Coin collectors are generally blessed with auction houses that do their own shipping at modest cost. Collectors in other fields are not so lucky, as the auction houses do not provide shipping and the buyer is expected to collect their goods in person or hire a 3rd party agent to do so. Unfortunately the costs associated with 3rd party collection and shipping are high. For a 300 GBP book, I was quoted a cost from the UK to the US of 140 GBP. Does anyone know of a lower cost option? I'm not hopeful but I thought I would ask here since many on this forum have presumably purchased items from overseas.
That's ridiculous. Is the book 5,000 pages long? That's far higher than any book I've had shipped from the UK using the Royal Mail.
I had the same issue purchasing from Timeline Auctions (I think it was 120 GBPs for 6 books)! They said that was the only option they had. So now I only purchase small items from them. I wish I could have been more helpful
I've used "Pack & Send" to get a lot of books from a DNW auction in London to a Northern Ireland address. As the name suggests, they will go around, pack up whatever is to be sent and send it. I got about 14kg of books (I estimated the dimensions as 52x52x51 cm) packed and sent for £81.34. You can fill in a form online and they'll send a quote. www.packsend.co.uk Previously, I've found it cheaper to fly from Dublin to London to pick up a couple of books than have them posted. ATB, Aidan.
Joe, were your books from a bookseller or an auction? Booksellers ship directly via Royal Mail, as you say, but auction houses (at least some) do not. I think the cost driver is that someone has to travel to the auction house and pick up the book.
Just from a private seller, unfortunately. Auctions may indeed incur additional costs (although that seems like something which should have been made abundantly clear ahead of the sale).
Not sure how it works in UK, but maybe they have a similar option like the USPS does? I use Media Mail to ship books, vhs tapes, cds, and other media. It costs 3.19 USD if 1lb or less and an additional 55 cents per lb I believe. Very good price compared to First Class/Priority Mail. Good luck!
Yes, the actual mailing cost is probably 20 GBP, or less. And the auction house is not unclear about their policies (i.e., they are not directly responsible for shipping), but I am looking for better options.
Yes, the issue is not the actual cost of postage I believe. It is that a 3rd party has to travel to the auction house, collect the lot and package it, in addition to the actual cost of postage.
