Everything You Need To Know To Make International Shipments

When you want to send a shipment from your country to another part of the world, it may be scary to think that your package will travel a long distance before reaching its destination; In addition, you may have multiple questions about legal requirements, shipping cost or delivery time, among other topics.

In this article, MyXBorder team – a specialist in delivery from myntra to the UK, have explained in detail everything you need to know to send international shipments from your country to another.

By following these 7 recommendations, you won’t have to worry and your shipment will arrive in the best possible conditions.

Recommendations for an international shipment

1. Ensure the documentation is complete

At the documentation level, the first thing you should keep in mind is that two types of shipments are handled, one for documents and the other for packages.

For international shipments of documents, which is understood as any shipment that contains only sheets of paper, only the waybill is required; In the case of sending packages, it is necessary to attach the guide, the proforma invoice, and the letter of responsibility. (These documents are provided by the operator).

Important note- If the package contains medications, a copy of the medical formula sent by the treating physician of the person who will receive the package must also be attached.

2. Use appropriate packaging

It is very important to pack your package well so that the risk of breakage, in the event of a blow, is as low as possible.

For this reason, packaging should be carried out according to the characteristics of your package, so that, if the content is delicate and fragile, it should be wrapped in bubble wrap, styrofoam, or newspaper and inside a rigid box, totally sealed so that, in addition to taking care of the content, you facilitate its handling.

Likewise, regardless of what the package contains, we suggest you pack it in new and undamaged packaging, or in a double-wall cardboard box. Also, you should always try to make sure that the content is compact, as this will help keep the internal product from moving inside the packaging.

3. Know the shipping costs in advance

Many senders get surprised when paying for their shipments because they are unaware that there are additional government expenses to the shipping costs, which are generated by customs taxes or customs duties that vary according to the classification of each country of shipment i.e. destination.

This additional cost can vary depending on the the percentage of customs duty or tax that is levied for the merchandise that is being sent (type of content and declared value); being, for example, a % of the declared value of the merchandise + the tariff or a fixed rate. This also varies from country to country.

It is worth clarifying that the Government delegates the collection of the tax to the operators, and that it is the recipients, but not the senders, who assume this collection.

On the other hand, additional expenses may also be generated in international shipments such as address corrections or deliveries in remote areas not indicated or not contemplated at the time of generating the order, which must be assumed by the sender.

4. Keep the time of delivery in your mind

Keeping the delivery date and time in memory will make you relaxed about the date on which the package will be received. For that, calculate the shipping time correctly.

Transit times vary by country of destination and should be calculated in business days, i.e. excluding Saturdays, Sundays, or national or international holidays. This can take from 3 to 5 business days or 5 to 7 business days, depending on the delivery option you select.

These delivery times are estimates, but not guaranteed, since the time may be affected by external issues to the carrier, such as, damming, verifications or restrictions on customs capacity, controls by the anti-narcotics police, or climatic eventualities.

5. Items not allowed in international shipments

Several products are not allowed to be transported internationally, learn about them below:

• Biological items, such as blood samples, human remains, or ashes.
• Live animals.
• Hunting trophies (animal), animal parts such as ivory and shark fin, animal remains or by-products, and derived products not intended for human consumption.
• Ingots (of any precious metal like gold, silver, or steel).
• Cash (current legal currency), checks, or securities.
• Precious stones.
• Sex objects
• Complete firearms, ammunition, explosives, and/or explosive devices.
• Illegal items like counterfeit merchandise and narcotics.
• Restricted elements listed specific to each country. (It is important to consult the customs restrictions of the destination country).

6. Provide complete detail about your package

When making any international shipments, labelling is also of vital importance. For this, you should always remember to include detailed information (as much as you can) on the shipping data, clearly indicating the names of the sender as well as recipient, the address, and the contents of the package.

For example, if you have mentioned only “shoes”, try to write the complete details about your order in the shipment: 10 Men’s shoes (size 9, colour blue), 30 women’s sneakers (size 5, colour pink), etc. This complete information with quantities and detailed descriptions will definitely facilitate customs handling.

7. Choose an efficient mode of transport

Finally, our last recommendation has to do with choosing your transport operator, since your good or bad experience with international shipping will depend on this decision.

Transportation is a massive industry and there are hundreds of players in it. Also, different types of goods require different types of transportation.

You should know that the type of transportation of the goods depends on several factors, e.g. product availability, source of supply, customs and excise rules, volume, etc.; and the primary modes of transport are roadways, railways, waterways, airways, and pipelines.

Each mode of transport has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on the type of consignment,  on the client, market or geographical demands, requirements,

and the budget considerations.

So you should always be careful when selecting the transport to get products from point A to B.

Author Bio – Srividya Kannan

Srividya is a techie by heart having global working experience in the USA, Europe, and Asia. She is the director and co-founder of MyXBorder, a company that offers Shipping Services ( i.e. myntra delivery to UAE, amazon India to the USA, flipkart delivery to the UK, etc ) all over the world. She is an entrepreneur who is always enthusiastic about applying technologies to solve business problems and also a busy mom of 2 who is always exploring ways to make life easier.

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