This problem has taken me about three years to wrestle into a series of solutions. It's been like trying to pin down a WWE Diva, but . . . well, not as fun.
In my myopic and narcissistic opinion, an act of supreme schizophrenia was committed when the USPS eliminated surface mail for international shipments. It denied three important economic realities. American basements, garages and barns overflow with great crap, the world loves our crap, and shit you can sell that you don't have to pay to produce serves as a terrific stimulant, especially if you're selling it and shipping it to someone else's country.
I used to be able to supply record stores around the world with small shipments of 100-200 records and the shipping cost was about sixty cents per record. Now, its more than quadrupled since I have only the option of sending by airmail. Shipments took about six weeks, and stores placed constant and loyal orders with me. Then, three years ago orders dried up.
But demand didn't.
With hours of phone calls, and knowledge exchanged with other dealers, I've developed a decent, if inconvenient, system of first, qualifying the customer, finding a shipper, and delivering the inventory to the shipper.
First, the inventory being shipped needs to weigh more than 400lbs. That is a fairly universal minimum. Second you need to work out your logistics. Shipping by mail to the East Coast for processing to Europe, can sometimes, but not always, save over shipping from the West Coast, even if you're in California.
More on this in the next post . . .
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