Sending Stuff Home to Canada?

[siull]

Hi there,

Moving out of Chengdu after five years. I want to send some stuff to Canada: books, clothes and specially my bicycle (airlines are less and less cyclist friendly, they overcharge and are not clear about regulations, besides carrying it to and back from airport it’s a pain in the ass. Don’t want to sell it here btw).

Do you know any company who can help me? I need to have my stuff in Canada in June, slow freight would work too. Fares?

Thanks!

[Charlie]

I was recently looking into sending a bicycle back home, here’s what I found:

• Chinese airlines might let you take it for free
• American carriers like United will charge you something like $100 to send the packed-up bicycle
• You can also ship it from here (Natooke offers this as a service) for around $160 USD if I’m not mistaken

This information is from Natooke. I would visit their shop and ask questions if you want to get information from the most authoritative source.

[siull]

Wow great!

I was thinking to go to that 航空 street to ask them, since I was unable to find the information online. It’s quite likely that I fly with Sichuan Airlines from Chengdu.

I am quite tired of struggling in the airport to have my bike on the plane, once they asked for $500 dollars! if i can get any kind of printed document which states that it’s free then I will do it, otherwise I will contact Natooke. Thanks!

[otchengdu]

I would contact the airline directly, as you may be able to check the bike as a sencond luggage.

[juanrqo]

Hello,

I am actually interested in the “sending books” part. I will be moving out of the country in 4 months; but have enough books to make it a problem if I try to carry them all in my luggage (which will already be reaching its limits without the books in the first place). Many are very important to me and some are too pricey to consider buying them again back home.

Has anyone tried to send books out of China? If yes, is it expensive? Before China I was living in France and they had specifically lower prices for all things concerning paper (books, magazines, etc.). They were sent by boat. Does anyone know if something similar exists here?

[otchengdu]

Shipping options:

1. Place the books into an additional suitcase/luggage bag, therefore your just being charged for an additional bag which go’s for around $25-$100 ( airline dependant) as long as you don’t exceed a certain weight limit restriction which varies by airline. Benefit, the books arrive with you.

2. Combine the bike, books, and what ever else you may have into a large box and ship via cargo, possibly with the same airline your flying and/or another airline like Korean Air. The fee for this varies as shipping items via cargo are calculated utilizing total square cubic inches/cm and weight. When measuring ensure you round up to the nearest whole number as this greatly affects the price. The best thing to do is to obtain these dimensions and weight and contact the airline(s) directly to obtain a quote. Going this route you will be responsible for getting the box to the airlines cargo department (located near the airport at one of those logisitical facilities), you can select a departure date and they can provide an estimate arrival date. Again you could get lucky and have this on the same plane your traveling on.

The downside: shipping via cargo it will more than likely go through customs on the receiving end, possibly expect a day or two for processing (you can contact the customs agency on the receiving end now to confirm the process). During this process custom will determine if any duty fees are required, more than likely not as long as it’s just personal items.  Also you will be responsible for picking up the items from customs and delivery from there to the final destination. One very important thing to ask customs when you contact them is do they charge a holding fee and if so how much per day and is there an automatic holding period (i.e. 1, 2, or 3 days…).

Again, the best approach for this is to contact the sources directly for the best possible outcome thus by contacting the airlines you can be provided with other options or best alternatives.

Hope this helps !

 

[Charlie]

otchengdu wrote:

Hope this helps !

These are great tips, thanks for sharing.

[Author]

Posts