transatlantic candy for cheap

April 22, 2010 3:51 PM

I want to send a simple 5 lbs. bag of tootsie rolls candy from Florida to Glasgow, Scotland. I want to do this for somewhat less than it costs to buy a small aircraft carrier full of cocaine and diamonds. Help me.
posted by dong_resin to grab bag (11 answers total)

What have you investigated so far? Do you already have the candy? Which shipping companies have you already priced out so people can help you find a better option?
posted by sharkfu at 3:58 PM on April 22, 2010

Wow. I went to the UPS calculator expecting to come up with $15 or something, but they want $150. Cocaine and diamonds indeed.


The next best thing would be the USPS flat rate boxes/envelopes. These are by size, rather than weight, but it you can fit your bag into the flat rate envelope it'd be less than $14 (cheaper if paid online). I've fit a big hoody into one of those envelopes, so I'm guessing you can fit the bag in there. If not, the boxes run about $45 and $55 depending on the size.
posted by niles at 4:00 PM on April 22, 2010

USPS has an international flat rate box that hold up to 4 lbs for $13.45

Maybe put your 5 lbs of tootsie rolls in two of these.
posted by rancidchickn at 4:02 PM on April 22, 2010 [1 favorite]

Would this be the individual tootsie rolls or the larger, bar-like form? Does it really need to be that particular bag or would it work to order a bunch from a UK-based importer? For example, American Soda sells bar-type tootsie rolls for £1.37 each. You'd need to buy 33 to get up to 5lbs, which would run you about $70. I don't know if that falls into aircraft carrier territory for you.

Another option is CyberCandy, which sells bars and also Tootsie Roll Banks filled with the bite-size candies. They're £2.99 each and you'd need to buy 16 to get 5lbs worth, I think, which would add up to a similar price as the rolls.

Still, almost certainly cheaper to just mail them via the US Postal Service.
posted by jedicus at 4:04 PM on April 22, 2010

scratch that. I just noticed that the international envelopes, unlike the domestic ones, have a maximum weight of 4 pounds to get the $14 postage. Looks like via the postal service then, you're looking at about $50, give or take.
posted by niles at 4:04 PM on April 22, 2010

this is a $4 bag of candy, for my purposes anything past $20 is cocaine and diamonds.
so far the flat rate box seems to be the way to go, but I'd love more options.
posted by dong_resin at 4:11 PM on April 22, 2010

Sidenote -- whatever route you go for shipping, be careful what day you put them in the mail. If it's a real hot day, your recipient will just end up with one big melty tootsie roll.
posted by inigo2 at 5:23 PM on April 22, 2010

Send it surface mail -- it'll go by sea (I think). I've done that when sending huge amounts of candy to England before. I was quoted four weeks, but in practice it didn't take anywhere near that long.
posted by vickyverky at 7:46 PM on April 22, 2010

My Endicia postage thingamabober tells me that to send a Medium Flat Rate Priority box (the small one, unfortunately, doesn't have the option for 5 lbs) would cost about $42. I myself sent out a similar package (except I had to use the Large box since I sent over 10 lbs of sweets) to the Edinburgh area for $52 a couple months ago.
posted by arishaun at 9:34 PM on April 22, 2010

use rancidchickn's advice, but keep a lb of tr for yourself (or for the next package).
posted by segatakai at 11:50 PM on April 22, 2010

Send it surface mail

USPS completely eliminated international surface mail about two years ago – some variant of air mail is the only option now. Sounds like their flat rate box, while not particularly cheap, is your best alternative.
posted by klausness at 10:19 AM on April 25, 2010