KEH online camera brokers, international shipping

[GuillaumeCo]

I made my first purchase in KEH in this month. I've bought a mamiya 645af kit, and shipping to Switzerland was 65$ with usps express mail (or 198$ with ups). I take the usps shipping, and the parcel was at my home five days later. I'm very satisfied

[Jerzy Pawlowski]

I have very good experience with KEH shipments to Canada.

[dng88]

I have two shipment (one on printing equipment which is bulky and one of other stuff which is smaller) from them to Hong Kong. They are perfect.

Also, if you tried a bit, their system (as normal) charged on combined shipping. Good international shipper. I hoped it can mail E6 solution as so far I cannot find anyone selling this to and in Hong Kong.

[Steve Barber]

Buyer Beware!

In my own case, items shipped by US mail are received at the local post office and I deal directly with customs for the import duty. Items sent by UPS are handed off to their agent, this triggers added fees and all of the fees are paid through their broker who charges additional fees for their "service". In general, this adds shipping expense in addition to what was paid by the sender to UPS plus higher customs duty and more fees to the broker for their payment. It appears the brokers require higher payments for customs than I am required to pay when I do it directly. I do not know whether this is out of an abundance of caution or just done to maximize their fee. In any event, I have had as much as 40 per cent of the cost I paid the shipper added on and that has to be paid by me in cash on the delivery of the item.

What really irks me is the attitude of shippers who insist they will only use UPS and disclaim any responsibility for the added charges. UPS compounds the problem by giving the impression that they deliver to my location when they do not and they specifically deny any responsibility for any added charges that they do not collect up front. I will say, however, that the problem is not just with UPS. I have had the same problems with the Royal Mail from the UK where they have used a courier service rather than keeping the item in the postal system.

If I ask nicely and am willing to let them do it at their convenience, KEH will send it by the US Postal Service using their "express mail international" shipping insured for value with tracking. I would strongly recommend that you make that a condition to your purchase. In my experience it is faster, cheaper and a lot less hassle.

Another reason for using the US Mail is that you can use their on-line calculator to find the exact cost of the shipping, insurance and other fees along with your country specific information regarding availability and limitations.

[Paul Ewins]

Steve, that probably explains why charges to Australia can be so low compared to other places in the region. We don't pay any duties or taxes on items that cost less than AUD$1000 (incl. shipping) so the parcels come straight through. Fortunately the postal system in this country is still cheap and reliable. I've got quite friendly with the parcel delivery guy as I feed my photography habit.