Best way to ship international packages?

[ett]

My sister just left to study abroad in China for a year. My mother needs to ship some of her winter clothes to her that she couldn't take on the airplane with her. What would be the best/cheapest way to ship these packages and preferably not take months to get there? Thanks!

[Neatfreak]

My SIL has sent us a few things (we live in Thailand at the moment), and USPS has worked out really well. Packages arrive in 5-14 days, and it's a lot cheaper than using DHL or FedEx (though those are much faster).

I'd love to know if there are any other good alternatives as well!

[MamaMolly]

IME DHL is less likely to get 'rummaged through' on the non-U.S. end. If I were you I'd break it into a couple of smaller packages and send a few USPS and a few DHL just to see which gets there. Or gets there in one piece. Then send along the rest of the stuff that way.

[Rainbows&Roses]

Take it there herself? :) Seriously, bulky winter clothes are going to be heavy and expensive to ship.

I ship a lot overseas (although never to China) and USPS has always been the cheapest. But they have a definite size limit to the boxes you can ship. For adult clothes, I might get vacuum/space bags or something to compact them in order to get everything in one box.

I would not split up packages though because you pay an expensive base price and once you get to a certain weight, it is only a few more dollars per pound. They no longer have surface mail, so everything is air and gets wherever I have sent it quickly.

As a reference, I have sent about 18 lbs of kids clothes to Australia via insured express mail for a little over $100 (this include printing my label on-line discount.)

[mommy111]

USPS flat rater priority mail shipping boxes. But be prepared to have your stuff rummaged through at the other end with customs and to pay something there even if its totally unreasonable.

[lowrioh]

Take it there herself? :) Seriously, bulky winter clothes are going to be heavy and expensive to ship.

I ship a lot overseas (although never to China) and USPS has always been the cheapest. But they have a definite size limit to the boxes you can ship. For adult clothes, I might get vacuum/space bags or something to compact them in order to get everything in one box.

I would not split up packages though because you pay an expensive base price and once you get to a certain weight, it is only a few more dollars per pound. They no longer have surface mail, so everything is air and gets wherever I have sent it quickly.

As a reference, I have sent about 18 lbs of kids clothes to Australia via insured express mail for a little over $100 (this include printing my label on-line discount.)

I have the same advice. International shipping has gotten outrageously expensive. And when it gets there it may be assessed a lot of import taxes. USPS Priority mail seems to be less likely to go "missing" in my experience.
Could she find someone who is going over and send the clothing with them? You are usually allowed 2 suitcases for an international flight and a lot of folks don't take 2. When I was an exchange student my parents sent me clothing that way and we routinely send stuff over to South Africa with friends.
Otherwise it might be just as cost effective to have her buy stuff over there.

[ett]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I didn't realize that USPS eliminated the surface mail option.

[stefani]

Unless she is far from the norm of Chinese women, body wise, it will probably be cost effective to buy winter clothing there.

Shipping is expensive, and what I found is that the clothing bought in the same place it is worn tends to fit better. Not fitting in terms of size, but in terms of thickness, type of clothing, etc. The weather where she lives here may be quite different from the weather there.

I wish I can go, then I'll be happy to take a suitcase of clothing for her, :).

The few times I have sent packages to Asia, I used USPS. DHL is faster, but a small envelope (goods, not paper) cost me $70!

[Zansu]

On the other end of the spectrum, if you need to ship 150lbs or more, try DHL Global Forwarding (a different company that DHL Express, but still part of the DHL Corp family).

UPS and FedEx also have frieght services for foreign shipments, but DHL is the best of the group.

[army_mom]

USPS does have international flat rate boxes but the price varies on location and the boxes aren't going to hold many clothes but may come in handy to send care packages. My SIL is in the Peace Corps in Morroco and we send her boxes via USPS at the flat rate of $37 a box! And they do get rummaged through at the other end. Is there anyway she can get an APO? Or if she knows someone who is flying over there, put it in their luggage (even paying an additional baggage fee would be cheaper than mailing). If not, I agree with the posts above, mailing is probably not the most cost effective way.

[Neatfreak]

I'm actually surprised at how little my packages (one, only) get rummaged though by customs, considering that I now live in a country with a huge list of items that can't be imported. My SIL in Maryland and I have more thorough inspections by Canada Customs and US Customs when we mailed stuff to each to each other before we moved overseas!

I wanted to add that delivery time will also vary by how long it takes packages to clear customs in any particular country, and that isn't a reflection of how the package was sent necessarily. I have no idea how quickly that happens in China.

More on the rummaging - if you're worried about theft, it's just best not to send stuff that makes your packages a target.

How much stuff does your sister need? Lands End has international shipping at $28 for up to $100 of merchandise.