Shipping an already built PC system from NA to EU

[FreyjaBun]

Hi, my name is Freyja and I've been living in Canada since June 2018.

Due to visa complications I am forced to move back to Denmark soon, and I really don't want to leave my PC behind as I spent quite a bit of money on it.

I am in a pretty sticky situation, where we live there wasn't much room so I didn't keep any of the original boxes that anything came in.

 

I'm wondering how to best send all this to Denmark? The case is the Corsair Obsidian 500D, I'm not sure what to do for the insides or what to do about the tempered glass panels either.

I've never had to ship a PC before and I would greatly appreciate any tips or feedback that you guys have!

 

Also sorry if this is in the wrong forum section, I couldn't quite find the "Oh Shit I Suddenly Have To Move To Another Continent What Do I Do With My PC God Damn It I Am Not Prepared For This At All" section

 

EDIT: I'm also shipping my monitor, and I also do not have the box for this, woops!

 

Thank you so much for reading this!

 

Edited March 24, 2019 by FreyjaBun
Forgot monitor WOOPS

[xdeathshot20]

well besides shipping costs your gonna want a lot of bubble wrap.  Try and find insta pack, usally sold on amazon for the insides to protect the gpu from snapping off during shipping.  Then basically use bubble wrap to wrap the case as much as possible.  If you wana be extra safe, bubble wrap the tempered glass side panels seperatly.  Get a box, bubble wrap the inside of it, put the pc in it and try and get some stryphome so that it dosent move around inside the box.  Then just write fagile on the box.  really aint much more you can do.  

[Dujith]

17 hours ago, FreyjaBun said:

*snip

EDIT: I'm also shipping my monitor, and I also do not have the box for this, woops!

 

Thank you so much for reading this!

 

Besides the shipping you will have to pay tax and an import duty. I dont know what the prices are.

But here it would be 6% import duty and 19% tax. You'll have to check for yourself what it will cost.

 

Since its an used product you can low ball its value. 

 

Yes i know its an used product, but that doesnt matter if it was originally bought overseas. In the end the value matters  

[Rambo]

You could go to a retail store and ask if they have any empty boxes. 

And consider selling the case and shipping only the components inside. 

A case is a lot of volume and shipping costs are based on volume weight. 

[FreyjaBun]

2 hours ago, Rambo said:

You could go to a retail store and ask if they have any empty boxes. 

And consider selling the case and shipping only the components inside. 

A case is a lot of volume and shipping costs are based on volume weight. 

As tempting as it is I would much like to keep the case. I am not so worried about shipping cost, it's more of a safety thing. I don't want anything to get damaged.

I'll definitely check out local computer stores to see if they have empty boxes, I hadn't thought of that so thank you a lot!

[dizmo]

Keeping the original boxes isn't really that much of a concern. Get a box that's the right size, and put the PC into it. Wrap it in quite a bit of bubble wrap. I'd also take out any components, like a video card, as they can strain the sockets if jostled around. Box them separately. You can buy these foam bag type things to shove into the case and make sure nothing moves around as well. I would also track down some pallet edge protectors, cut them down to fit the box, and placing them in each corner; it'll greatly help the structural integrity. Your box will be thrown about.

 

There's no real cheap way to send something to Denmark. If you live close to the border, I'd see if you can hop across and send it via USPS.

 

19 hours ago, Dujith said:

Besides the shipping you will have to pay tax and an import duty. I dont know what the prices are.

But here it would be 6% import duty and 19% tax. You'll have to check for yourself what it will cost.

 

Since its an used product you can low ball its value. 

 

Yes i know its an used product, but that doesnt matter if it was originally bought overseas. In the end the value matters  

Not necessarily. If he's owned the items for more than 6 months he can import them free of any charge.

[Dujith]

34 minutes ago, dizmo said:

 

Not necessarily. If he's owned the items for more than 6 months he can import them free of any charge.

Most of the EU does not have an experation date on import duty. Not sure about every country specific. But i would check that imo.

