Is it a foolish endeavor to ship a laptop from the USA to the Netherlands?

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Currently (December 4th) I’m in need of a laptop, and I can’t wait more than a few weeks. I would really like a Framework laptop, however, shipping is not available to the Netherlands.

Now, I had the idea to ship the Framework laptop to my uncle, who lives in the United States, and have DHL postal service ship the laptop to the Netherlands. This would cost, around 180 to 250 dollars. Shipping will take around 1 week from the United States to the Netherlands according to DHL.

Currently it is estimated that batch 6 will deliver in a week, and my specifications for batch 6 are in stock.

I just need a few specifics:

What are the shipping specifications of a framework laptop ? Such as, how many boxes are used to deliver the laptop parts? What is the estimated weight of these packages? Are porch poachers a risk to take into consideration, or is a signature required to accept the package(s)?

In my assumptions for DHL shipping, I assumed a 13.27 inch, 12.68 inch by 7.09inch box with a weight of 7 lb. Are these specifications good enough to actually ship the laptop/parts? Such a package would reach my home on December 10th, if shipping started now.

In a similar but differing strain of thought, I’m wondering whether European orderings of the Framework laptop will open up and be ready for delivery before the 18th of December. If this is the case, it would be an expensive, risky and foolish endeavor to ship the unassembled DIY laptop intercontinentally.

Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

TLDR: If I want a Framework laptop ASAP while residing in the Netherlands, should I ship a laptop from the USA to NL, or wait until Dutch preorders are open?

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My order with all the parts is a littler under 3kg (2.9kg) DHL is generally weight based.

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Keep in mind you’ll have to pay import VAT (at your country’s VAT rate) and it may take your package a day or two to pass through customs.

Regarding the shipping rates you mention, maybe it could be a more reasonable option to use a commercial freight forwarder such as MyUS (dot com). My order is about to ship so I don’t know what it’s actually gonna be in the end, but the quoted DHL Express shipping rate for a 3 kg package to Germany is 65 USD (with 1-4 days transit time).

Nobody except the folks @ framework knows when they are gonna open orders for European customers and how long it’s gonna take until these actually ship. So if you really need a machine asap, I guess it would be a good choice not to wait. At least that’s what I did.

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Thank you for the advice Josh_Cook and Oliver.
I was also possibly considering MyUS (dot com), although I was not entirely sure of their trustworthiness.

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It seems some other folks have done it before and I’ll definitely share my experience as well here: Waiting for EU sales or importing?

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Not foolish at all. People ship such stuff all the time, mostly trouble-free. It’s just a question of the extra cost, and perhaps the loss (or difficulty obtaining) warranty coverage afterwards (if need be).

As @Oliver already pointed out, there’s the whole other thread about it you can check out, so just referring specifically to what you wrote: first, paying $180-250 for shipping seems excessive. I mean, this might be about right for a walk-in quote with FedEx, UPS, or DHL etc. but your uncle could just send it to you with USPS Priority Mail International instead for about $70:

https://pe.usps.com/text/imm/mo_021.htm#ep1730218
https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#_c330

Assuming he’s not in Albuquerque, it shouldn’t even add that much to the shipping time. Also, mail could possibly clear the customs more smoothly.

One thing to be aware of in this scenario is that there’s likely going to be a local sales tax charged on top of the US price. On the other hand, your uncle can repack the stuff before sending it over to you to make it lighter. It’s also up to him what value to declare. Say if he were to use the laptop a bit himself, it’d technically make it a used laptop, likely not increasing it’s value. Also, it’s not unheard of to receive gifts from family members, especially around Christmas. Generally you could expect to pay the VAT (21% in the Netherlands I think?) on the declared value plus the cost of shipping but perhaps gifts up to a certain amount are exempt?

For the record, it’s not a good idea to send valuable items by regular mail to countries where they tend to “fall off a truck” and disappear but I don’t think it’s a problem in the Netherlands.

Also note there’s the Express Mail service (EMS) but it’s usually not worth paying the premium for destinations where mail service is generally good anyway, as I assume it is in the Netherlands.

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Thank you so much for your interest in Framework. We’re working as quickly as possible to expand to more countries/regions such as those in Europe!

While we understand wanting one of our laptops now, freight forwarding brings unique challenges that can deliver a sub-par customer experience and limits the support we can provide. Unfortunately, if an import service is used, we will not be able to support your laptop or warranty if something goes wrong hardware-wise or assist when it comes to international customs or VATs.

The level of interest and support we’ve received from the international community has been absolutely overwhelming and we’re working as quickly as possible to expand our global footprint while making sure we’ve done everything required to officially support our product launches in other countries/regions.

Thank you! :orange_heart:

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I’ve seen people have good experiences with Stackry as well, so you could compare prices/reviews. Good luck!