NewHere

I'm wondering what would be the cheapest way to ship a package (a box about 50cm x 50cm x 25cm, about 7kg) from Rome to U.S. It is nothing valuable and I don't mind it taking long to get to the U.S. as long as it gets here eventually?
Is the post office or shipping carrier usually open on Saturdays in Rome?
Is there any Italian post office that is close to Spanish steps?
Many thanks in advance for your help.

Christina

I can't answer all your qustions as to cost, but there is a post office on Via della Mercede, 96 near the Piazzi di San Silvestro. There is also one just a couple blocks from the Spagna metro stop at 68, via Bocca di Leone.

Some post offices are open Saturday morning. The one in the train station is.

sandralist

Probably the simplest thing to do is to use an Italian branch of MailBoxes, Etc. You can find addresses for office in Rome online by using the Italian yellow pages (Pagine Gialle).

You are not likely to find English speakers at the post office in Rome, but the international shipping companies (MailBoxes, DHL, FedEX, UPS) are more likely to have some English speaking staff.

bvlenci

If you go to a post office, the rate you would want is "pacco ordinario estero". The longest side can't be more than a meter, and the sum of the three sides must be under two meters. For a weight between 5 and 10 kg, the cost to the US is €55.

http://www.poste.it/postali/estero/ordinario.shtml

Mailboxes Etc. charge quite a lot more than the post office, as I learned when I wanted to ship something to the US. I entered the particulars of your package on their site and got a price of €181.40.

http://www.mbe.it/spedizioni/spedisci-online

sandralist

I never send anything important to the US from Italy through the Italian post office -- definition of important being that it would be a huge problem if what I was sending got lost. I have sent many items via Mailboxes (although none of very large or heavy) and none have ever failed to arrive. Some things I have sent from Italy to the US via the post office never arrived at their destination. (This happened to me with the US post office too, so don't know where the items get lost.)

bvlenci

I send stuff to the US fairly often, at least twice a year for the past 17 years, using the Italian post office, and only one item has ever gone astray. That time I think it might have been my fault, as it contained a liquid. Maybe our local post office is more reliable than some others.

People send me things from the US, but that's more of a problem, because the US post office consigns packages to a delivery service, which is not only very slow but also slaps on a hefty customs handling fee (on top of whatever customs duty you owe). I tell people in the US to either fit it in a large envelope (which the post office doesn't consider a package) or not send it at all. Envelopes arrive in less than a week, usually, and I've never had one go astray.

I think that other than the post office, I'd consider DHL, which should be cheaper than Mail Box Express. However, Mail Box Express probably has more locations.