Shipping to New Zealand

I’m in a pickle, and I need some help or advice. I’ve made some
wedding rings for a couple in New Zealand, and they requested that I
ship via DHL. It appears that DHL won’t accept a shipment of this
value, and neither will Fedex.

Is there some way I can get the rings out to them? I don’t really
want to just value them at $100 and cross my fingers.

I’m not worried about the legitimacy of the order, at least, since
they’ve already paid the invoice via wire transfer to my bank.

Loren

Hi Loren,

Is there some way I can get the rings out to them? 

I use a third party insurer called Parcel Pro. Don’t know if they
insure international deliveries, but it’s worth a look. Their address
is: www.parcelpro.com. They will establish an account for you with
UPS (if you don’t already have one), and insure the packages sent
using your account.

Matthew Crawford
www.MatthewDesigns.com

When I originally set up my website, I contacted numerous carriers
to get prices/availability of international services such as this and
found that no-one seems to want to touch jewellery as the items are
small, of high value and therefore ‘walk’ easily…not much help
I’m afraid…I’d be most interested to know if you do manage to
find someone…

:frowning: Kimmyg

Hi Loren;

It appears that DHL won't accept a shipment of this value, and
neither will Fedex. 

FedEx will allow a declared value of up to $500, to my knowledge,
regardless of what you ship. If you are a member of their “declared
value exemption” program, you can ship insured for up to 50 thou (at
around $0.25 per $100 declared value), and yes, it can be identified
as jewelry under that program. UPS will insure, but not jewelry per
se. Call it “artwork” and you’re OK as long as everyone else is on
board with that. Of course, there are third party insurers, but none
that I know of for a one time shipment. The post office will insure
anything, but it’s expensive. It’s actually less expensive to insure
via US post office if you send it registered. I’m not sure you can
send registered overseas, but it’s worth asking. Go to
http://www.usps.com where you can plug in your container weight and
dimension, and the to and from zip code, and you can get a price for
any type of shipping anywhere.

David L. Huffman

You might want to look at U-Pic. I’ve had several shipments from the
U.S. insured by this company. It seems to be easy to set up, and the
cost is reasonable.

Morna (Scotland)

Reply to my last reply…I went to Parcel Pro’s website, and they do
ship internationally with an insured value of up to $50K. Very
reliable service in as much as I’ve used them domestically.

Matthew Crawford
www.MatthewDesigns.com

Hi

I am about to use this company. They have multiple offices
worldwide.

www.oneservice.com

I can’t recommend them as yet as I have not had to make a claim for
a loss.

They simply insure your item when it is sent via Fedex. They do not
handle your item at all but will cover upto $50,000 with reasonable
rates.

All companies like this seem great on paper but it all comes down to
“do they pay up promptly if there is a claim”.

Kind regards
Chris Parry

It might sound over simple, but I would recommed Priority US Mail. It
can be insured, it can be return receipt ed there are lots of
options.

It will be delivered by the local postal guys.

With out question the most competent service is DHL. All other
international parcel deliverers are trying to catch up with DHL who
has been at it for decades.

Ben A Harris

Thanks for all the responses to my question.

I’ve looked into the possibilities and it seems that the two 3rd
party insurors mentioned are my best bet. I haven’t decided on which
one to use, but have looked at the and telephoned both
U-Pic and Parcel-Pro. I got a higher quote for my insurance from
U-Pic, but they seem more flexible, in that I just can just purchase
a policy on a single shipment without going through a long process or
creating an ongoing account. Parcel-Pro sent me a form to fill out,
asking for business references and a history of my losses in the last
three years, so the process is a little more cumbersome at the front
end, but they bid less on the actual insurance charge for this
package and they apparently have ongoing relationships with specific
carriers.

I’d appreciate it if anyone who has used either or both of them
could report on their experiences, positive or negative.

Loren

Loren,

I'd appreciate it if anyone who has used either or both of them
could report on their experiences, positive or negative. 

I’ve been using Parcel Pro (on UPS shipments) for about 18 months.
Rates are good, they charge my card as each parcel goes out, and are
helpful on the phone with any questions or concerns. They will even
insure an incoming package, as long as I get the paperwork faxed in.
My customers appreciate this service. I have not had to submit a claim
(thankfully), so I cannot speak to their response regarding payouts.

Matthew Crawford
www.MatthewDesigns.com

I have a friend who goes to gem and jewelry shows all over the world
(Bangkok, Hong kong, australia, france ect) and he carries two suit
cases with him for display. These suitaces are given to brinks who
piks it up at his office and delivers it to the show floor. At the
end of the show brinks comes to the show and piks up the suitcases
again and delivers to the next show or returns them. They even take
care of customs. And they will insure jewelry (Or cash or anything
else) without limit.

Costs less than you might think (Maybe $400 or $500). After getting
held up at gunpoint once in the parking lot after a show in tucson he
dont carry stuff with him anymore.

May not work for you but brinks might be worth a phone call for you
anyway.

Sincerely
DEAN