International shipping is not that complicated as it seems. There are many services that can make your shipping experience easier, and what is the best – it can save you a lot of money.
The key how to save on international (and domestic too) shipping is called a volume discount. Based on a volume of packages you send, carriers offer volume discount, so more packages you send = better discount you get. If you do not ship much, it is not possible to get any discount and you have to pay the full price. But there is way how to get a volume discount, even you ship just a few packages a year. Just use the package forwarder!
Package forwarding is a service known for years and used especially by international shoppers, who shop in the US and forward packages worldwide. It works as an advanced email, but instead of emails, you send packages. The best part is, that package forwarders ship a lot of packages, so you can take advantage of their volume discount. See a step by step tutorial on how to use package forwarder to send a package to your friend and save on shipping thanks to the volume discount they offer:
- register and get a virtual address from a package forwarder
- drop off the package at their location, or send the package to them
- send the package worldwide with the best shipping rates
You can also find useful tutorials on how to ship a package to some specific countries below. You can also find there detailed information about import tax and customs clearance.