JohnL Posted September 16, 2022 Report Posted September 16, 2022 Hi all, EMS have apparently refused to transport a sword that I purchased in Japan to Cyprus (I'm not entirely sure what the reason is yet and am waiting on the sword to be returned to the seller as it was stopped at the point it was meant to be loaded onto the plane ). Antique swords are completely legal here, the sword has an export licence and all the paperwork appears to be in order so I'm not sure what the issue is. The seller has spoken to both UPS and FedEx in Japan who have said that they don't transport swords to the EU but this can't be true as I believe that Aoi use both couriers. I've read a lot of similar threads on this forum and see that this happens relatively frequently, does anyone have any idea of the quickest and easiest way to get swords to the EU from Japan when EMS are being awkward? There was some mention of other members of the forum providing forwarding services - is anyone still doing that? Many Thanks, John Quote
Rivkin Posted September 16, 2022 Report Posted September 16, 2022 UPS and Fedex in Japan require special agreement with a sender. If sword is being returned, chances are it was rejected by the airline. It happens very often nowadays - many companies make a rule refusing "all weapons" and thus at any point and at any place (for example the shipment was changing places in Frankfurt) the package can be rejected and then it is immedeately shipped back (no second try) via the slowest method of shipment... Fedex uses its own planes in 99% of cases, so its not an issue. UPS is unreliable. Quote
Brian Posted September 16, 2022 Report Posted September 16, 2022 EMS Japan will only take swords that go directly IIRC. If there is a stopover anywhere, they will reject it. Not sure if your flight goes via another country? Maybe the best option is to find someone in the USA to ship to, and have them forward it to you. If someone is willing to do that, maybe for a small handling fee. 1 Quote
JohnL Posted September 16, 2022 Author Report Posted September 16, 2022 Thanks both for your input. If there were a member of the forum happy to act as a go between then I'd certainly be willing to pay a generous handling fee. I've asked the seller to try and speak to FedEx again in the interim. Quote
NewB Posted September 16, 2022 Report Posted September 16, 2022 I have no problem helping you out as long as I bear no responsibility for import fees/insurance claims. John 2 4 Quote
ChrisW Posted September 16, 2022 Report Posted September 16, 2022 Kind gestures like this are what makes this forum such a great community. 1 Quote
JohnL Posted September 16, 2022 Author Report Posted September 16, 2022 John, Thank you very much. That's a very kind offer, I'm waiting to hear back from the seller once the sword is returned to him. I'll pm you. Many Thanks, John 1 Quote
swordnoob Posted September 16, 2022 Report Posted September 16, 2022 The two swords that I currently own were shipped by FedEx back in April 2020 without any issue after EMS rejected the shipment (it may have been due to COVID restrictions at the time). That said, their rules to the UK may be different Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted September 17, 2022 Report Posted September 17, 2022 Had a similar problem shipping USPS from US to Australia. Neither country has restrictions. Found out that USPS, for international shipping, uses space in whichever carrier is available at that moment. In both cases, the carrier was Emirates. They won't ship kitchen knives, much less swords. Both swords were returned to me - no refund. Had another problem going East to the EU. Did fine until it hit London, and British Air refused it. Again, returned - no refund. In all 3 cases, I reverted to FedEx with no difficulties. 1 Quote
lonely panet Posted September 17, 2022 Report Posted September 17, 2022 well i have a sword from Japan after polish, being returned via ems as of today. will let you know how it goes Quote
FZ1 Posted September 17, 2022 Report Posted September 17, 2022 Kelly Schmidt is an agent living in Japan. He (obviously) charges for his services, but he is someone "on the ground" who makes a living from exporting and minimising problems. Yes, its a more expensive way of buying, but the reduction in hassle and worry is worth it for me. I believe several board members use his services and he's also a member on here (I think). Cheers, Jon Quote
Paz Posted September 17, 2022 Report Posted September 17, 2022 33 minutes ago, FZ1 said: Kelly Schmidt is an agent living in Japan. He (obviously) charges for his services, but he is someone "on the ground" who makes a living from exporting and minimising problems. Yes, its a more expensive way of buying, but the reduction in hassle and worry is worth it for me. I believe several board members use his services and he's also a member on here (I think). Cheers, Jon What does he do exactly Jon ? Curiously Quote
JohnL Posted September 17, 2022 Author Report Posted September 17, 2022 2 hours ago, FZ1 said: Kelly Schmidt is an agent living in Japan. He (obviously) charges for his services, but he is someone "on the ground" who makes a living from exporting and minimising problems. Yes, its a more expensive way of buying, but the reduction in hassle and worry is worth it for me. I believe several board members use his services and he's also a member on here (I think). Cheers, Jon For anyone else interested I've spoken to Kelly however he has had similar issues with EMS and FedEx will only ship swords if you have a certain type of contract with them which not everyone has. He did mention that sending by sea is fairly bulletproof as long as everything is packed well. Quote
FZ1 Posted September 17, 2022 Report Posted September 17, 2022 @Paz- Amongst other things, he acts as a "middle man" for auctions and dealers in Japan who don't sell outside Japan, taking care of export licenses, paperwork, etc. I'm sure he does loads of other things, but I've only used his services for auctions & dealers I'm sure he won't mind me posting the signature block from his emails. Kelly Schmidt Japanese ANTIQUE AUCTIONS A list of my services, fees, policies and disclaimer/limitation of liability is available upon request or in the "about" section of my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Japanese.antique.auctions/?ref=bookmarks Quote
Edward Mahle Posted September 20, 2022 Report Posted September 20, 2022 On 9/16/2022 at 3:50 PM, Darkcon said: I have no problem helping you out as long as I bear no responsibility for import fees/insurance claims. John You rock John, love to see the willingness to help. Nihonto community is legendary because of actions like this. Sincerely Edward 1 Quote
Paz Posted September 20, 2022 Report Posted September 20, 2022 So the problem was on the Japan end shipping to Cyprus. I prefer UPS in honesty Quote
JohnL Posted September 21, 2022 Author Report Posted September 21, 2022 Indeed, the issue is EMS won't accept swords to destinations where there aren't direct flights from Japan. As it is the seller has already sent it by surface mail so in a month or two my sword should be here. Thanks again to @Darkcon for the offer to assist, very much appreciated. 1 Quote
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