Ship items back home while traveling?

3/7/2013 4:33:06 PM

Another option are luggage delivery services. You can call them and they come and pick up your luggage and drop it off at your destination/home. They work by the pound. Luggage free (www.luggagefree.com) is one of the cheaper options I found. From Japan to the USA it’s about $7/lbs which comes out to be about $100 for 6kg. It might be a better value than EMS only because they include insurance up to $1000 and tracking.

3/7/2013 3:25:12 PM

Depending on the country, a box sent through the regular mail service works fine.

We had to do that when on vacation in the US, to ship back items to France since we also knew that these would not fit inside our suitcases.

UPS asked us $150. USPS did it for $40. If you ask DHL, FedEx which are in the premium range, it can be expensive.

Also, during another earlier trip, we simply bought an extra suitcase before heading home. If you expect to have “leftover” baggage allowance at your airline, this can be the solution. It costs you the price of the newly acquired piece of luggage, which can be reused later.

Anyway, take note of the restrictions of the local post system. For instance, USPS does not allow shipping batteries… thus disqualifying all tech items like cell phones, tablets, cameras.

3/7/2013 1:53:41 PM

I’ve just checked on Japan Post for the rates on a 6kg international parcel.

The EMS (Express Mail Service) to Wyoming cost 9600 yen, which at current exchange rates is ~$100.

Of course the price could change with different declared values, insurance, etc. But in either case it will be $700 (FedEx)

Of course this may vary based on the country of origin, for example in former USSR I wouldn’t use mail to ship internationally unless I know there is nothing valuable in the parcel.

3/7/2013 12:18:05 PM

Just use regular mail. It’s pretty much always the cheapest option available. And if you ship from main post offices, even shipping from developing countries generally is reliable, if slow.

But, it never is extremely cheap. The few times I’ve done this, I used regular mail, but the cost is not always worth it.

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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