To be more specific:

Do they have various size boxes AT THE POST OFFICE that you just fill up and one price for the entire thing no matter the weight ?

or how would I mail those clothes back at a reasonable price?

Mahya2,
They don;t have the pre pay boxes for INTERNATIONAL shipments yet at the Spanish post offices like the ones in France-one price for the entire contents no matter the weight.

Shipping your clothes back will be *extremely* expensive. I know, because I ship packages at the end of the summer every year (after a 5-6 week stay) and gasp when I see the bill! It's just very, very expensive.
In fact, when we're in the north, we go across the border and ship things from France in those pre-pay boxes to save some euros. We've spent a small fortune over the years at Spanish post offices shipping 4-5-6 boxes back (in the hundreds of euros).

And unless you ship them air mail, all the contents simply may not arrive or the boxes may arrive half opened, even if you seal them well with packing tape.

We've lately had half empty boxes arrive at our doorstep in the US. And last summer, we received some one else's dirty (and wet) clothes instead of some of our belongings!!! I urge you just to pack as lightly as you can!

What they do have for international shipping in Spain is pre-paid shipping BAGS. One bag holds up to 5 kilos and the other up to 10. We have used them to ship back small books, brochures and other printed material. These bags arrive more intact than the boxes do.

It is usually cheaper to pay for an extra suitcase that travels on the same plane wth you than all this shipping, if you can work out the logistics during your trip.

An inexpesnive way to deliver cases or boxes within Spain, (perhaps to your final destination) is through the buses. They have their own instant messenger type service . Your rpackage gets on the next bus out, and arrives usually before you do, and will be kept a reasonable number of days FREE until you collect it.

Great tip, lin. Thanks!

I have had to ship family's entire oversized american suitcase from madrid to vlc by bus since it did not even fit in the car, but we knew this ahead of time and they brought a smaller one for the road trip.

it was so convenient.

They also take envelopes. It is cheap, and fast.

Wow Maribel,

"We've lately had half empty boxes arrive at our doorstep in the US. And last summer, we received some one else's dirty (and wet) clothes instead of some of our belongings!!! I urge you just to pack as lightly as you can!"

that doesn't sound good at all !

Packing light is a problem with a 14 night cruise with 3 formal nights and the rest dressy plus daytime casual......

Are those baggies strong?

Also flying bags (minimum 2) home with me could be quite expensive as Air France charged me $50.for 6 kilos over last time, and I imagine I'll have even more this time. Don't forget I'm not flying over.

Was hoping just to be dragging one smaller suitcase around with me for the extra 5/6 days staying in Spain. Oh bollox!

Hi Mahya,
It's strange; I shipped a formal gown (a very expensive, couture one for a really special occasion) and all the accessories home in one of the boxes in '07 and everything arrived just fine, but I sent it air mail. We've had real problems lately with the packages we've sent by slow boat. If it's sent air mail, which costs more certainly, they take better care of the package.

And yes, those bags are quite strong; they hold up better than the boxes do!

Additonal bags USED to be $80, a bargain compared to overweight luggage fees. Not sure what they are nowadays.

UPS and FedEx have facilities in Spain. Why not let Brown do it for you?

Can you ship "jamon" to the US? I know you cannot take it thru customs - I had it taken away once when I claimed it.

The UPS, FedEx and DHL shipping rates from Spain to the US are all high. No way around it.

They took it away from you because it has to be imported through legal channels. The PO is not one of them.

Maribel or everyone,

Researching shipping suitcase or clothes back from Cadiz;
has anyone ever used UPS to ship back to home ?

Apparently they have a 25 pound box and a 50 pound box that can be used...(although I cant find out without signing up how much they charge for it yet)

Anyone ever tried it, or researched the cost ?

M.

Mayha,
No I haven't used UPS to ship back-only DHL.

Just to illustrate the cost of international air shipping from Spain post offices, I recently had to ship travel related printed materials back in two large international envelopes (the bags I mentioned above but not pre-pay ones, which can't be used for shipping to the US). These sturdy baggies or envelopes held a total of 4 kilos (max is 2 kilos per envelope). The cost for this was 73,80 euros. Those envelopes, though, only cost 3.60! While I hated the cost, it was simply unavoidable, unfortunately. But this time, they arrived within a week with the contents intact!

Hey guys,

I'm from Spain and i can ensure you that it is not cheap to send a package to USA from here.
UPS, DHL or local carriers (Seur, Nacex, etc) will charge you about 200Eur simply sending a box with 4kilos because the service they offer is always URGENT.

So the only chance you have is Spanish Postal Service, called "Correos", they have offices in every town.
If you get a box: 13eur first kilo, 4.65 eur each extra kilo until a max of 20kilos.
Or you can buy a prepaid bag for 10kilos: 90 eur.

My friend sent me a small package, a pair of eyeglasses from Spain to me in USA, Florida to be exact. How long do you think it will take to get here? he says he shipped it normal mail.

Do you think it will take longer than 30 days to get to me?

If anyone knows please let me know

The Spanish mail is notoriosuly slow but usually it does not take three years to get a response.

Aduchamp1- "3yrs to get a response?" i do not get what you mean?

What i was asking is if the glasses were mailed from Spain would it get to me in the USA in 30 days or less? i ask cause i will be moving.

Auduchamp obviously looked at the original poster's date!
I think normal mail is nowadays all airmail and you should get your glasses in no more than a week

When we ship packages from Spain, they usually take 2 to 3 weeks, but never more than one month. And yes, the shipping boxes are on the flimsy side.

Shipping from France is less expensive and faster and the boxes are much more suited for shipping internationally.

Someone in Malaga, Spain shipped a package (registered) to me on October 23. For two days the postal site in Spain said "en transito" and then nothing until 27th October when it said "origin post preparing shipment". That is what is it saying when I check on usps.com also. Should it take this long? We are now at 10 days and I can't see that it has left the country yet. I was told it would show up on the USPS site as soon as it got into the country. Of course we just had HUrricane Sandy so Heaven only knows where this registered package could be. I wish she had sent it Express. Mine to her got there in 5 days. I would appreciate any help and reassurance you can give me. Thanks.