Shipping A Keyboard

[balanar]

Hi all,

I'm curious about what postal company you guys recommend if I want to ship a keyboard (Filco majestouch 2 tenkeyless) from USA to Singapore? I've heard that UPS is expensive and that USPS is alot cheaper but equally as good. Is this true?

Also, what size flat rate box would I need if I wanted to fit  ~120 keys with the keyboard?

[nar]

When shipping stuff from the US to Canada I always try to get it shipped via USPS. And when I'm trying to get stuff fro Hong Kong and Japan shipped to Canada I ALWAYS use the local post.
I find EMS/Express services from the normal post offices are just as good as the standard courier stuff but way cheaper (There are exceptions here and there, for example if you use China Post to ship into Canada, it will be heavily delayed due to the way Canada Post routes China Post mail). Espesically since in Canada you sometimes get charged outrageous brokerage fees from couriers like UPS.

In the end I also hear that local post offices like USPS and what not sometimes just contract out their international shipping to UPS and other courier companies so your pretty much getting the same service for less.

[litster]

USPS.  Either as parcel mail for cheap, or EMS for fastest service and lower cost than UPS or DHL.

[balanar]

Thanks for the replies guys. Either EMS or USPS it is then. It is recommended that I use a flat rate box for the safety of the keyboard and keycaps right?

[fohat.digs]

USPS has a "Large Flat Rate" Priority Mail box that goes for $15 domestic and $58 international.

The normal "Large Flat Rate" box that they give away at brick and mortar Post Offices will not fit a keyboard, but you can order online, for free, the "Game Board" box which is a perfect fit for a keyboard.

You will have a box of them on your doorstep a few days later. Can't go wrong with free boxes.

[balanar]

USPS has a "Large Flat Rate" Priority Mail box that goes for $15 domestic and $58 international.

The normal "Large Flat Rate" box that they give away at brick and mortar Post Offices will not fit a keyboard, but you can order online, for free, the "Game Board" box which is a perfect fit for a keyboard.

You will have a box of them on your doorstep a few days later. Can't go wrong with free boxes.

Nice! But is that the cheapest shipping option I can get? And would it be able to fit 2 keyboards?

[fohat.digs]

I once checked with UPS and FedEx and both would have been well over $200 but would have delivered in 2-3 days. USPS says 7-10 days but usually does a little better than that. I have heard that some people love DHL and others.

The game board box will easily hold 2 keyboards, maybe even 3 if they were thin, as long as they were not in bulky original boxes of their own. I have a Leopold in a svelte original box from Elite and I know that 2 of those would fit.

A single keyboard (but not a monster Model M/F 122-key terminal board like I am using now) via Priority Mail will go a little cheaper on a short run, say $30-35 for East Coast-to-England, but I doubt that you will do significantly better otherwise.

[bootstrap]

Hi all,

I'm curious about what postal company you guys recommend if I want to ship a keyboard (Filco majestouch 2 tenkeyless) from USA to Singapore? I've heard that UPS is expensive and that USPS is alot cheaper but equally as good. Is this true?

Also, what size flat rate box would I need if I wanted to fit  ~120 keys with the keyboard?

When I have to ship from the US to Singapore - that's like once a month, on average - I use either vPOST or Borderlinx/DHL. The latter is more expensive but the service is superb and fast. So that's reserved for my most special items. vPOST is cheaper and slower but they have never managed to lose anything despite the bad press that they get. I avoid USPS because I find their service slow and the most expensive. As mentioned by fohat.digs, the USPS Large Board Game Box is perfect for most keyboards, so I ask sellers to use it - it's FOC. One thing you have to be careful about is volumetric weight, as opposed to actual weight. The couriers use the larger of the two. For this reason, I really try to avoid buying at Amazon because they tend to pack stuff in huge boxes.

[litster]

When I have to ship from the US to Singapore - that's like once a month, on average - I use either vPOST or Borderlinx/DHL. The latter is more expensive but the service is superb and fast. So that's reserved for my most special items. vPOST is cheaper and slower but they have never managed to lose anything despite the bad press that they get. I avoid USPS because I find their service slow and the most expensive. As mentioned by fohat.digs, the USPS Large Board Game Box is perfect for most keyboards, so I ask sellers to use it - it's FOC. One thing you have to be careful about is volumetric weight, as opposed to actual weight. The couriers use the larger of the two. For this reason, I really try to avoid buying at Amazon because they tend to pack stuff in huge boxes.

Hum, ah, how do you ship vPOST from the US?

[bootstrap]

Hum, ah, how do you ship vPOST from the US?

Here's the link to the vPOST service. Its parent is Singapore Post.

[litster]

OK, it is an re-shipping service to Asia.  It is not for people in the USA, is it?  I can't just ship something to Asia from the USA using vPost.