SHIPING CONGAS OUTSIDE THE US... - Not possible?

[BATZONG]

Hello, forum!

I allways wanted to own some old mahogany Gon Bops (love that dry, woody tone...) I live in the french caribbean island of Guadeloupe and those are impossible to find here, even in Europe they are hard to come by.

Found someone that has what I'm looking for in the US, but I hear that it's not possible to ship them outside the US because of the size of the drums, they're supposedly too big (?!) to be shiped via USPS.
Of course there's UPS and Fed Ex and the like, but their prices are just prohibitive (around 500 $ for one drum... OUTSCH!)

So I just wanted to know... is there NO WAY to ship some congas to my place at a reasonable price?? What are your experiences with shiping drums outside the US?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[OLSONGO]

Batzong, USPS will ship almost anywhere but there are some restrictions and a couple of things to keep in mind.

First the box must be no more than 108" inches total, that's adding the girth or measurement of the box all the way around and the height of the box, then request the seller that in the customs form, mark it as a gift and that the value be as low as you can afford, and I say that because if you put the actual prize, customs will charge you a percentage fee according to its value, but where you suffer is if you want to insure the item for its value. Just pray that nothing happens to the drum.

Paz Olsongo

[BATZONG]

Thanks alot for your reply, Olsongo.

I know what you mean with the customs fees... I have already "imported" stuff from the US, but beeing mainly a drumset player I only purchased smaller items like snare drums or cymbals, never a conga.

Again, thanks for the info!