# How can I cheaply ship an oversized package from the US to Australia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224 "2009-02-03T06:01:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/1 "2009-02-03T06:01:06Z")
I have a very large, flat (35" X 43" X 4.5"), light (under 13 lbs) package that I need to ship to Melbourne. USPS won’t take it at all, due to the size; both UPS and FedEx charge $475 and up. Which will not do at all, as the contents are valued at under $50 US. Does anyone have any suggestions how this might be done? I’d like to get it there under $100 if at all possible. Time is not an issue; it can take a couple months to drift across the Pacific on a boat if that’s necessary. Right now it’s taking up space in my kitchen, which I do not like. :smack: Help? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/2 "2009-02-03T08:05:10Z")
And it absolutely needs to stay flat? Just a wild guess from the dimensions and value, you’re shipping a poster. No chance you could ship an unframed poster in a tube? 😃 Seriously - is there any way this thing can be folder or rolled? Because of the odd and large size, UPS and Fedex will call this a “large package” and hit you up for a billable weight close to 100 pounds, so this will be pretty expensive to ship even domestically. And no guarantees that they won’t bend it. Someone like IQ Global can get it there in about two months for about $250-350, depending on where you are in the US, and if you can deliver the package to their depot, and if your recipient can pick up the package at the Melbourne depot. It’s not at all speedy, and not particularly convenient, but it is at least a cheaper option. The reason it’s so slow is because your package will wait until they accumulate enough stuff to fill a 40-foot shipping container. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/3 "2009-02-03T08:22:04Z")
Actually, it’s a life-sized cardboard Darth Vader standee. So nope, can’t roll it. My friend Dante from Australia visited here over Xmas - we had him packed up and ready to head out the door to fly home, and realized we’d forgotten to pack Vader. “Oh well” sez we. “We’ll just ship it to you” sez we. “It can’t be too expensive, it doesn’t weigh much!” sez we. We wuz stoopid. So now I just want to get the thrice-damned thing out of my kitchen. (Vader is, fortunately, folded at the waist, and still in his plastic wrap. If he were actually standeeing in my kitchen, I would have a heart attack every time I went to have a midnight snack.) (Hmmm…new diet plan?) ---
**Author:** ![Collaborator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Collaborator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Collaborator)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/4 "2009-02-03T08:50:12Z")
You’d be better off just sending him the money and having him buy one. Googling it yields quite a lot of places that sell them and will ship to Australia for the price range you’re talking about or less. ---
**Author:** ![Hap\_Shaughnessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hap\_Shaughnessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hap_Shaughnessy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/5 "2009-02-03T08:54:27Z")
Your best bet is to find someone else sending something roughly 3’x4’x6" to nearly the same place, and agreeing to piggyback your package in a cost-sharing deal. Craigslist may help. It’s free, so at worst you waste pixels, unless you unintentionally find yourself face to face with Jack Bauer, where soon you will realize that you have helped share the launch codes for all nuclear weapons world-wide with a bunch of nihilistic terrorists bent on the destruction of the planet, but only after the pain has become so intense that… Next Week on… ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/6 "2009-02-03T09:12:25Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > I have a very large, flat (35" X 43" X 4.5"), light (under 13 lbs) package that I need to ship to Melbourne…Actually, it’s a life-sized cardboard Darth Vader standee. So nope, can’t roll it. Hmm. All this time, I’ve been picturing him much taller. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/7 "2009-02-03T13:01:52Z")
> [@legalsnugs](#): > > Hmm. All this time, I’ve been picturing him much taller. 😃 Personally, I’ve been picturing him much thicker. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/8 "2009-02-04T03:57:56Z")
Hmmm. That was his boxed size - I just measured the standee itself and he is only 38" tall (remember, he’s bent in half at the waist) X 35 1/2" wide X 3/4" thick. Perhaps if I put him in a smaller box, he’d be OK with USPS regs… ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/9 "2009-02-04T04:34:08Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > Hmmm. That was his boxed size - I just measured the standee itself and he is only 38" tall (remember, he’s bent in half at the waist) X 35 1/2" wide X 3/4" thick. > > Perhaps if I put him in a smaller box, he’d be OK with USPS regs… Here are the [weight and size limits](http://pe.usps.com/text/imm/immc2_017.htm) for Priority Mail International. I’m afraid it still won’t quite fit, as length+girth is limited to 108". Girth is (width+height)x2, so even without a box you’re at 110.5". And they _will_ take out a tape measure to make sure, in my experience. Is there any way you can cut through the foam (?) backing so you can fold him a couple more times? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/10 "2009-02-04T04:35:39Z")
Find someone who is traveling to OZ, and pay them $50 to take it… ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/11 "2009-02-04T04:38:46Z")
Exactly, just been through this, cannot be done economically - find someone to take it. I’m lucky enough to work got a US company so we shipped it through company mail, but as my US trip was cancelled this year we were looking at $100s for the shipping alone. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/12 "2009-02-04T04:45:02Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Find someone who is traveling to OZ, and pay them $50 to take it… Most airlines have a checked baggage size limit of 62 inches (L+W+H). It’ll cost more than $50 just in oversize baggage fees. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/13 "2009-02-04T04:55:49Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Most airlines have a checked baggage size limit of 62 inches (L+W+H). It’ll cost more than $50 just in oversize baggage fees. OK, but I know they take bike boxes, so it’s at least doable… ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/14 "2009-02-04T05:05:52Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > OK, but I know they take bike boxes, so it’s at least doable… In case I was unclear, 62" is the limit for check-in luggage _with no extra charge_. They’ll accept larger items (including bike boxes) but they’ll charge you extra for it. Last time I flew with a bike box they charged $75, IIRC. But that was a US domestic flight and a couple years ago at that. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/15 "2009-02-04T05:18:49Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Exactly, just been through this You were trying to ship Darth Vader to someone in Oz as well? Amazing coincidences the internet brings light to! ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-cheaply-ship-an-oversized-package-from-the-us-to-australia/484224/16 "2009-02-04T05:35:08Z")
All these brilliant minds churning and nobody has produced the obvious solution yet? Use the force.