Shipping books from Canberra overseas

June 12, 2018 1:04 AM

I want to ship a few boxes (not sure how many) and possibly some other small stuff from Canberra in Australia to Bicester in the UK. No requirement for speed. I've seen this question but it's not recent and I'd like some more up-to-date recommendations. In case it matters, I won't be at the other end to receive the delivery.

For bonus credit, I may want to send some similar stuff to Qatar as well. Again, no requirement for speed. Sea freight is perfectly OK.

I've seen some other similar questions, of course, but I need some suggestions that are specific to Australia.

posted by Logophiliac to Travel & Transportation (1 answer total)

Best answer: The Australia Post calculator is quoting around $200 for a 'standard' (air) 20 kg box from Canberra to the UK. 'Economy Sea' shipment is a bit cheaper, about $177, but takes 2-3 months. I would worry about humidity and pests in a journey of that length, to be honest.

Qatar is more expensive - that same 20 kg box costs $359 for standard shipping and $205 by sea.

Depending on the rarity, number and weight of the books, I might consider some of these options:

- playing with the Australia Post calculator to find the lowest price-per-kilo product and going with that - or, better, going into your local post office and asking how to best do this (are, for example, two 10-kg boxes cheaper than four 5-kg boxes or one 20-kg box?)

- taking the books as luggage on your next trip to those places

- alternately, paying friends/family heading to the UK you know locally a bit of extra money to add a suitcase to their flight, bringing the books as excess luggage and then posting/dropping them off there (Qatar might be harder)

- looking at freight comparison sites - World Freight Rates is one example
posted by mdonley at 10:55 AM on June 12, 2018