Hallo,
This is my first time coming to Eurofurence (I am in the US) and I am really looking forward to it! I really want to bring my fursuit, and ordinarily I would just bring an extra suitcase, but since I will be traveling in the UK in the two weeks prior to the con, I really don't want to have to deal with the extra fees/hassle of dragging another piece of luggage around.
Now, I have a friend in the Netherlands who might be able to bring my suit to EF for me, if I can only ship it to her ahead of time. I've worked out the logistics of getting it to her from the US, but I was wondering about shipping it back to myself.
Is there a way for me to calculate the shipping fees from Germany to the US (via, say Deutsche Post?) Also, does anyone have experience with this sort of thing? Is it a very terrible idea? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Vielen Dank!
EDIT: Whoops! I meant to post this in the Fursuiters forum. Too many tabs open and I got lost. So sorry!
Take a look at http://www.dhl.de/en/paket/pakete-versenden/weltweit-versenden/paket.html (http://www.dhl.de/en/paket/pakete-versenden/weltweit-versenden/paket.html) (the price list did not display for me using Firefox...)
The US seem to be in Zone 3, so you can ship a 120x60x60 box for 94€.
Depending on the airline intercontinental services often have a two piece allowance and hand luggage too. Check with your airline first before sending through the post.
Be aware that your suit will have to go through customs, and there's a greater than zero chance it gets stuck - and that you might have to pay import duties (19% value added tax).
http://deutschlandfuerdummies.blogspot.de/2007/07/customs-taxes.html
Thanks for all the help, folks!
After some wrangling I've managed to find a way to transport the fursuit with me in my baggage, so I won't have to ship it after all! But thanks again for the info—perhaps it will be useful to someone else?