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nile19
Joined: 19 Aug 2012
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 Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 2:53 am Post subject: Mailing luggage home |
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| I am in Busan and am going to travel SE Asia before going back to the US. I would like to mail my luggage/suitcases back to the US rather than lug them around with me. Has anyone done this before that could offer advice? Can I take them to the airport and ship them without a ticket for myself... or is the post office the only place to handle this? Would they box up the luggage or just tape it up? (I imagine it would be a pretty big box...) Can we put anything inside of the luggage or does it have to be mailed empty? |
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Hokie21
Joined: 01 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 4:45 am Post subject: |
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| Just google "ship my luggage" There are dozens of websites that do this. Though if you're mailing your empty suitcases halfway across the world my question would be why? Are they pretty new/expensive? If not you might be better off just trying to tell them online here in Korea and then buying new ones in the States instead of spending a decent amount of cash sending them in the mail. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 6:54 am Post subject: Re: Mailing luggage home |
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| nile19 wrote: |
| I am in Busan and am going to travel SE Asia before going back to the US. I would like to mail my luggage/suitcases back to the US rather than lug them around with me. Has anyone done this before that could offer advice? Can I take them to the airport and ship them without a ticket for myself... or is the post office the only place to handle this? Would they box up the luggage or just tape it up? (I imagine it would be a pretty big box...) Can we put anything inside of the luggage or does it have to be mailed empty? |
Depending on the size of your suitcase it probably is too large to send home via the post office except as an EMS item (very costly).
MOSTLY it is NOT worth it to ship it home due to the expense of it. Sell it here for whatever you can get for it. Your loss won't be any worse than the cost of shipping it home.
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Jake_Kim
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 10:07 pm Post subject: |
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If you're sure that you won't need the suitcase for the next 3 months or so, then you 'could' consider shipping it by Surface Mail at post office along with some other equally non-essential items that you'd rather not dispose of.
Still, the suitcase, filled with the items that you don't need for months, have to be properly boxed up and labelled.
There's a restriction on the external dimensions of a box, but most suitcases would fit assuming not too much room is wasted inside a box. The problem is rather finding a sturdy double-layered cardboard box of the right size that wouldn't break in transit. Handling of these packages is usually brutal. Total weight is limited to 20 kilograms.
If you maxed out on the weight limit, then shipping cost to North America would be KRW 53600. However, it cannot be tracked, and again, it could take up to 3 months to be delivered. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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Unless it is a standard "carry-on" sized bag it is probably too large (greater than 200 cm combined (circumference + length)) and won't be accepted by the post office as mail.
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 2:56 am Post subject: Re: Mailing luggage home |
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| nile19 wrote: |
| I am in Busan and am going to travel SE Asia before going back to the US. I would like to mail my luggage/suitcases back to the US rather than lug them around with me. Has anyone done this before that could offer advice? Can I take them to the airport and ship them without a ticket for myself... or is the post office the only place to handle this? Would they box up the luggage or just tape it up? (I imagine it would be a pretty big box...) Can we put anything inside of the luggage or does it have to be mailed empty? |
If you go to the airport, you can often pay to have a package (e.g. your luggage) shipped to another airport. It's usually not very expensive. The downside is that you'll need someone on the receiving end (e.g. your parents or a good friend) to go to the airport there to pick it up. |
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SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
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| Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Jake_Kim wrote: |
If you're sure that you won't need the suitcase for the next 3 months or so, then you 'could' consider shipping it by Surface Mail at post office along with some other equally non-essential items that you'd rather not dispose of.
Still, the suitcase, filled with the items that you don't need for months, have to be properly boxed up and labelled.
There's a restriction on the external dimensions of a box, but most suitcases would fit assuming not too much room is wasted inside a box. The problem is rather finding a sturdy double-layered cardboard box of the right size that wouldn't break in transit. Handling of these packages is usually brutal. Total weight is limited to 20 kilograms.
