Need Advice on Shipping Bogu from UK to United States

[amatsuda]

Dear UK Members of Kendo World,

I was hoping that you could provide some advice on the best AND safest method to ship Bogu from the UK (Scotland) to the United States. I am looking for a reasonably priced and secure shipping company.

I was considering shipping my Bogu back via FEDEX to the United States after the conclusion of the 12WKC.

I found a FEDEX location at:

Paisley
Unit A, Building 3, Marchburn Drive, Glasgow Airport Business Park, Paisley PA3 2PJ

This appears to be the FEDEX Depot closest to Glasgow.

Can anyone tell me how far it is from the Moathouse Hotel to this location? I can't seem to get accurate directions on Yahoo UK.

If anyone has any other suggestions of other shipping methods or companies and their locations, please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,


Arnold Matsuda
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/sjkendo

[blur]

Not an answer by any means, but have you ascertained whether the UK has any strange quarantine laws regarding wood? I was making enquiries with some overseas vendors (I'm in Australia), regarding the purchase of shinai and they pointed out that the shinai might not even reach me as being a wood product, it could be problematic to get into the country.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that even if one of our UK readers comes to your aid and you figure-out that the depot is only a shot distance away, what if local quarantine laws make it hard, or even impossible, for you to import a wood-based product into the country?

[JSchmidt]

"whether the UK has any strange quarantine laws regarding wood"

They don't.

As for the topic, using FedEx, they should be able to both deliver and pick-up whereever you want..you shouldnt have to deliver it to the depot.

Jakob

[Confound]

While we're on the subject of shipping things, does anyone have any good suggestions on how to get 4 sets of bogu plus iai and jodo gear shipped from Japan to Canada? July is creeping closer, and I haven't decided how to ship it yet. Any suggestions short of 'ship it to me please' would be appreciated.

c

[nodachi]

I don't have advice for if the bogu is special, such as if it was a gift or has sentimental value, but if it is just normal (for lack of a better word) bogu or equipment, wouldn't super insuring it garauntee that you will still have or be able to replace it should anything happen to it? It sucks to shell out money just to move stuff around, but it's still cheaper than buying a new set when you get back home.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by Confound
While we're on the subject of shipping things, does anyone have any good suggestions on how to get 4 sets of bogu plus iai and jodo gear shipped from Japan to Canada? July is creeping closer, and I haven't decided how to ship it yet. Any suggestions short of 'ship it to me please' would be appreciated.

Sea-mail is the cheapest. It takes 4-6 weeks, usually closer to 4. If you want it there fast, use EMS. That takes 2 days, but costs quite a bit more (11,000 yen for 1 set). If you send by sea-mail, it arrives in Canada via the post office and any duties which are assessed will be COD. If you send by EMS, it is handled in Canada by Purolator courier and you will get a bill about a month later on from a brokerage company for any duties owed. Don't use Fedex or UPS, they are twice as expensive as EMS.

As an additional note, you can't send shinai or bokken by sea-mail as the length limit for mail is 105 cm. You can send them by EMS, and when we order shinai from Japan this is the service we use.

[Kenshi]

Dear Arnold,

If you are leaving from Glasgow airport, then that FedEx office might be ok. To get there :

Its a train ride from Glasgow Central Station or a bus ride from Central Station, Queen St. Station, or Buchanan Bus Station.

It might be simpler just to use Royal Mail. It will certainly be cheaper. Check out - http://www.royalmail.com/

If you do this method, then you can send it from any UK Post Office.

Cheers,

[Kiki]

Dear Arnold,

Looks like you have some pretty good suggestions already but I'll share my knowledge with you anyway...

Shipping your gear back by air it’s quite expensive.
Assuming your bogu will fit in a 24” box (cube) and be less than 25 lbs. FedEx and UPS both charge by dimensional weight.
Est value of about $2000.00...
FedEx will run anywhere between $300 - $400 - not including insurance
UPS is about $250 - including insurance. UPS charges 0.35 per $100.

If you decide to ship I suggest you open an account with the company before you go. Then you just need your account number to order and will be billed in US dollars. Either way both companies will pick up from the hotel.

Another company that may be reasonable priced is "UPakWeShip" -
http://www.upakweship.co.uk/quotation.htm

The Internet has all kinds of shippers to check out

Lastly, the concierge at the Moathouse may have some good suggestions.
Plus they could get you an estimated cost on regular insured air mail.

By the way, you’ll need all the packing supplies with you unless you want to go to the drop off and pay extra for them to package for you or go buy it in Scotland. Plus you’ll need all the custom forms before hand. You don’t want to get charged Duty/taxes for shipping your own property back home. You want to mark the contents as “Personal Property/sporting equipment” or whatever the shipper recommends.

