Shipping Vinyl Collection from the US

[rajagopal_j]

A very close friend of mine in the US, has a vinyl collection of about 900-1000 records. He had stopped listening to them over the last couple of years and had packed and kept the whole lot in his basement.

Over the weekend we were catching up on phone and he was very happy to give me the whole lot. I just need to figure out shipping.

Considering approx, 3 vinyls is about 1KG then The whole lot should workout to about 300-350Kgs

To ship 60Lbs (30Kgs) it costs about 700USD via DHL, FEDEX or UPS

Is there any other much cheaper yet safe option?

B Rgds,
Raj.

 

[reubensm]

Hi, you're entering into dangerous territory here. You are right about the weight, LPs are mighty heavy. You'll have to deal with exhorbidant shipping costs and the duties associated as well. Once when I was travelling from the US, I was hand-carrying 20 Christmas LPs with me. The whole lot with packing came up to around 4 kgs and hence I was allowed only 3 Kgs of hand baggage. This was on Air India

My 2 cents, shipping wont work, I'd suggest you skim through his titles and pick the ones you need. Maintaining 1000 LPs is also a painful task. I have over 500 and they take up a lot of my time. Then, there's the storage factor. If you have friends in IT companies, you can arrange for someone to hand-carry a few of these LPs, each time they return to India (Lots of dependencies though, by this method. People these days are less likely to oblige). Best option would be to pick a few titles that you need and have them shipped

 

[tek]

I think what you could do is have ti shipped in batches.

Also, another option. If you can get a list of the LP's, maybe others on the forum (myself included) can pick the ones they want and pay shipping for those items. That way, the sole burden of shipping costs do not fall upon yourself. But even if you do this, best to do in batches for your friends sake also. So maybe pick about 20-30 titles at one go and list them, the ones you don't want put them up here or PM to people who are interested and once decided who gets what, we can transfer the shipping fees to you. Just an idea.

 

[rajagopal_j]

Thanks guys for the inputs.

My friend and I we are speaking to some folks who are making a TR back to India. Mostly these items will come along with their stuff in a container. I dont have to pay anything for it, just that its then going to take anything between 4-6 months for me to get them

B Rgds,
Raj.

 

[GeorgeO]

Thats the best way of doing it-all you need to do is ensure that they are well packed.

 

[reubensm]

Yes, well packed and properly indexed. shipping via containers are notoriously famous for loss of items. A friend of mine lost a whole collection of books while relocating back from the united states. all the very best!!

 

[entsurgeon]

People these days are less likely to oblige).

well said. more things change, more they remain the same