That *IS* a huge problem. And there isn’t a good alternative. You may have to restrict the giveaways to North America.

Going to a commercial package shipped can be cheaper on the front end, but brokerage fees to handles customs sometimes turn up on the back end depending on the country. Especially when UPS is involved. Fedex is better about collecting brokerage fees up front.

It does appear to be only stuff that is shipped from the US. I don’t see a change in UK and German policies.

The giveaways will stay international as most of the time the games are shipped directly from the publisher, so the cost is born by the one getting the publicity. In this case, though, Sébastien had a half-dozen copies of Jamaica sent straight from a warehouse to me, so I’m the shipper. The game is muy fun, so I’m willing to buck up and ship it.

I will look into Fedex and UPS for the future, so thanks for the reminder.

Eric

Eric,

I had assumed that this would be coming from the publisher, and I am sorry the shipping is costing you so much. I would be happy to make a contribution, drop me a mail.

Frank is right, I may get hit with customs fees this end as well (though this applies to any package from outside the EU, recently the papers had a story of a 7 year old being hit with charges after receiving a rugby shirt as a gift from a relative in New Zealand), but I would see his suggestion of limiting the givaways to North America as a backward step. One of the joys of this hobby is that we can share it internationally. The US and Germany are probably the only mature markets for our hobby, there are millions of potential gamers around the globe so it always pains me to see anything here or on BGG being limited geographically.

That being said I am really looking forward to the game to play with my family. My game group has also been trying to get hold of it. You can be assured that it is coming to a good home.

Chris

Chris, thanks for the offer, but no need to pick up the shipping cost; the giveaways are exactly that: games to be given away with no obligation by the recipient but to try to enjoy the game. I’m happy that Sébastien is giving me the opportunity to give away multiple copies of a hard-to-find game, and that makes the cost worth it.

I’ve heard from a number of publishers about the rise in shipping costs due to increased fuel costs—increases that are partly responsible for the general upward trend in game prices over the past couple of years. It’s one of those hidden costs (along with custom fees, anti-lead certification, artist fees, etc.) that people overlook when they complain about paying $X for some game that’s just a bunch of cards.

As with you, I’m pleased by the international nature of gaming. The growth of gaming makes it hard to track all the releases and new publishers around the world, but that’s not really a bad problem to have…

Eric

Eric

Eric,

You are a gentleman. I am eagerly awaiting the knock on the door…

Cheers

Chris

Regarding Customs:

Most of the national post office have reciprocal agreements regarding the handoff and customs arrangements so that there are no fees on shipped goods, unless there is an unusual tariff. And, in practice, most countries do not collect tariffs on small shipments to individuals.

(In the US, pretty much any general good under $1500 is immune to customs fees. There are exceptions.)

Also, any tariffs that might be levied are usually waved if you mark “Gift” on the customs tag.

The commercial package shippers don’t have those customs agreements in place, so they have to pass the package off to a third party broker to warehouse the items. That brokerage fee usually gets collected before delivery.

Frank,

Most of this does not hold within the EU. There are numerous threads on BGG complaining about this. Here is the latest UK guidance on the matter from HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs). Believe me, this is enforced pretty rigourously by all carriers (including Royal Mail).
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_001454&propertyType=document

For those unwilling or too lazy to click on the link, the lower limit for all this is goods to the value of £18 . You pay the import duty plus the VAT (sales tax payable on the total - goods PLUS import duty) plus excise duty (on certain products - not boardgames) plus a “handling charge” from the delivery company who is kindly enforcing all this on HMRC’s behalf.

The limit and level of enforcement varies in other EU countries but the UK is by no means the most stringent.

That being said, with the current exchange rate being what it is, and the low cost of boardgames in the US, I might just get away without any charges at all. :)