Trading with other countries

I have traded outside of the US on a couple different occasions, mainly with Canada, Ireland, Greece, and soon Spain. However, what have been your experience on trading with countries such as Israel, Slovakia, Russia or other Euro/Asia Countires?

When you swap with another country the mail dont arrive from USA - Russia (or most of the country) many times will pass thru 1 -3 countrys before arrive to destination
So it also depends on luck, it can disappear at any point along the route. If it is clear that there are coins in the envelope, there is a higher chance that will be "lost". Thats why is good to be as well prepared as possible in a bubble envelope and between 2 cartboard

I have well over 100 swaps within North America and Europe/Israel and a couple farther east or South America. I had almost no issues to mention (1 with UK, 1 with US that I can recall). As mentioned before, packaging is important, especially with countries where postal services may not be as reliable. (note that Deutsche Post lost 2 letters lately - not coins, so no one can be sure these days). But again: I had no issues with countries like Ukraine, Romania, Russia, Greece, Italy, Spain or Portugal. Letters from UK, Ireland, Ned, have arrived within a week or two.
Now with COVID you have to check because some countries (including Canada) are not mailing to certain others.
Good luck swapping!

Hello!
About Europe be careful with Italy and Lithuania. I have no direct experiences (probably because I almost always send by tracked mail) but I know that some other collectors' coins sometimes were stolen. About Italy they are always not tracked letters so, just send well packed coins with tracked mail to avoid this inconvenient. If you receive from Italy a not tracked letter don't worry about the time: 1-2 months can be possible especially in Christmas time

I can only witness from my side of the pond - Israel to USA: very reliable and relatively fast. While it is always better to use a tracking mail, for low value (less than 10$) - use regular mail - no harm if a few dollars' worth of metal get lost.

Quote: "Danthann"​I have traded outside of the US on a couple different occasions, mainly with Canada, Ireland, Greece, and soon Spain. However, what have been your experience on trading with countries such as Israel, Slovakia, Russia or other Euro/Asia Countires?

​Two orders from Asia (sent in March) have been reimbursed (via eBay) & never arrived. I don't expect them either. I am still waiting for a package (registered mail) from Italy (to Canada). The swapper told me that he's had packages take 3 months from his country during pre-pandemic! (I really wish he told me that before we set up the swap). He's received my registered package in mid May (about 6 weeks).

I had one US package that was registered mail & it sat in NY customs for 1 month (took 5 weeks to arrive). Another US regular post package took the same time. IMO: registered mail is presently a waste of money b/c the entire global postal system is NOT working up to par. I am curbing all commerce unless it's a absolutely must buy (or sent FedEx). Many international eBay sellers have switched to FedEx. Seems to be the only option at the moment. I expect things may improve by late August/early September.

Hi Danthann

I've been swapping coins all over the world for over 25 years now. After having sent and received hundreds of packages (and having only one lost), I can conclude this: it is not about the country, but more about the person you deal with. Honest and reliable collector will guide you for better dealing with the local post (what to send, what not to send, what to write and not to writte in the declaration etc.)

Good luck,
Ilia

it is quite problematic to trade with USA.
My last unhappy experience resulted in having to pay 20 Euro of custom fees, since the sender declared 25 Dollars as the value of his mail
Se I can swap with USA only in this way, first you send, when I will have received everything I will send, compensating extra costs, if any.

Regards
Gianna