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Topic: Shipping to Japan? |
Ralph Czitrom
From:
Ringwood, New Jersey
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Posted 6 Jan 2023 10:47 am |
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| I have a lap steel for sale which an SGF member in Japan is interested in purchasing. He has asked if I would be willing to ship the guitar to him. I’ve shipped lap steels within the lower 48, but never internationally. Does anybody here have recent experience shipping to Japan? Thanks. |
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Bill Groner
From:
QUAKERTOWN, PA
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Posted 6 Jan 2023 10:56 am
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I sent a tone bar to Belgium once. Buyer asked me to put on the paperwork it was a gift. He said that way he would not be charged as much tariff. I guess it worked, he had no complaints and was happy. I think I sent it USPS and they helped me along the way.
_________________
Currently own, 6 Groner-tone lap steels, one 1953 Alamo Lap steel, Roland Cube, Fender Champion 40
Last edited by Bill Groner on 6 Jan 2023 11:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Raybob Bowman
From:
S. Lake Tahoe, CA, USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2023 11:17 am
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Not exactly recent, but shipped an amplifier to Japan maybe 8 years ago. Ipsparcel.com was best international shipping rate. They consolidate international shipping ia FedEx and others.
_________________
Sierra U12 4+5 / 1933 Dobro / homemade Tele B-bender |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 6 Jan 2023 12:48 pm
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I will not ship overseas.
Too much risk. 
Erv |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 7 Jan 2023 11:35 am
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Back around 2005 I shipped a vintage Mac computer to Iceland via USPS. Went ok with no issues.
I guess it depends on the buyer. DHL ships to Japan.
I buy camera gear all the the time from Japan. No issues (so far!). Just got an 80's OM-2n body from Japan in perfect shape.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 7 Jan 2023 1:00 pm
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Again, not terribly recently, but in the early 2000s I shipped some vintage HiFi stuff to Japan and Indonesia. Both via FedEx per the buyers' requests (and on their FedEx accounts). Shipping wasn't cheap, but in both cases the shipment arrived within a couple of days with no problems.
A couple of years ago, I shipped some steel guitar electronics to Germany. Also via FedEx. Took a couple of weeks to get there and through customs, but everything went fine.
Dave |
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Ralph Czitrom
From:
Ringwood, New Jersey
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Posted 7 Jan 2023 2:54 pm
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| Thanks all for your input. We’ve made a deal which includes shipping by International Parcel Services (ipsparcel.com), as Raybob suggested. They do international shipping for UPS and FedEx, and their price, in this case $204, includes pickup and delivery, insurance and tracking). Delivery in 4-7 days. Not exactly cheap, but I’m not paying for it. I’ll let you know how it goes. |
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Ralph Czitrom
From:
Ringwood, New Jersey
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Posted 18 Jan 2023 6:26 am
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| Here’s an update on my recent inquiry about shipping a guitar to Japan. I did a little research into IPS and read that there’s some scam involving their services (not caused by them but by hackers). I heard from Todd Clinesmith, who has shipped several guitars to Japan. Todd said he uses the U.S. Postal Service and has never had a problem with deliveries. I figured there’s no better source in this than Todd, so we went with it, costing $169, including tracking and proper insurance. Delivery went well and the guitar arrived six days after I shipped it. It’s a small world after all… |
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Raybob Bowman
From:
S. Lake Tahoe, CA, USA
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Posted 18 Jan 2023 8:09 am
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IPS is legit. I built and ran Tube-Tone amplfiers and shipped all international sales with IPS to many countries, Japan, Australia, Austria, Germany, France, UK, etc. Worked just fine from 2010 to at least 2016.
USPS is fine, just costs more.
_________________
Sierra U12 4+5 / 1933 Dobro / homemade Tele B-bender |
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Ralph Czitrom
From:
Ringwood, New Jersey
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Posted 18 Jan 2023 9:11 am
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| I’m not saying IPS isn’t legit. But being a newbie at international shipping, I felt that Todd’s input was worth following. As for price, in this case USPS was $35 cheaper than IPS for the same service. |
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Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 18 Jan 2023 9:45 am
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Ralph,
Glad it worked out for you.
When I sell on eBay I always offer international shipment. You always have to fill out a custom form, even if it is going to an APO or FPO.
I did 3 tours in Iraq and APO was our connection to the world.
A Marine in my unit bought a vintage 1968 Martin 12 string from Gruhn Guitars and had it shipped to Iraq via USPS APO. It made it with no issues.
Japan has a lot of vintage guitars and they tend to be in great shape. Their asking prices reflect that.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
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