" or don't need. They too are worried about fraud, and if I give them different information than you provided, that may make it difficult for them.
Thank you for your patience and consideration, and of course your order and payment. - Herb Johnson
One of my customers in the UK forwarded this information after he made an inquiry about his payment of VAT and duties on an order from me in the U.S. This is dated October 2005, and the information below is subject to change at any time and may not apply to your country. Our receipt always shows a value for the items purchased, and a value for packing and shipping costs. Our goods are NOT "gifts" but merchandise, we cannot claim otherwise. One pound is about 1.60 US dollars in 2011.- Herb Johnson
(quote) If your query is in regard to how or why UK Customs charges are levied, general information on this can be found at www.hmce.gov.uk.
I would like to explain that all goods (new and second hand) sent from outside the European Community are liable to Customs Duty and VAT if the value of the goods is over £18. If the parcel contents are a gift from a private person abroad to another person in this country the limit is raised to £36.
Duty is charged as a percentage of the value of the goods. The percentage varies depending on the type of goods and the country of origin. Duty is charged on the price paid for the goods including any local Sales Tax plus postage, packing and insurance costs. Duty amounts of less than 10 Euros are not raised.
VAT is charged at the same rate that applies to similar goods sold in this country.Most items are liable to Vat at the standard rate of 17.5%. The value of the goods for import VAT is based on the value for duty plus any duty charged.
(end quote)
Herb Johnson
Copyright © 2012 Herb Johnson
New Jersey, USA
my ordering Web page