Wanted: Did anyone buy a frame/bike from Italy recently?

If so, do you know what courier was used and maybe how much the shipping rate was ?
Especially if you bought it from private people.

Tracking number ?
Registered?
Insured?

I have a contact in Italy, but according to this guy the shipping rates (for a frame kit) to The Netherlands are extremely high.

Any help / advice / tip would be appreciated!

Had 3-4 bikes from italy,maybe more.

Prices for shipping have been quite high compared to other mainland european countries (150-200 euros).

Just through the italian post office,

All had tracking numbers. Easy to follow on the website.

No damage although a couple of the boxes came quite bashed up.

All the bikes (from different sellers) were very well wrapped in bubble wrap.

What do you have your eye on?

J

I have a "deal" with a private person. Track frame set. Pretty small, so the box isn't going to be huge.
We agreed on an all in price, incl shipping.
But the seller was surprised by the high shipping rates. I don't want the deal to be cancelled because of this. Maybe we've got to share the shipping costs to make it attaractive enouth to both of us.
I still see bloggers offering stuff with shipping rates of EUR 50.- for a frame set to NL / U.K., so it looks like it must be possible.

I got myself another frame set from Italy 2 years ago. Was sent through GLS and the shipping costs weren't an issue at that time.

Just curious what your experiences are.
Thanks for the feedback, J!

More advice is appreciated.

Try doing some searches for rates using parcel brokers. I use interparcel.com but there are others. A frame in Spain would have cost €45 to ship to UK with one of their couriers, >€100 using Spanish mail.

My last frame was shipped in August using Post Italiane and the postage price on the box is €43.68

http://www.poste.it/en/index.shtml

Thanks mülletizer and Dwayne.

Dwayne, did that rate include track & trace, insurance, etc. or was it just the cheapest/slowest option?

Tracked with insurance.

grazie

43 Euro is very expensive. Get onto Interparcel, I just did a rough estimate of package for a frame only 100x20x50cm & weight of 6kg (Though it is the volume rather than the weight in any case) & that comes up to £15.50 +VAT using Interparcel Standard (delivered by UPS) with £50 insurance included (add as much as you want up to £1000)

hope that saves you a few quid!

Looks like Interparcel only works from and to U.K., not from I to NL.

Besides that, postage from Italy to NL seems to be much more expensive that to UK.
Unfortunately, my Italian friend doesn't seem to be too clever or creative. :-(

Turns out to cost > 60 euro, I'm afraid.