Have you considered these less expensive options:
Asking a teammate who’s coming back right after to bring your gear.
If your flying in and out of the same airport in the UK maybe you can stow your gear in an airport locker? Some hotels will let you keep your luggage there for a week or so. Sometimes they charge a bit. The later two options will require some phone calls to be sure and to check locker sizes & cost.

Good luck

[Confound]

The bogu isn't just sentimental, it's valuable. Two sets were gifts from my sensei, another was found in a back corner, gathering dust at school, and the very first one, I bought with my own hard earned money.

I was more worried about the cost of shipping such large articles via seamail. Which would be cheaper, a private shipping company or seamail? That's the main concern now. How much is it by seamail?

Not to be argumentative, but I recently sent home a bokutou, along with several other long items (an Edo period wallscroll, and an anime wall scroll), via seamail. They were about 107 cm long. Either there have been some changes in mail policies, or the people at the local post ofice are clueless. (The latter is more likely than the former.)

c

[nodachi]

I sent home a ton of boxes of things that I gathered when I left. The painful truth is that it is going to cost to send it home if you want it.

Sea mail is the cheapest. I heard from a fellow coworker who collected comics and sent them by sea mail and worked for a shipping company in sea mail and said it was pretty safe.

I hate to say it, but you are just going to have to spent the money if you want the gear.

You could always try to save a little by taking one of the sets as a carry on. May need to repack it in a non bogu bag if the dimensions don't fit what is allowed, but a few towels and it will be secure. I moved a computer home, screen, scanner, and CPU this way and it saved a bundle rather than shipping it.

OR

Mail some clothes and pack as much of the bogu as you can into your plane going luggage. The lighter stuff will cost less to ship and then you can personally oversee that you bogu makes it home.

And sorry for the duh statements, but I personally would rather carry the bogu with me and ship the clothes.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by Confound
How much is it by seamail?

The last thing I had shipped by seamail was a men, two keikogi and a few small pieces. The weight is probably similar to a bogu set, and it was shipped in the same box as Koei uses for sets. The cost was 4550 yen, it shipped April 4th and arrived yesterday.

If you are concerned about your valuable bogu, ship by EMS - as it is going by courier, it will be better taken care of and you will have a tracking number for it.

Not to be argumentative

Where's that eye-rolling emoticon when you need it... anyways you must have got lucky, or maybe you shipped by EMS and were unawares? I believe that in Japan EMS shipping is done through the post office. Anyways, normally you can't ship shinai by post, there hasn't been any change that I'm aware of.

[hammock]

Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill
As an additional note, you can't send shinai or bokken by sea-mail as the length limit for mail is 105 cm. You can send them by EMS, and when we order shinai from Japan this is the service we use.


Do you know who lays out these restrictions? Is it the Japanese side, the Canadian side, or an International standard for sea-mail? I was thinking that if your parcel is a little too large, they will just slap on an extra charge for sending over-size parcels.

[Neil Gendzwill]

AFAIK it's on the North American side, as the Japanese suppliers make the restriction when shipping to the US or Canada.

[hammock]

if anyone is interested in shipping Shinai or any long sized freight from South Korea:

just called the local postoffice in Seoul for surface freight to Canada and the US (sea mail).

Their regulation in regards of package size to North America is:
2*(height+width)+length < 300cm

and prices are as follows (surface mail 4-6 weeks):

2kg = 12 000 Won or around $14
10kg = 28 000 Won or around $32
20kg = 48 000 Won or around $55

btw, they recommended against shipping anything of great value by this method. (why?? damage? loss? i dunno, they didn't explain.. but if i do ship a bogu, i will be sure to buy insurance)

[Confound]

Neil,

It wasn't shipped EMS, I never ship EMS. It was most likely a person at the post office being lax.

c

[Lockie Jackson]

Hmmm...
When did you say you were leaving?

[Lockie Jackson]

Oh yeah. You know who I mean.

[amatsuda]

Originally posted by GeorgeMcCall
Dear Arnold,

If you are leaving from Glasgow airport, then that FedEx office might be ok. To get there :

Its a train ride from Glasgow Central Station or a bus ride from Central Station, Queen St. Station, or Buchanan Bus Station.
Cheers,

Dear All,

Thank you for all your suggestions.

How much would a taxi ride from the Moathouse to Glasgow Airport (FEDEX Office) approximately cost?

Any Ideas?

amatsuda

[iwatekenshi]

Confound,
Avoid the post office and go with Kuroneko Yamato/UPS. These two companies and the same when shipping around the world. When I went to the US a few years back this is what I used and it was there in less than a week. I paid a lot, over a ichiman I think, but it was well worth it. I put my shinais and iaito in an extra snowboard bag that I had as well. Then I used all those little onsen towels to wrap things up. It was the best thing that I ever did. Just some ideas.