What is the best way to ship to France and avoid the long customs delay?

Question

I need to send textbooks for college to my friend in France. I am worried they will take months to arrive, since a simple package with clothes took 2 months through customs.

Answer 1

I seriously doubt that it was customs that took 2 months...it probably got lost or something.

You can probably run into delays if you do not have the customs declaration sticker on your box.  Make sure to declare everything in the package...they probably x-ray it to see what's inside, so you don't want to raise an eyebrow if there's something undeclared in there.

Also, I have heard of post offices around the world offering special rates for shipping books, since they weigh a ton but are a necessity.  That may be something to look into.

Answer 2

It won't take months to get to France.

I ordered some comforters in the US and I live in France. It took seven days for the comforters to get there and the parcels were very big (not heavy, but bulky).

The custom process did not make any problem.

The important thing about the customs is to declare what's in da box.

You should check "US Postal" or "UPS" but US POSTAL is reliable and cheaper than UPS.

GOOD luck