Mail - general delivery

[herzzreh]

I want to mail my tent, sleeping bags and the other good stuff to myself before the festival. What is the closest post office that accept general delivery?

[Madyokel]

I want to mail my tent, sleeping bags and the other good stuff to myself before the festival. What is the closest post office that accept general delivery?

[herzzreh]

You are serious right ?

Closest but still several miles away probably Shepton Mallet, Wells or Glastonbury.. THat would cost a fortune.

Why not order and pick up from millets on site?

Edited January 14, 2011 by herzzreh

[Madyokel]

I'm dead serious!

I already own excellent camping gear, why waste beer money? I'll be flying from the States, traveling on the continent for two weeks and then going to Glasto - the only place I'd need my camping gear. I will have a car when I get to UK, so distance somewhat doesn't matter.

[herzzreh]

You might be better off using a courier such as UPS then.

Their depots tend to be close to motorways and have better opening times than a post office.

For that amount of gear it may well turn out cheaper as well

[mikeb]

Hmmmmmm, would I actually trust USPS, US/UK Customs and Royal Mail to get their act together and have my precious gear all ready and waiting for me to wander off with (and not to mention completely intact and undamaged) when I turn up to collect it just before Glasto ? Absolutely no chance Interesting idea though and good luck getting it sorted. Must say that I'm very surprised that it will only cost you around $50 tho as I recently had the 'privilege' of paying RM about half of that just to send almost 10Kg a 100 miles or so

You may be better off getting it delivered somewhere other than close to the festival mind you. The traffic situation in and around the area can be (and usually is) way more than a bit of a PITA around Glasto time. Any 'unnecessary' journeys best avoided and all that! Perhaps somewhere near to where you're arriving in the UK and/or picking up the car would be a more sensible option ?

If you're going to be in or near London immediately before the festival and have suitable transport from there to Glasto then trying to arrange for your kit to be available for pick-up at Mount Pleasant is likely to be the best option I would imagine. I'm fairly sure that it's still where all incoming International Mail generally ends up before getting Customs clearance and sorting for onward delivery to elsewhere in the Country. If it can be arranged and is suitable for you then it's dead easy to get to (Clicky Here For Map) and they'll no doubt be much more used to dealing with these kinda things than some li'l old country Post Office in Somerset will be !

EDIT: Ummm, just a thought - this could potentially cost you loads of do$h in duty/tax and possibly even end in tears if you're not careful and/or don't have the right paperwork with the package. I've absolutely no idea how you actually go about sending stuff to yourself in another country or how it usually works but any package arriving in the UK for delivery is generally speaking liable for Import Duty (usually a few %) plus VAT (20%) plus a Handling Fee (a few £/$) if it's value exceeds around £15/$30 or thereabouts and it get picked up by Customs. I would imagine that you'll need to make sure you have any necessary documentation in place to ensure that it's recognised as a legitimate Temporary Import (I presume you will be taking your stuff home with you eventually) and therefore not subject to any charges regardless of it's value. UK Customs & Excise can often be quite harsh in their treatment of incoming packages and particularly so in respect of the charges they require paying before releasing the package ! Have you discussed the finer points of your plan with USPS and asked specifically about any potential for Customs/Excise issues ?

Edited January 14, 2011 by mikeb

[fuzzylogic]

Honestly that sounds like so much hassle and cost. Just order the cheapest tent from Millets and pick it up from the festival. You don't need your "excellent camping gear" as it's just a festival and somewhere to get your head down at night for a few hours.

[incident]

Yeah this doesn't make much sense to me. It's more hassle in every respect, and with too many things that could go wrong. I'm not even convinced it'll work out cheaper.

If you have to ship all the stuff back or your Airline decides to charge you excess/oversized baggage fees to take it, then you could easily find your costs soaring from $50 to $150+.

Assuming you fill out the declarations correctly, I don't think you're likely to get any import tax or whatever - however it's possible that Customs decide to inspect the package (and especially with something unusual like this) which could hold up the package for weeks with no information about when it's likely to appear.

You should be able to get competent versions of the key items (tent, sleeping bag, mat) for somewhere around £60-£70 combined. Fair enough, they won't be as good as the ones you already own - but they'll be fine for 5 nights and can be donated to charity at the end of the festival.

[mikeb]

I don't think it's a bad idea at all - if I was travelling abroad somewhere and had to rely on a tent etc. for shelter then I'd also much prefer my own very well used jobbie rather than some completely unknown quantity even if it is just for a festival ! In addition to that, I have more than a bit of a problem with generally wasting money/resources so buying new and dumping afterwards would defo only be a very last resort for me only if there was no other realistic option available. TBH, I think it's *very* good to see someone actually making an effort to consider any possible sensible alternatives there may be to the "buy it, use it and then dump it" culture whether it's for environmental or conscience stylee reasons ... or simply just to save money that could be better employed procuring additional and all-important liquid refreshment stylee supplies

I'm sure it's possible to do this sensibly and maybe cost-effectively but it most certainly will need some very careful planning and making sure that ALL Customs requirements (both UK and US) are strictly adhered to. It's highly likely to need more than just the simple 'green' declaration form on the package I think and in any case, declaring (say) $100 worth of gear inside is practically guaranteed to get you a demand for around $30 if you ever want to see the gear again I would suggest. Making a false declaration of value is also somewhat illegal to say the least so not to be recommended and not to mention that Customs can (and do !) use their own estimated value for goods if they have reasons to believe that the declared value is not realistic. Couriers like DHL or whoever usually deal with the Customs side of things and can get stuff cleared or released much more easily than an individual can hence why they can get away with charging an extra arm and leg for the service no doubt !

Donating a tent and other gear to Charity afterwards isn't necessarily an available option - it generally costs more in reality to sort out used stuff than it's actually worth. It's defo not a realistic option I would suggest unless general arrangements for donating good used gear are officially in place and/or specific arrangements have been made in advance. The whole "leave your gear behind and it goes to good causes" thing is mostly a myth unfortunately - unless it get scavenged by someone, it mostly goes to the dump by all accounts However, unlike other non-mythical messages such as "love the farm leave no trace", it's well remembered and often used by those looking to justify leaving their cr@p behind of course.

Similarly, ordering from Millets (or Joe Bananas etc.) for pick-up at the festival isn't necessarily an available option either - I'm sure there were several posts on here last year from overseas peeps saying that neither company would actually accept orders placed from overseas ... which is a kinda bl**dy stupid situation to say the least if it's true because they're the only peeps who can actually 100% justify needing such a service The only real option it would seem for getting new stuff is to buy gear in person from somewhere convenient in the UK just before the festival or at the festival itself.

Edited January 16, 2011 by mikeb

[paulo999]

Yeah this doesn't make much sense to me. It's more hassle in every respect, and with too many things that could go wrong. I'm not even convinced it'll work out cheaper.

If you have to ship all the stuff back or your Airline decides to charge you excess/oversized baggage fees to take it, then you could easily find your costs soaring from $50 to $150+.

Assuming you fill out the declarations correctly, I don't think you're likely to get any import tax or whatever - however it's possible that Customs decide to inspect the package (and especially with something unusual like this) which could hold up the package for weeks with no information about when it's likely to appear.

[Milbert]

If you needed your kit on you travels, fair enough, but you said yourself that Glasto is the only place you'll need your camping gear, so why bother?

Order from Millets to collect on site and save yourself money, time, weight and hassle.

Seems like a no brainer to me