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I have a request from a new Old Gaser. He wants to purchase about 100 bottles of oil and containers of grease I am selling here on OG. He requests I ship them to an APO address in Belgium.
Can I ship them full through the U.S. Postal Service to the APO address?
Can I ship them full through FedEx to an APO address?
Can I ship them full through FedEx to a regular address?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Jack Sim

Last edited by Jack Sim; Wed Oct 22 2014 12:06 PM.

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Jack,

I was told by the USPS that you can't send anything flammable through the mail.

Good luck,
Steve

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I don't think oil and grease fall into that category though. I have found that Fed-X has been the cheapest to ship full oil cans overseas as I shipped 6 to Germany about 1 & 1/2 years ago. As long as they are sealed containers and boxed well so it won't put the handlers in any danger, they are good with that!

APO address should be good thru all of them.


Thanks
Mike

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...good luck getting a consistent answer from anyone at the USPS...

...even the birthday card you send would burn...does that make it flammable?

...flammability is a relative term...I've been told by one clerk that as long as it's in a factory-sealed metal can, in a plastic bag, it's fine...others have said, 'nope, it's flammable'...


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Originally Posted By: gulfiend!
...good luck getting a consistent answer from anyone at the USPS...

...even the birthday card you send would burn...does that make it flammable?

...flammability is a relative term...I've been told by one clerk that as long as it's in a factory-sealed metal can, in a plastic bag, it's fine...others have said, 'nope, it's flammable'...


Well said, I agree 100%

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I think you guys are right, my postmaster, who called another postmaster really didn't know their own regulations. After doing a little research, the best I can tell from the USPS website is that they are concerned with flammables with a flashpoint of less then 200 deg F. Oil has a flashpoint of 400 + deg(rates right up there with B day cards) so it shouldn't be an issue. Now, mailing international may open up another can of worms...

Here's an old post on the same subject http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=309315&page=1

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Thanks guys, and Stevo I did read the previous post, very interesting.

Do have one last question, any suggestions on shipping about 50 plastic bottles of oil and 50 tubes of grease (wrapping, USPS, FedEx, UPS)?

Jack


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Jack,

I've gone through some quick DOT training (Dept. of Transportation) on transportation of materials. I really doubt you'll have an issue sending oil and grease. If your worried you can take a look at the MSDS sheet for the product, it may have useful information under shipping.

I've done quite a bit of international shipping of commercial products for work. There are a few things that will help you get through without being flagged, these seem weird but trust me they help a lot!

1. Make a commercial invoice, they arent that hard to do. Make sure to SIGN THE INVOICE. Very important. Include five copies of the invoice on the outside of the box, all signed. If you don't send an invoice, customs may hold your shipment, you are rolling the dice without it. If you have an online account with Fed-Ex or UPS they will have a built in invoice generator.

2. If customs opens the box, they will try to match the commercial invoice to the contents. List the product name on the invoice identically to the label on the product. If the can label says "MOBIL OIL, GH-51" identically write that on the invoice, dont just write "OIL CAN".

3. Include a copy of your paperwork on the inside of the box in case the outside paperwork is lost.

4. Packing slips are nice. Sometimes customs will match the invoice to the packing slip and skip opening the box. I always put a packing slip on the outside too when I ship product like you are mentioning.

I knew this stuff sounds dumb and beuracratic, but I've learned it the hard way! And BTW, I havent noticed a huge difference between using FED-EX, UPS, and USPS internationally. I would use Fed-Ex if all the prices were equal for shipping. If you use the online Fed-Ex invoice generator, and there's a problem in customs, Fed-Ex is good about helping you fix it.

- Paul

Last edited by Paul Bell; Thu Oct 23 2014 12:09 AM.

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