|
I read that, but I couldn't be confident fees wouldn't be charged. I wonder if they always use the local postal system to deliver, or just in countries where they don't have a UPS presence? And is Canada included when they say 'international' because often it's considered separately. Finally, UPS could get the local postal system to collect fees on their behalf, so there's really no way to be sure without more research.
I've done a little more reading now and it appears that UPS hands over the mail to the regular postal system in the original country (ie. USPS) rather than transporting it to the destination country, dealing with the taxes and then handing it over. Accordingly it looks like UPS World Mail International is free of ridiculous fees, but I still have a hard time believing UPS would miss a chance to gouge somebody. It appears to simply be a collection service for businesses that only deal with UPS and don't want to go to the post office, so UPS grabs the parcel and hands it right over to the postal system. This is a decent service if it's true because it gives international customers a way to avoid having UPS charge brokerage fees. http://www.ups.com/content/gb/en/about/news/press_releases/01_27_2006_mail_logic_eur.html
Canadian buyers should also know that RunningWarehouse has unusual security requests if you pay via credit card. If you pay this way you get an email saying they want a photocopy of your credit card, personal ID and drivers license.
Thanks to another BPL'er, I was able to order these shoes with free shipping to a USA address and pay RunningWarehouse via Paypal to avoid the security invasion/hassles.
Edited by dandydan on 11/05/2010 17:35:01 MDT.
|