 

[dizmo]

3 hours ago, Dujith said:

Most of the EU does not have an experation date on import duty. Not sure about every country specific. But i would check that imo.

 

Already did. It's allowed.

[Dujith]

4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Already did. It's allowed.

Good, just make sure you have the receipts @FreyjaBun 

Most of the time it will just pass through, but just warning about the worst case scenario (+ everything needs to survive the trip   )

[FreyjaBun]

10 hours ago, dizmo said:

Already did. It's allowed.

I'm not sure how to work the multiquote thing, on the note of how I'm packing it I was thinking of removing the video card and then use the instapak stuff for the inside, then bubblewrap the glass panels and wrap it shut with stretch wrap or something of the like. And then yea of course pad the box a lot, and I was also heavily considering double boxing it if possible. I hadn't considered the edge protectors but I'll definitely look into that so thank you very much for that tip!

 

On the import thing, how does that work exactly? Are there forms I have to fill out before-hand, I've never shipped anything before.

I know it's not going to be cheap, but if I can cut any costs that'd be great!

For clarity, I have owned all of the items since early June 2018

[mach]

Are you going to ship by air? Have you estimated the weight and get a quote from the courier/ postal service? Because the result could shock you.

A full system and monitor...It's gonna be damn expensive. Unless they have special meanings to you, are you sure it's not going to be cheaper to just sell and then rebuy some of the bulkier parts in your country? 

 

I'd say take the storage (hdd or ssd) with you unless you don't care the content on them.

[Copyright Inc.]

4 hours ago, mach said:

Are you going to ship by air? Have you estimated the weight and get a quote from the courier/ postal service? Because the result could shock you.

A full system and monitor...It's gonna be damn expensive. Unless they have special meanings to you, are you sure it's not going to be cheaper to just sell and then rebuy some of the bulkier parts in your country? 

 

I'd say take the storage (hdd or ssd) with you unless you don't care the content on them.

Parts back here in Denmark are a hell of a lot more expensive than in the US because of taxes. For example, the 1080ti at its lowest price point in Denmark was right after RTX 20xx series was released and that was approximately 860 dollars for a new one. Used wasn't much cheaper either.

 

18 hours ago, dizmo said:

Keeping the original boxes isn't really that much of a concern. Get a box that's the right size, and put the PC into it. Wrap it in quite a bit of bubble wrap. I'd also take out any components, like a video card, as they can strain the sockets if jostled around. Box them separately. You can buy these foam bag type things to shove into the case and make sure nothing moves around as well. I would also track down some pallet edge protectors, cut them down to fit the box, and placing them in each corner; it'll greatly help the structural integrity. Your box will be thrown about.

This is the best option, but as everyone else said, its gonna be expensive

[mach]

On 3/26/2019 at 6:09 PM, Copyright Inc. said:

Parts back here in Denmark are a hell of a lot more expensive than in the US because of taxes. For example, the 1080ti at its lowest price point in Denmark was right after RTX 20xx series was released and that was approximately 860 dollars for a new one. Used wasn't much cheaper either.

I'd imagine the shipping cost to be at least a few hundred dollars. 

Parts like the case, cooler, psu or even the monitor. They are the "cheaper" parts in the system but really heavy. Also they risk getting damaged on the way.

I'd seriously do the math and think it through.

[dizmo]

15 hours ago, FreyjaBun said:

I'm not sure how to work the multiquote thing, on the note of how I'm packing it I was thinking of removing the video card and then use the instapak stuff for the inside, then bubblewrap the glass panels and wrap it shut with stretch wrap or something of the like. And then yea of course pad the box a lot, and I was also heavily considering double boxing it if possible. I hadn't considered the edge protectors but I'll definitely look into that so thank you very much for that tip!

 

On the import thing, how does that work exactly? Are there forms I have to fill out before-hand, I've never shipped anything before.

I know it's not going to be cheap, but if I can cut any costs that'd be great!

For clarity, I have owned all of the items since early June 2018

I'd strongly look at leaving the case and PSU behind. They're super heavy, and honestly, not worth taking with you. See my reply to mach at the bottom of this post.

