Monday, November 17, 2008

Assistance needed, please!

Have any of you ever sent anything to Russia?

I have a few questions if you can answer them:
  • How long does it take to get to where you sent it in Russia?
  • What kind of restrictions are there on food? etc.
  • Do you have to pay a customs fee if the box is full of gifts?
  • Is the postage really prohibitive? I don't particularly care, just wondering.
  • What would you like to receive if you were in a foreign country and missing home at the holidays?

Thanks for any and all help. I will be thinking about this for a while, but I want to start assembling this box soon as I want it to arrive to be enjoyed before Christmas.

4 comments:

Yvo Sin said...

I have not, but your last question seemed aimed to everyone, so here goes:
Food food food. Russia sounds cold. I would probably want dried noodles (thinking abotu what kind of food can be shipped easily without going bad) so I can have noodle soups, I hope miso is available there. Chips/salty snacks that pack well that I can't get there (not sure what's available there, it sounds silly but sometimes things that are so normal to eat here are totally not allowed or not available there, like if I was living in Turkey, it would be hard to find pork rinds, pork products, since it's a predominantly Muslim country). Hmmm. Pictures of things I miss around the US. Heavy blanket or sweater, if I knew someone who knitted that much. Hmmm. Stuff like that?
Let us know what you find out :)

Anonymous said...

Hi. This is Diana, your swap partner :) I stopped by to take a look at your blog and saw the posted question so I figured I would answer it myself. Hope you don't mind!

1. It takes 20-25 days for packages from the US to get here.
2. No restrictions as long as everything is in original, sealed packs.
3. Just declare a small price on the custom form (something like $20 or less) and make sure you mark it as gifts. Then there will be no charges.
4. If your package is big/heavy, it's actually cheaper (and safer and faster) to send it Global Priority Mail, because it's a flat rate.
5. I rather not answer this one, just because I want to be surprised and because, honestly, I'll be happy with whatever I get. Two small things, though: I'm a vegetarian and yes, it's VERY cold here (-25F in January).

I'm going shopping for things for your package tomorrow. Looking forward to this!
Best,

Diana

SkippyMom said...

I am on it!

Thank you both so much - and yes Yvo Diana is who I am sending this to.

Yvo meet Diana - Diana please meeet Yvo. I have a feeling you two might get along great.

Diana thanks for the info - it really helps. I will pop over and ask some more questions.

Hugs to you both!

Anonymous said...

Hi Yvo. Nice to meet you :) Diana