My boyfriend went to China for three months and apparently he can’t find anything remotely resembling deodorant there. He insists on using the ol’ fashioned Right Guard spray, but what I can tell from reading a number of different websites, aerosol sprays cannot be shipped via air mail. Ground shipping is not an option for me; he’ll be back here before it would arrive.
Nothing I found says airmail shipment of aerosols is illegal, but no source even presents it as an option. “Ship ground” is the only option given on USPS. I can’t find any info on this on the UPS/DHL/FEDEX websites. Would anyone notice if I wrapped it in a bunch of bubble-wrap and just shipped it, don’t-ask-don’t-tell style? He was able to bring a couple cans in his checked luggage without incident, it doesn’t seem like a wrapped box would be any more problematic.
It looks like Amazon would let me order six cans of the stuff and ship it ‘expedited,’ but I wonder if once it goes through all the rigamarole that they will end up shipping it ground without telling me, and I’ll be stuck with a lost package and a ridiculous bill.
Has anyone had experience with this sort of thing, or have advice on shipping to China in general (any particular carriers better than others)? Or, at least, the best antiperspirant/deodorant stick alternatives for aerosol-lovers?
where is your boyfriend? any of the majr cities will have a watson’s or carrefour and he can buy himself. choice may be limited and he may have to use stick, but that’s probably a lot easier than shipping from the US
i’ve never shipped aerosols to china, but customs can be pretty random. there may be import tax as well.
I found deodorant pretty much everywhere I went in China (they have a lot of Watson’s drug stores, based in HK, in every major city). None, however, in Tibet, which was a shame as the pressure differential made my roll-on deodorant explode.
He’s really, really picky about his personal care items so he might have meant that he can’t find anything resembling HIS deodorant, which is aerosol Right Guard. He was in Shanghai and found his other toiletries needs in drugstores, Wal-Mart, etc. but apparently he’s not finding anything suitable.
I’m inclined to advise that if a billion Chinese can live without it, he can too. But try telling that to someone missing the comforts of home…
Aerosol Right Guard??!?? They actually still make that stuff? Maybe he needs to try finding it next to the Vitalis and Aqua Velva.
I don’t know what to say to that; if he’s picky about his personal care items, why’s he using that crap?
Sorry to sound snarky, but maybe this would be a good time for him to crawl out of his shell and try one of the 50 bajillion products that have come out since the 1950’s, and most of them don’t put a hole in the ozone layer.
To be cruder, if he’s that picky about his personal care items, what the hell is he doing in China? Things can be, you know, slightly different overseas. Travel sometimes requires a little bit of compromise.
Though to be honest, if he can get over this issue, it will probably make him a better person.
(Also, I don’t think they have Wal*Mart in China.)
Depending on the amount, if you’re shipping it into or out of the U.S. then it will be considered Dangerous Goods by the Department of Transportation and as such will have to be shipped hazardous in an appropriate container and labeled with its specific UN number, full name/description, and appropriate hazardous placards (flammable, corrosive, etc…). I can’t recall the UN number for aerosols off the top of my head but there is a specific one along the lines of ‘small gas sample, non-refillable container, blah blah’. Use the info at hazmat.dot.gov to determine if the amount you want to send will be enough to warrant going through all this. If you still want to, you’ll have to get DG shipping-certified before FedEx or UPS can legally accept the package from you. The certification process is typically a joke: sitting in some classroom for eight hours or something, but I’ve gotten mine from a cd I ordered from a company which specializes apparently in making me **not **sit in a classroom for eight hours. It licenses me to redistribute (read: train) so if you need a copy let me know. Probably it’s not worth your time, though.
I did find the proper labeling requirements, which isn’t that big of a deal since it’s a “consumer commodity”, but even so labeled it can only be shipped ground, from what I can tell.
To **jjimm **and An Arky, I hear you. Personally I can’t stand the stuff (forget the ozone layer, it pollutes our bathroom). I would love the Queer Eye grooming guy to have a crack at him um…not in that way.
Hey, I love him and there are worse things to be than picky about your crap product, but perhaps I can convince him that this is a great opportunity to expand his horizons. He can’t really think it’s worth paying $100-$200 to ship out a few bars of Ivory soap (yes, he can’t live without Ivory Soap or Right Guard…sigh).
They do in fact have a Wal-Mart in Shanghai. Their clothing racks are perfectly arranged and color-coded. Each hanger is exactly the same distance from its neighbor hangers. Sort of scary, actually…
Oh, BTW, I might have sounded harsh…I was just kind of vamping on the Right Guard thing, all in good fun…I would’ve told your boyfriend the same thing to his face and chucked on the arm just to show him it’s no biggie.
tell him to get his ass out to the gubei carrefour. failing that to a watson’s, which are all over. he can try city super. also the supermarket in the portman.
if he cannot find something that will suffice at one of those places, then it’s time to get his crybaby ass homr.
Wal-Mart probably has 100+ stores now. stronghold is s china. IMHO, they suck and have piss poor international offerings. carrefour is much better. both are ex clients
OK, well it looks like nobody on this board has sucessfully shipped aerosol sprays internationally via air mail (without a lengthy certification process, anyway) which was really the crux of the question. Thanks to all for your input.
As for the secondary matter of whether or not an American newbie international traveller can find a suitable pit-stink-preventer in China, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I still want to send him a care package - Right Guard or no - but shipping costs are pretty outrageous.
[QUOTE=Hey, I love him and there are worse things to be than picky about your crap product, but perhaps I can convince him that this is a great opportunity to expand his horizons. He can’t really think it’s worth paying $100-$200 to ship out a few bars of Ivory soap (yes, he can’t live without Ivory Soap or Right Guard…sigh).[/QUOTE]
No offense but is your bf over 60 years old???:dubious:
