International Orders

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

It has been a very bad few years for International, (i.e outside of USA) Sword Collectors. From a time when we once could ship any of our swords to almost anywhere, while the laws have not changed (both local and UN guidelined), the shipping services have and now, it's practically impossible or so hard and riksy its only worth buying the inflated prices of domestic sword monopoloies.

Why it is like this? I can only speculate, but to say its unfair and stupid is a true understatement.

ANONYMOUS ATTACKS ON OUR HOBBY?

From Freewheeling to a complete halt

The first passive aggressive 'attack' on international shipping happened many years ago, when USPS limited their maximum shipping size - 40" packages (your typical Katana) just barely scraped in or was slightly too long, so was up to the post office visited if they would accept or reject it. Then Cheness was further singled out for their use of Rayskin and could not ship internationally at all without proving the common skate used in the rayskin is not an endangered species. Then we saw the fist real bans, with the UK banned curved swords unless they were hand made and required a ton of paperwork to clear them (creating a nightmare to import and frequently gettting rejected, despite UK stabbings all occurring from kitchen knives and meat cleavers).

But then things started to get strange..

There were times when there were sudden and intermittent customs blockages, stalled shipments, and swords being returned to sender despite being perfectly legal at both ends - and no-one knew what was going on or why. However it all came to a head in 2019, international sword shipments sent by USPS were now consistently being rejected, confiscated or returned to the warehouse - but not across the board, and seemingly effecting some countries and shippers and not others, creating a very confusing and difficult to navigate landscape.

Once the dust began to settle, even though we could never find a directive or reason for all of this (and you cannot protest if you don't know who you are protesting against!) it became apparent that shipping was still possible - but most counties now required a courier service, and even some of those seemed to be somewhat random, allowing shipping in some cases and rejecting it in others for no clear reason. So instead of the old USPS prices of around $50-60 to ship a sword, the price jumped to around $200-300 per sword (and more, I have seen quotes double that)..

But there is some good news for some countries and some product lines - until recently we were completely stuck for ALL international orders on ALL our products - however the following countries can still ship a handful of brands directly to you, some FREE and some for a nominal charge. The countries we are able to ship a small selection of products to are:

Argentina
Australia (excluding Victoria, please provide proof of AFIAK membership)
Brazil (expect high duties and tariffs)
Hungary
Germany (may require extensive paperwork and customs delays)
New Zealand
Peru
Philippines
Poland
South Africa
Switzerland
Thailand

The situation is a fluid one, and what is available to ship to international destinations NOW may change suddenly and without warning.

Special Note on Canada

In mid-late 2022 Canada Post started first restricting the length of their shipments so that Longswords and the like were no longer possible to send, and then followed this up with specific restrictions on sword shipments coming from the USA. Love the way they made a tick box to single out swords alongside liquids and those evil ink cartridges.

Because of this, we were forced to halt all Canadian shipments with the exception of Darksword Armory, Project X, Black Dragon Forge and Swordier (though shipping is higher with Swordier unfortunately).

UNTIL 2024-2025 THERE WERE SOME SOLUTIONS

Third Party Specialist shipping services, but these are getting harder to work with and the general feeling customers get is that we are too much trouble for their money. I am updating the website constantly to try and find out where each shipper is up to, but things change so fast you really do need to do your own due diligence..

ARTICLE:

THIRD PARTY SHIPPING SERVICES

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IN THE MEANTIME, YOU CAN ORDER ANY OF THE FOLLOWING BRAND LINES FOR DIRECT SHIPPING FROM SBG:

AVAILABLE NOW

AVAILABLE NOW

IMPORTANT NOTES & INFORMATION FOR INTERNATIONAL ORDERS

BY ORDERING DIRECTLY ANY SWORDS SHIPPED FROM OUR STORE, ANY AND ALL INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS IMPLICITLY AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

Due to the cost and difficulty involved in shipping swords outside of the USA, if you wish to return a sword for refund - unless the item is D.O.A. or badly damaged in transit and requires an insurance claim - the cost of returning the sword must be borne by the customer and we cannot refund the original shipping costs. Reasonable precautions will be taken to ensure that the sword is packed well and inspected before shipment.
Customs duties, taxes and levies paid to import the sword are out of our control, not collected by us at the time of ordering, and are completely the customers responsibility. Likewise, if a sword is returned for refund, any import duties collected must be claimed with the relevant authority.
We are not liable for any swords confiscated or impounded by customs. While we will do our best to assist you import your sword if legal in your area, please ensure you are familiar with the import rules and regulations of your country.

Please understand we do not impose these regulations to be harsh or difficult. As a small business operating on low margins to give you the best deals possible, we cannot afford to continue to ship overseas if we are held liable for events outside of our control. We will work with you to try and achieve the best possible outcome if you have problems, but please understand that in many cases, there is only so much we can do and you need to be responsible for anything you import, knowing that there are some possible risks involved that we cannot always assist with.

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