Shipping Luggage?

[mbiggers]

We are cruising to Rotterdam and then taking trains to Paris and London. I'd love to get rid of one of our suitcases and have seen a few websites that offer the service of picking up the bag at the cruise terminal and shipping it home. What I haven't been able to find out is how much the customs fees will be. Has anybody used such a service and what were the customs fees?

Thanks!

Michele

[jorapp]

You did not say where home was, but presuming somewhere in the USA, you might get a good answer by calling FedEx, UPS or one of the shipping/parcel companies.

 

I've never shipped luggage, but I did ship several boxes of stuff home on one trip. The shipping cost was much higher (from Italy to Michigan) than domestic would have been...something like 4-5x higher. How much of that was customs charges I don't know.

 

If you know of web sites for shipping/freight companies, check them out or give them a call. They will be able to give you some idea of the charges involved.

[kitty9]

I've shipped bags home numerous times from Europe, Asia and Africa, and there was never any US Customs duty. As long as you're only shipping clothing, and not any purchases from the cruise, you don't pay customs duty. What you have to do is attach a complete inventory of the contents of the bag, keep the bag totally unlocked so the Customs officials can open the bag and inspect the contents, and then hand the bag to the shipping company. You also should attach a statement that the contents of the bag are personal clothing items worn on a cruise. Of course, this is information for shipping to the US.

 

Shipping companies like Luggage Concierge and the rest, all charge a premium for their service. If you can, I would suggest shipping the bag on your own, via DHL/FedEx/UPS. They are a bit cheaper than those companies. Depending on where in the US you're shipping to, you can expect to pay anywhere from $300 to $500, also depending on the size and weight of the bag, when using a shipping company. It'll be less if you skip the company and ship on your own.

[Keith1010]

As mentioned there are no customs fees when you ship your luggage.

 

I would see if the cruise line offers this service. It is more money through the cruise line but more convenient than finding another company to ship your luggage for you since you are talking about doing this after you get off the ship. You would have to get to the company yourself to drop off the luggage.

 

You do need an inventory of the clothing but it can be a summary. For example, 10 shirts, 5 dresses, 8 pants and so forth. You can some up misc.items.

 

Keith

[mbiggers]

Thank you for your responses. I had looked at Luggage Forward website and they will pick up a suitcase under 50 # and ship to the US from the Netherlands for $304, but it also mentions filing customs paperwork to minimize customs fees, so I was worried that it may really add up. Good to know that you've never been charged duty. Maybe we'll try it. I just hate the thought of dragging a big suitcase on trains. If it gets lost, I guess Bill could use a new tux anyway!

Thanks again, Michele

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your responses. I had looked at Luggage Forward website and they will pick up a suitcase under 50 # and ship to the US from the Netherlands for $304, but it also mentions filing customs paperwork to minimize customs fees, so I was worried that it may really add up. Good to know that you've never been charged duty. Maybe we'll try it. I just hate the thought of dragging a big suitcase on trains. If it gets lost, I guess Bill could use a new tux anyway!

Thanks again, Michele

 

The paperwork is to show customs but essentially since all of what you are sending are previously purchased items since this would be used clothing there are no custom fees.

 

Keith