If you maxed out on the weight limit, then shipping cost to North America would be KRW 53600. However, it cannot be tracked, and again, it could take up to 3 months to be delivered. |
This is good advice except that your bags wont fit. The standard 5 size box at the post office (which is the biggest they will use for surface mail) is the largest size that you can ship that way. Sell your bags, ship your stuff home in boxes.
I've shipped tons of stuff that way over the years and never had any problems with it. The boxes get beat to hell, so dont put anything breakable in them, but they always arrive. Also, the post office provides free tape so tape the hell out of the thing after you write the address and phone number on it a few times. |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:53 am Post subject: |
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| SeoulNate wrote: |
| Jake_Kim wrote: |
If you're sure that you won't need the suitcase for the next 3 months or so, then you 'could' consider shipping it by Surface Mail at post office along with some other equally non-essential items that you'd rather not dispose of.
Still, the suitcase, filled with the items that you don't need for months, have to be properly boxed up and labelled.
There's a restriction on the external dimensions of a box, but most suitcases would fit assuming not too much room is wasted inside a box. The problem is rather finding a sturdy double-layered cardboard box of the right size that wouldn't break in transit. Handling of these packages is usually brutal. Total weight is limited to 20 kilograms.
If you maxed out on the weight limit, then shipping cost to North America would be KRW 53600. However, it cannot be tracked, and again, it could take up to 3 months to be delivered. |
This is good advice except that your bags wont fit. The standard 5 size box at the post office (which is the biggest they will use for surface mail) is the largest size that you can ship that way. Sell your bags, ship your stuff home in boxes.
I've shipped tons of stuff that way over the years and never had any problems with it. The boxes get beat to hell, so dont put anything breakable in them, but they always arrive. Also, the post office provides free tape so tape the hell out of the thing after you write the address and phone number on it a few times. |
Just as a side note, the boxes don't ALWAYS get beat up. It's probably more common for large boxes and for heavier boxes but I've shipped a lot of boxes and I've never had something more beat up than dented corners. It does happen. I'm just saying that it's most likely that your boxes will arrive safely. But ya, don't send breakable stuff unless you've done a super job padding it.
Another recommendation, if you're worried about the boxes being damaged, is to put the contents into a thick plastic bag and then putting the back of stuff into the box. |
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Jake_Kim
Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:11 am Post subject: |
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Okay, one addition to my previous comment regarding dimensions:
Korea Post uses 2 criteria in describing the upper limit of the size of a package, maximum length AND (maximum length+circumference). ttompatz also mentioned the latter, but not the former. In fact, such capping varies by country, hence 'will fit/won't fit' gets complicated generally speaking. In nile19's case, it's explicitly the U.S., for which the upper limit is smaller, thus chances of not fitting are admittedly higher.
United States: Max.length ≦ 1.05 meters AND (Max.length+circumference) ≦ 2.0 meters
Canada: Max.length ≦ 2.0 meters AND (Max.length+circumference) ≦ 3.0 meters
United Kingdom: Max.length ≦ 1.5 meters AND (Max.length+circumference) ≦ 3.0 meters
Australia: Max.length ≦ 1.05 meters AND (Max.length+circumference) ≦ 2.0 meters
and the list goes on.
In the past I've sent boxes of ridiculous size - almost maxed out the limit - to England under that generous criteria, but apparently Americans or Aussies can't enjoy the same benefit of surface shipping. |
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SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
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| Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 6:35 pm Post subject: Re: Mailing luggage home |
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| Troglodyte wrote: |
If you go to the airport, you can often pay to have a package (e.g. your luggage) shipped to another airport. It's usually not very expensive. The downside is that you'll need someone on the receiving end (e.g. your parents or a good friend) to go to the airport there to pick it up. |
I could be wrong on this now, as I havent checked in a while, but last I knew Korea charges per KG for this service, which, on any normal sized bag, would end up costing you a ton of money.
On a side note, this is a good way to get stuff TO korea as most US carriers will ship a bag internationally for 50$. |
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