Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/12/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Like Grant, I've had excellent luck with FedEx too. Their package tracking is second to none, and their econo service is highly competitive to all but UPS Ground/GroundTrak. It is easy to get one's own FedEx account and lots of free goodies, including FedEx Ship software, export documentation software and more. I primarily used the Mac versions, which run like molasses. I did try the Windows versions found these to be slow, too. But it does give you the ability to personally track the progress of your package. Preparing one's gear for transit: Packaging is often overdone, or done poorly. More than anything else, you want to immobilize the camera in the center of a impact-absorbing container. If it's free to float about in a large box loosely filled with peanuts, it can and will bump up against the walls of the box and will be easily damaged, since there's effectively zero padding in this area. Take the sealed box and shake vigorously: If you can feel something heavy rattling around in there, go back and try again. I would not let Mailboxes, Etc or others like them do the packing for me. Common sense tips: In the case of cameras and the like, I would never, ever ship these in a "prestige" box, and neither would I leave such in plain sight with the garbage. The ideal box is sturdy and competent, but looks sort of junky. On customs forms, I would declare that it was a used/new 35mm still camera, made in Germany, and valued at $xx. I would not provide brand or model info. I've shipped thousands of dollar's worth of goods and have never lost or had any of my own stuff broken in transit. - --------------------------------------------------- Specializing in interesting, quality junk. Sherline items sought - ---------------------------------------------------