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Post by Croccifixio on Apr 22, 2019 3:18:14 GMT
*heavy headscratch* on all that stuff... well, next thing i try next month is use "shipito" for one of the SBG swords from SBG store; we will see how that works! Given that shipito lists weapons as prohibited items, good luck. They used to be a good option, but changed their rules without any warning and did not even announce these changes. When did they change? Used to be really consistent (my last sword received through them was around this time last year). Honestly, I am not sure how welcome this idea would be. But I have had two instances of good luck asking help from forum members I trust. Basically I bought from other forum members in Canada and the US, asked them to send the swords to the other forum member that I have previously dealt with multiple times, and ask that friend to send it to me. I wish there were a better way than paypal to pay for their kindness (like taking them out to a sword cutting session hahaha) but so far the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. And I consider them friends even though we've never truly met.
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Post by Darth Paunch on Apr 22, 2019 9:48:00 GMT
Kogarasu-Maru katana from Huawei on its way via Hong Kong; keeping everybody updated.
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Post by Deepbluedave on Apr 22, 2019 22:06:11 GMT
Seems you got lucky there Darth - we were using Hong Kong as a routing point until about a month ago and then were told its no longer possible..
*heavy headscratch* on all that stuff... well, next thing i try next month is use "shipito" for one of the SBG swords from SBG store; we will see how that works! I've been stung by shipito before, paid for a direct flight to Australia, they put it on a cheaper flight and sent it via Singapore, customs in Singapore got it and would not release it till id paid $132.00 usd for entry fees. this was the last time I used them. There customer support was terrible took nearly four weeks to get it in the end, after paying for expedited 4 day shipping.
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Scott
Member
Posts: 1,676
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Post by Scott on Apr 24, 2019 5:31:53 GMT
Given that shipito lists weapons as prohibited items, good luck. They used to be a good option, but changed their rules without any warning and did not even announce these changes. When did they change? Used to be really consistent (my last sword received through them was around this time last year). Honestly, I am not sure how welcome this idea would be. But I have had two instances of good luck asking help from forum members I trust. Basically I bought from other forum members in Canada and the US, asked them to send the swords to the other forum member that I have previously dealt with multiple times, and ask that friend to send it to me. I wish there were a better way than paypal to pay for their kindness (like taking them out to a sword cutting session hahaha) but so far the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. And I consider them friends even though we've never truly met. Sorry for not replying sooner. January last year is when I had trouble with them. As Dave said customer service was terrible, their answers kept changing as to why they couldn't ship and I never did get an answer as to when their policy changed. Stromlo Swords had issues with them around the same time. I have recommended them in the past but would not do so any more. That being said, I hope anyone getting a sword shipped through shipito gets it delivered with minimal fuss.
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Post by Stromlo_Swords_USA on Apr 25, 2019 10:55:17 GMT
Yeah shipito told me they decided to no longer allow blades to ship via DHL by policy, and they would not allow swords in USPS to Australia due to wood in the handles. I did get them to send some H/T blank blades though (eventually) May still be able to use fedex or TNT, but both can have problems, i'd have to check my records but one of them wont do the paperwork to clear combined sender boxes through customs (i think that was fedex) and the other sometimes gets stuck with the $100+ fee if picked up in transit through Singapore (i think that was TNT).
It's all a little harder than it needs to be everywhere it seems.
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Post by richhack on Apr 25, 2019 22:34:50 GMT
What country is Darth Paunch in? We know that Holg was in Germany and could import swords there. UPS and Fedex have their European air hubs in Germany and also seem to be able to import swords. So I believe the shipments would be processed by German customs and from there could go to anywhere in the EU thanks to the EU customs union. Someone else in the UK hasn't seen any new issues there. So whatever the cause, it looks like: - France and some other European countries are problematic.
- Germany, UK (for straight bladed non-zombie themed swords), and perhaps some other European countries are OK.
Hi. Received a sword today from the USA to the UK via USPS no problems also had a touch with the customs payments only charged for the shipping vat and not for sword value the customs declaration stated "Antique Cavalry Sabre Made 1865 by hand for display" looking at the tracking it cleared customs very quickly antiques and traditionally made swords are ok in the UK.
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Post by Darth Paunch on May 4, 2019 15:37:19 GMT
Huawei Kogarasu Maru katana is in my local customs office 7 miles away and is ready for pickup from monday on. Just under two weeks, even via Hong Kong.
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Post by Robert in California on May 5, 2019 11:59:17 GMT
Well, in an age of "nobody is responsible for their actions", we get "everyone is held responsible". Prelude to dictatorships? Sinosword/JKoo ships to USA because it avoids Shanghai Customs, which is a black hole in my experience. They have lost (had stolen) bulk shipments. I lost a $500+ katana when I tried to send it back for minor tweaking. This really hurts them and other Chinese sword sellers in both sales, and blocks a potential market for them in accepting swords to then build new furniture for. I have a decent Huawei waki with crappy (the furniture people had too much wine at lunch, right before working on my sword). I would have LONG sent it to Sinosword for new furniture (they have good furniture people, except for habaki fitters which I have been beating them over the heads with and which Van Yang, the face of JKoo/Sinosword, promises to get fixed). Great blade to saya fitting, really tight tuska-ito work, etc. But Van Yang said USA to China shipments go thru Shanghai Customs, which IMO steals stuff....if they did not, when they "reject" a sword shipment, they would have the shipper return it to the sender. Instead of disappearing it and threatening or stonewalling the shipper when the shipper or the recipient tries to find out where it is. Per norm, Governments run by bad people, become bad governments. Look at the English Govt....gun crime, disarm the citizens. Knife crime...ban knives (re. that Mayor of London). Car crime...ban cars....wait a minute...I have a car...screw that ban idea (that kind of govt person logic...as long as it doesn't affect me personally...) IMO, periods of freedom are rare historically and I fear for our future...look at what is going on in China now. Look at USA social media banning of ideas they don't like. etc
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Post by Darth Paunch on May 8, 2019 9:01:53 GMT
Huawei Kogarasu Maru is here. Three weeks to get here from China via Hong Kong, plus one week usual customs business and inland transportation. No problems. Attachments:
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reptaronice1
Member
Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
Posts: 2,360
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 9, 2019 1:16:32 GMT
It's not completely out of the blue..
