Parcels from UK to USA- Advise & Experiences needed....

[Stephie]

Hello everybody,
our first "official" month is approaching and I never did send any parcels to the USA so far (but I am very ambitious in catching up on this!). As my SO just started to learn how to cook (for me!) by hazard I spotted in a shop an apron-set which matches perfectly with his nickname so I couldn't resist but buying and I found some Pasta in shapes of trains, planes and cars which just suits to our long distance.

I will add some more bits and pieces but my main questions is what do I need to consider before sending and how do I declare it correct? And what to declare, e.g. do I add that there is another card in it and some hand written recipes or a small self-made recipe book?

The man in the post office gave me this tiny sticker to put on and I did some research but I am still not sure how to do right and where exactly pay attention for?

As I am sure some of you already gained lot's of experiences in this matter I would be very grateful if you could share this with me.

And is there an average time it normally takes to be delivered?

Thank you so much already
Stephie

[lademoiselle]

Check out this guide to international delivery by the Royal Mail, it should cover everything you need to know

I'll answer your questions from personal experience too. All you have to do is fill in the sticker; I've left the "weight" field blank before because I had no idea how heavy each item in my parcels were, but the clerk at the post office said that was fine. For safety's sake I declared everything that my parcels contained though, even the cards - I wasn't sending to my SO but a good friend of mine, I'd tell her not to read the details of the sticker so the surprise wouldn't be ruined One of the parcels I sent took a week to arrive and the other took about 9 days, which is pretty much the average length of time (you should allow 25 days before reporting it lost). I hope that helps a bit!

[Stephie]

Thank you already for the answer, I checked out your link and need to study this further but I have two more short questions for you:

Did you send it via the normal mail or did you choose another option for being able to track it?
Have you ever sent any food in the parcel too?

[lademoiselle]

No worries! I sent mine via ordinary Airmail, as after the price of the stamp had been calculated I found I simply couldn't afford tracking. I think tracking is worthwhile (for the sake of your peace of mind) if you can comfortably pay for it, but even if not, the postal service is generally reliable so there's no real reason why your parcel shouldn't reach its destination safely and on time. As for sending food, I have done; in my first parcel was a chocolate egg gift box and a small bag of truffles. I just noted them down on the sticker, added how much they were worth, and everything was fine!

ETA: Hello from a fellow Londoner

[Stephie]

Thank you very much and yes we are not that much apart locally ;-)

[lucybelle]

I'm not sure about UK to USA but when my friend sent me something from USA to Costa Rica she got it insured, had a tracking number and everything. Well turns out that tracking number is only good while it's in the USA, as soon as it leaves the country that tracking number is useless. I never got my package. Maybe UK and USA are a little more organized than the *censor censor*'s that work here in CR.