best way to ship to Japan safely?

[VandyDan]

sold high-ish dollar item to a buyer in Japan. Does USPS offer a trackable service, or am I better off using FedEx? Or does this new eBay "ship to our international center, and we do the rest" work well?

thanks, and sorry if this has been well-discussed before. My search of post history didn't turn up a solid answer.

 

[jbmm161]

I have shipped $100+ cards in bubble mailers with no issues to Japan and Spain. Just using regular usps PayPal shipping.
I haven't had to use the eBay shipping program though as those purchases happens prior to it being rolled out.
I would think it works just fine as eBay takes responsibility for it once it gets to the shipping center.

 

[rico08]

This topic comes up all the time...you can send w/ tracking to Japan via USPS for around $40 or $50.

 

[bmc398]

3 options

1. Off eBay deal where you take gift as payment
2. eBay deal using the Global Shipping Program. Shipping can get a bit outrageous for the buyer, but its the cheapest way for YOU to ensure you don't get shafted. You get the normal $2-$3 you charge for shipping to send it to the center, they get the rest that is charged.
3. As somebody showed above, its like $45 to send something tracked via USPS.

And yes, the global shipping thing has worked great for me. Cards to Canada have gotten from the shipment center in KY to Canada in less than a week, which is better than they do if sent straight from me.

 

[Pinbreaker]

USPS uses FedEx Global shipping..

I have sent several items to Japan (Ichiro Auto's over $1500) and have never had a problem..

Good luck,