There were big issues about a year ago, some rumblings recently - and now its hit with a SLAM - our own version of Brexit but with swords..
There's no explanation, but now ALL USPS shipments of Swords to Europe are being rejected - and it's not just swords coming from the USA, shipments from China have ALSO been halted and returned to sender (and that means, many will disappear in the black hole that is Shanghai customs).
Sword sellers all over the place are getting hit by this and losing shipments and taking hard hits in the process - and there are no workarounds left it would seem..
So without explanation, and regardless that swords are legal to own for collectors in most of Europe, it seems that you guys over there just had your rights to import swords clipped without recourse..
We will keep you updated of the situation as it becomes clearer - in the meantime if any European customers have any additional info please share with the community in this thread..
In the interim, we too have taken some hard hits with wasted shipping and now are attempting to clean up the mess the E.U. has gifted us all and like many other sellers, have no choice but to halt all European orders across all sword lines until the situation becomes clearer one way or the other..
Here is where we are at now - from an already much shorter dropdown list for shipping options and now, just 10..
Not fun going over the whole store and striking down what was already a minority of our products. The golden age of sword collecting is most definitely far behind us...
The ONLY option on the table still left (if you can really call it an option)..
While USPS and all China based shipments are currently impossible, at the time of writing this post Fed Ex and DHL are still sometimes accepting sword shipments.. Unfortunately, starting at around $180 per sword, its pretty much a mute point - and no matter which way you look at it, European Sword Collectors have just been delivered a knockout punch..
The ONLY winners here are EU based sword sellers - as they can still import in bulk (as far as I know) and now with no international competition, can charge prices even HIGHER than they already are.. Just 1000 Euros for a Hanwei Practical Katana might soon be a bargain..
Let's do what we can to understand and defeat this stupidity.. The floor is open (and lets try to avoid too much political discussion - though we do understand if in this situation, it's a bit hard to avoid..)
this isnt even fair.
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reptaronice1
Member
Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
Posts: 2,360
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 9, 2019 1:29:42 GMT
I can confirm that 2 of my sinoswords got sent back to the seller, waiting on refund. I already asked huawei(jackie) for the refund on my costum I ordered. I just hope some company in germany starts selling Huawei swords to buy one someday...:S EDIT: Im from EU, but not from Germany Cya Im sorry man
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Post by Madmartigen on Jul 5, 2019 13:41:03 GMT
My two cents. Just got a sword from USA (TX) to Poland in exactly one week without slightest problems. Via USPS.
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Post by Bryan Heff on Jul 5, 2019 14:56:29 GMT
And my 2 cents. Shipped a sword from USA to Switzerland about a week ago via USPS.
No issues.
Took about a week.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Jul 5, 2019 21:20:52 GMT
And my two cents. Michael Keaton is my favorite Batman.
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Post by zabazagobo on Jul 6, 2019 1:47:47 GMT
And my two cents. Michael Keaton is my favorite Batman. Way to derail a thread. Reporting you to the mods, Lemon
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Post by bob77 on Jul 6, 2019 14:08:58 GMT
Yes, selling Swords from USA to Switzerland is not a problem. But you must keep in mind that Switzerland is one of the few countries of the european continent which doesn't belong to the European Union. There are no restrictions at all in Switzerland for importing Swords or Katanas.
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Post by cost on Jul 6, 2019 18:58:02 GMT
And here is another reason it's hard to do a fantasy sword line! Lol damn!
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Post by Madmartigen on Jul 7, 2019 5:43:23 GMT
doesn't belong to the European Union. There are no restrictions at all in Switzerland for importing Swords or Katanas.
True, but we in Poland belong in EU and there are no restrictions here either.
Our Polish law doesn't declare swords as weapons any more than axes or hammers. And EU has no impact on our law in this matter, it's our internal business. Hence the sword from TX to here in one week with no problems.
This may be different in different EU coutries depending on their regulations - sure - but in general EU does not override our internal rules in this regard.
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Post by Darth Paunch on Jul 7, 2019 6:36:28 GMT
doesn't belong to the European Union. There are no restrictions at all in Switzerland for importing Swords or Katanas.
True, but we in Poland belong in EU and there are no restrictions here either.
Our Polish law doesn't declare swords as weapons any more than axes or hammers. And EU has no impact on our law in this matter, it's our internal business. Hence the sword from TX to here in one week with no problems.
This may be different in different EU coutries depending on their regulations - sure - but in general EU does not override our internal rules in this regard.
Same here in Germany. No problems with importing swords at all; keep coming in from all over the world. As you said - weapons law is every EU countries own thing.
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Post by bebut on Jul 7, 2019 16:35:44 GMT
----Yawn----
Has anyone with legal standing in this filed an official complaint with the USPS?
If they will respond you will at least have their opinion of whodunit in EU.
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