Cheapest way to mail USA-Europe

[lucybelle]

I definitely tried to look this up to no avail. What is the cheapest way to send a small package from USA to Europe? I want to send my friend some small gifts. When I looked up on USPS website they quoted me an astonishing $66!!!! Wtf? I thought I'd pay around $25, I'd maybe even pay up to $30, but $66?? No way, Jose. I don't like my friend that much

[Sarah96]

I'm not sure what you're sending/how large it is, but I know with certain envelopes instead of boxes you can get the price as low as about $14, from experience. Some envelopes average around $23-27 with the USPS to go to Europe. But if it's large and won't fit in an envelope then maybe FedEx/UPS/DHL or something other than USPS? Sorry this probably wasn't much help.

[Shauny]

Never use national postage services like USPS or the Post Office/Royal Mail. It's a very expensive service and deliveries take far too long.
Your best bet is to use FedEx or DHL. They're global companies that serve worldwide so there's no hand overs etc it's all done with them and their feeder companies. They also do what is known as 'International Priority' so that international packages are dealt with first. Therefore these companies are about half the price and twice as fast. Here's my experience.

My SO has sent me two packages, both with USPS. They took 10 and 7 days respectively, costing around $70 for each delivery.

I've sent her 3 packages.
The first was with FedEx. Cost me £35/$54 (weighed 4kgs/9lbs though) and took 3 days from Friday to Monday. I was tracking it and I even saw movement on the Sunday!

The second and third were with DHL. Both cost about £22/$34 each and weighed about 2kg/4lbs each. The first took 3 days and the latter took 4 days only because she wasn't home at the time so was redelivered the next day (but you can call and choose to pick it up from the nearest depot).

The good thing is you do them online, right out the too and from, enter the dimensions and weight of your box and you're given a fixed price. They then send you an itinerary and package sticker to put on your box. You then take it to the depot, they inspect the contents very quickly without question and then that's it it's away! FedEx also give the option to pick up from your house at a designated time although you can't choose the time and it's rather broad e.i between 10am and 5pm. You are emailed the tracking number so you can track your packages.

[emsimes]

It's such a rip-off trying to send packages to Europe :/ I don't even bother with DHL or FedEx anymore..
How big are the gifts that you want to send? I've sent my SO small gifts in those larger international envelopes that you can buy at USPS. It cost me around $10-$15. I'm not sure if that'll work for you, depending on the size of your gifts, but it might be worth a shot!

[MissingMyDutchLove]

I would try to go into the post office/other places and see what they quote you in person. When I tried price-comparing online in the past, the quote I got was very different from the ones in the actual store. From my experiences, USPS tends to be the cheapest (especially if it's a light box or you get one of those boxes that as long as it fits it's always the same price).

[lucybelle]

I think one of those envelopes might be the way to go. Those flat rate boxes are the ones that I was quoted $66 for a medium box. I'll have to see if I can fit everything into an envelope!!