shipping gifts home from germany
on shipping gifts home from germany, am looking for the best way to ship it home so it arrives in 1 piece,lowest cost, and or quickest method,Bundespost? UPS ? or any better thoughts thanx - jim
jim
spring hill, fl us 11/7/09
Send Private Message
Cheapest, slow post office (Bundespost) Always works for my treasures, takes 2-4 weeks. They have nice boxes for sale, and they are everywhere.
Quickest? DHL, UPS, Fedex Air. Not so easy to find in smaller places. Though Bundespost owns DHL so that's the easiest, fastest way, but more expensive.
Steve, thanks for the info , I kinda figured that, I lived in Germany for 6 years but that was back in late 80s early 90s,Bundespost was great then. thanx again
"Though Bundespost owns DHL so that's the easiest, fastest way, but more expensive."
There is no such thing as the "Bundespost" any more. The postal service was privatized in 1994.
They've fully integrated DHL, hence the new name "Deutsche Post DHL". When you use the post office for packets you're using DHL.
Oops, forgot about the name change when the German post office privatized, at least I know its also not the Kaiserliche Reichspost anymore.
And here in the USA, its not the "United States Post Office," anymore, its the "Postal Service." All though I still go to the post office to buy stamps.
And here in the USA, DHL no longer handles domestic shipping in competition with FedEx and UPS, but they still do international shipping. Things change.
Steve,
yeah names change. I just wanted to point out that "post office = slow and cheap vs DHL = fast and expensive" isn't all that meaningful, because the post office is DHL.
I agree with your advice to use the post office though. There may well be other companies which are cheaper than DHL standard or quicker than DHL premium, but the convenience of having a post office at virtually every corner is, at least in my mind, more valuable than that small gain for the average traveler.
The United States Post Office may have changed names, but it's still the "United States Postal Service" (USPS), not just "Postal Service".
You do have choices at the post office in Germany, you can ship them slow and cheap or fast and expensive, all from the same window.