Ordering from the states

[Bill W]

I ship a lot of parcels (non-VW stuff) from the States, quite often to England. The best way I've found is to have your items shipped express mail. Despite what the customs form may show as value, parcels are automatically insured up to a value of $500.00 and if it should become lost your shipper only needs his copy of the invoice to file the insurance claim, as the part of the customs form the U.S. Post Office keeps does not show value.
The only problem I can forsee is that if your items are delivered damaged, the customs value shown could have a bearing on how much insurance you can claim. On the bright side, out of the many hundreds of International parcels I've shipped via express mail, none have ever been lost or damaged.
Only EXPRESS MAIL is automatically insured up to $500.00 With either regular airmail or surface mail, insurance is an additional form, and should probably match the declared customs value.