You'd have to contact Danish Customs about that. I have no idea how it'd work. I'd imagine there are forms, yes.

If you owned them since June then you've met the 6 month requirement.

10 hours ago, Copyright Inc. said:

Parts back here in Denmark are a hell of a lot more expensive than in the US because of taxes. For example, the 1080ti at its lowest price point in Denmark was right after RTX 20xx series was released and that was approximately 860 dollars for a new one. Used wasn't much cheaper either.

 

This is the best option, but as everyone else said, its gonna be expensive

He's not in the US

10 hours ago, mach said:

I'd imagine the shipping cost to be at least a few hundred dollars. 

Parts like the case, cooler, psu or even the monitor. They are the "cheaper" parts in your system but really heavy. Also you're risking them being damaged on the way.

I'd seriously think it through if I were you.

I think shipping just the core of the PC is probably his best bet. Then you can fit everything, including the monitor, into one box.

Ditch the PSU and the case, cram the rest into a box with the monitor.

He's easily looking at $500 for the PC alone, then the monitor would be additional. Should be able to ship the monitor and important bits for around half that.

[mach]

3 hours ago, dizmo said:

I think shipping just the core of the PC is probably his best bet. Then you can fit everything, including the monitor, into one box.

Ditch the PSU and the case, cram the rest into a box with the monitor.

He's easily looking at $500 for the PC alone, then the monitor would be additional. Should be able to ship the monitor and important bits for around half that.

A monitor is surprisingly heavy 

My 27 inch monitor is 7.3 kg on it's own. With it's original box that's ~10 kg. His own packaging is gonna be more than that. (to safely ship it)

I put in the rough number on some online freight estimator and that 10 kg box alone would easily costs $300+ to ship.

 

[dizmo]

57 minutes ago, mach said:

A monitor is surprisingly heavy 

My 27 inch monitor is 7.3 kg on it's own. With it's original box that's ~10 kg. His own packaging is gonna be more than that. (to safely ship it)

I put in the rough number on some online freight estimator and that 10 kg box alone would easily costs $300+ to ship.

 

As did I. A 60lb box costs $500.

Which shipper were you using?

[mach]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

As did I. A 60lb box costs $500.

Which shipper were you using?

I just randomly googled an cost calculator to get a ballpark number.

That could vary a lot that's why I suggested OP to ask for a real quote before making the decision.

[Allmykidsareblack]

On 3/24/2019 at 2:15 PM, Dujith said:

Besides the shipping you will have to pay tax and an import duty. I dont know what the prices are.

But here it would be 6% import duty and 19% tax. You'll have to check for yourself what it will cost.

 

Since its an used product you can low ball its value. 

 

Yes i know its an used product, but that doesnt matter if it was originally bought overseas. In the end the value matters  

You do not have to pay tax on your own property moving to another country

 

I would take each part out wrap it in bubble wrap and place inside the case with peanuts, then place into a wood crate. If you do not use a wood crate the shipping company will stack packages on-top of yours.

[Dujith]

4 hours ago, Allmykidsareblack said:

You do not have to pay tax on your own property moving to another country

Anything bought in another country, you will have to pay at least tax. It does not matter its your own property. 

It matters that it was bought in another country. Depending on country it may not be needed after a half year.

The OP bought the computer in Canada is is now returning to Denmark.

[FreyjaBun]

Well, damn. Not sure what else to say here LMFAO

 

Honestly at this point I feel like it would be easier and cheaper to buy a luggage case and just pay for an extra one on the plane?

I don't know if it's safe to do it like that, or if it's even allowed. I assume the safety issue can pretty much nullified with A Lot of packaging.

 

I'm more concerned with whether it would be allowed? I saw someone talk about bringing his micro-atx or itx system on as a carry-on, so if he managed that I don't see why I couldn't bring it with me in a hard suitcase?

I'm truly desperate and grasping for anything I can here LMFAO, thank you guys for all your help and suggestions so far, I don't think I quite realised the scope of this before making this thread