[Elecraft] Receiving parcels from US in Germany, duties, customs procedure

[Marcus Busch [DL1EKC]]

Dear Readers,

the following information might be interesting to Elecraft customers in 
Germany and might be applicable also to users in other european countries:

Some time ago there was a discussion in this list about the handling of 
parcels from USPS in Germany and other countries. It turned out that the 
problem is with the handling of GLS (General Logistics Systems). 

As I want to get rid of this annoying and expensive procedure with GLS I 
wrote a letter to "Deutsche Post" (DHL), asking how I could make sure to 
have parcels from the US being handled by DHL. I got the following 
information from DHL:

1) ALL (!) parcels being sent via USPS by AIRMAIL will be handled by GLS 
in Germany. No exception!

2) Parcels sent via USPS by GROUND MAIL (by ship) will arrive in Germany 
at sea post center in Hamburg. Those parcels will be handled by DHL in the 
well-known and approved way (free-of-charge). Delivery time for these 
ground mail parcels is about 3 weeks.

I do not know the USPS services in detail. But I think the correct service 
to choose is "Economy (Surface) Parcel Post". Of course it's slower than 
airmail, but it's really cheap. And taking into account all the trouble 
with GLS here the slow ground mail via DHL might be faster than airmail in 
the end.

To the Elecraft team: Would You be willing to add USPS Economy (Surface) 
Parcel Post to Your list of available shipping options?

Best 73

Marcus, DL1EKC