Best way to get US only goods to the UK?

February 22, 2024 3:23 AM

My wife has fallen in love with a particular notebook that used to ship internationally, but now only ships to the US. We're in the UK. I'd love to buy a bulk supply somehow, but am wary of the many and varied parcel forwarding services - does anyone have any experience of any of them (good or bad)? Or are there alternatives I could try? (I feel like this must have been asked and answered before, but I'm damned if I can find one recent enough to still be valid - my apologies if it's a well worn path)
posted by offmessage to Shopping (11 answers total)

Best answer: Skypax does both directions and I have used them probably 20 times and had good experiences and it’s not that expensive.
posted by pairofshades at 3:40 AM on February 22

Post in MeFi Jobs, maybe?
posted by wenestvedt at 5:29 AM on February 22 [4 favorites]

Yeah, I am sure some MeFite can help if you get into a pinch. My other suggestion would be to check with local places and see if they can order them for you. I am pretty sure Athena at Meticulous Ink in Bath does this, but I am not sure. Also, not completely unrelated, but check out my friend Emma at Princetown Press in Devon. She makes some great stuff!

Good luck!
posted by terrapin at 6:19 AM on February 22 [2 favorites]

I just had this situation in reverse. I'm in the US and wanted something that only ships to the UK. Someone offered to receive the package and ship it to me. So nice! I would be happy to do the same for you. The only caveat is that I live in NYC and don't have a car, so the package would have to be light enough for me to walk with it for about half a mile to the PO. Not sure how many notebooks you're thinking of getting! But feel free to memail me.
posted by swheatie at 7:06 AM on February 22 [3 favorites]

I recently re-shipped a package full of tshirts for a friend in Norway. It was expensive! But she was pleased with the results. Ask a friend!
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:14 AM on February 22 [1 favorite]

This may not be the most politic answer, but check amazon.co.uk.

The regional Amazons (like the main one in the US) will frequently list items from other Amazons that they're willing/able to ship. You may actually be able to buy them where you are.
posted by yellowcandy at 8:05 AM on February 22 [1 favorite]

Seriously, skypax is super simple to set up- it costs a set up fee for membership which isn’t much… I think and then the postage is what it normally costs and they give you all the options (normal post, ups, FedEx) and you can direct the customs fill out yourself so it ends up cheaper than using a person on task rabbit or something.
posted by pairofshades at 8:20 AM on February 22

Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for their answers! We're going to try Skypax - we've already explored UK stockists to the nth degree, and without friends in the US we don't want to impose on people (I'm already shuddering at all the ways it could go wrong!)
posted by offmessage at 9:01 AM on February 22

Am I the only one dying to know what awesome notebook your wife is so devoted to?
posted by mulcahy at 10:47 AM on February 22 [19 favorites]

I'm 95% sure I'll be in the UK in a few months (from the US)... I'm not into carrying a bulk supply of anything but a few notebooks isn't a big deal to drop into Royal Mail.
posted by Bunglegirl at 11:00 AM on February 22

Response by poster: Of course, I should have said :)

https://bestself.co/products/scribe. Apparently it's both the dot grid and the paper that make it
posted by offmessage at 3:54 AM on February 23 [3 favorites]