Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Full Version)

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constructordeguitarras -> Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 14 2018 21:07:59)

I may have a new customer in Japan. Can anyone advise me on the best way to send a guitar from the USA to Japan? I normally use UPS to send guitars, but have never sent one to Japan, and they caused some big problems when I used them to send one to Spain. Thanks.



Richard Jernigan -> RE: Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 14 2018 21:59:12)

I believe Abel Garcia shipped my instrument from Mexico to Texas via the DHS office in Paracho. I have also receved DHS shipments from other artisans at various places in Mexico. Everything has worked smoothly, in accordance with the German postal service’s good reputation.

Check with Ron Hudson at Memorial Music in Houston. He does a fair amount of business with Francisco Navarro in Paracho.

No doubt you have plenty of experience packing guitars for shipment. I don’t know what DHS does along that line.

UPS in Honolulu did a competent job packing my Romanillos and my Arcangel Fernandez, in their Karura cases— while I watched. The UPS manager swore the guitars were covered by their insurance, despite conflicting experience told to me by Richard Brune. The UPS manager never produced any documents to support her claim, despite repeated requests (demands?). Their packing and shipping services are separable.

RNJ



constructordeguitarras -> RE: Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 14 2018 22:15:03)

Thanks, Richard. UPS strangely charges extra based on the declared value but simultaneously claims that is not insurance. And elsewhere they sort of claim that it is. I may have told this story here already, but one time a woman bought a guitar from me for her husband and when she got it she mistakenly thought it was damaged. She wanted me to simply refund her and wouldn't contact UPS, so I did. UPS went to her house and took a package off her porch which had been delivered by FED-EX, and sent it to me. I insisted that they send it back to her and not charge me for doing so. They sent it back and charged me (or tried to). Then a month later I received a letter from their insurer saying that the package had been damaged because it was improperly packed. The letter was referring to the UMBRELLA STAND which they had swiped from her porch, and it was undamaged. The husband saw that the guitar was undamaged after all.

After UPS shipped a guitar to Spain for me they claimed that their inspector found that the package was actually something like 30"x20"x20" (rather than 50x20x8") and billed me an additional $500. It took months and many calls and emails to get them to fix that.



Leñador -> RE: Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 14 2018 23:52:41)

I believe USPS is the best. It gets a Japanese tracking number when it gets there. USPS is around $100 and UPS wanted $930!!! Everything went smoothly with USPS, surprisingly.



constructordeguitarras -> RE: Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 15 2018 0:48:30)

Thanks, Leñador. I was leaning towards USPS and I think you've convinced me. I noticed the price differential and, wow, it's amazing.



Richard Jernigan -> RE: Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 15 2018 4:53:58)

Another advantage of USPS is their reputation for actually honoring insurance claims—though I have no personal experience.

RNJ



Paul Magnussen -> RE: Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 15 2018 16:39:57)

quote:

I may have told this story here already […]


Wow. Many years ago I got fed up with forgetting where I saw various things, and started keeping a Quotations file. That one’s going in it.

Thanks, Ethan.



constructordeguitarras -> RE: Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 15 2018 18:15:01)

My pleasure, Paul. [:D]



constructordeguitarras -> RE: Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 17 2018 17:51:22)

I just came from the post office. Never met such incompetent and combative people anywhere else. I knew the length plus girth had to be under 108 inches, and it was 106 and a fraction. But the woman didn't use her tape measure correctly and thought it was over. The second woman did it wrong too, until I showed her how. So it passed. Then she yelled at me, "So what's the argument?" "I have no argument with that," I said. Then their computer would not accept my request for insurance to cover $5000. It wanted another form, that they didn't have, for over $2500. So at my suggestion, I reduced the declared value to $2500 and it worked out. I figure insuring it for that much will keep an employee from stealing it, and insurance is a gamble anyway. And this way if there's tax and duty for my customer, it will be less. The box was nominally 50x20x8 inches and weighed 19 pounds 11 ounces. If I had been able to insure for $5000, it would have cost $175. As it went, it cost $146. The stress of dealing with them was worth the savings over UPS, etc. (At the end, she dropped my receipt on the floor on her side of the counter and walked away.)



constructordeguitarras -> RE: Best way to send guitar from US to Japan? (Dec. 31 2018 3:31:24)

Well, it got there by US Mail, in one piece. It took only a week to get there, but Japanese customs held it up for another week. Finally my client received it today. I'm waiting for him to let me know what he had to pay in tax or duty. Customs made him show the Paypal receipt and a receipt I gave him showing all of the materials that went into the guitar.

He had to pay $420 duty plus $60 commission.

He said: "Ya la tengo!! Una guitarra fantastica! Estoy muy contento. Gracias!"



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