Shipping Wholesale Jewelry Worldwide.
One cannot simply mail wholesale jewelry to other countries. There are many laws and regulations, national and international that regulates the shipping of jewelry from one country to another. The fact is that shipping any amount of jewelry, even a single piece, is considered 'exporting goods' in the eyes of the government. Even sending jewelry to the neighboring countries of Canada or Mexico will be classified as commercial exports by the customs agency. Always keep in mind that shipping jewelry anywhere outside the United States will be classed as exporting as far as the government is concerned. Unfortunately this forces you to deal with all the costs and complexities associated with exporting commercial goods to other countries.
It's always a good idea to call your local state customs agency or the federal United States Customs Office and inquire about legalities of exporting jewelry out of the U.S. Inform them of the country you intend to ship to and give them a detailed description of the jewelry including details like the precious stones contained, if any, and how many pieces in the shipment. Once they have all the required information the Customs Agency can tell you of any duties involved, potential problems that may arise with the customs of the country receiving the shipment and if such a shipment is even legal under U.S. law.
Shipping costs can be considerable when sending jewelry to other countries. Make sure you include the cost of shipping with the price of the jewelry; otherwise you will see all your profits eaten away by having to bear huge shipping costs yourself. Details like shipping and customs duties should be thoroughly researched by you, the seller, and carefully explained to your buyer to prevent any future disputes and misunderstanding about added costs after the item has shipped. Additionally, make sure you clearly notify the buyer that it is their responsibility to check with the customs agency in their country for any possible import duties on wholesale jewelry.
Shipping companies have their own policies on shipping wholesale jewelry to international locations. Most U.S. based couriers will refuse to ship to certain countries due to international restrictions and all shipping companies will require you to buy extra insurance for shipping jewelry overseas. Shipping companies have a limit on how much they can insure a shipment for, and if you require insurance beyond what they will offer there are places you can turn to for supplementary insurance. Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co. and the American Gem Trade Association both offer additional insurance to large or valuable jewelry shipments overseas. Their rates depend on the destination country of the shipment and which courier company is being used.
For highly valuable shipments there are couriers available who specialize in such deliveries. Brinks and Malca-Amit are two companies that provide armed guards for the shipment - all the way from point of origin to the final destination. These companies can make very secure deliveries around the world, but the cost of such specialized services are much higher than the normal international shipping charges.
You can visit the sites of the following couriers for more information on shipping wholesale jewelry:
http://www.brinksinc.com/
http://www.malca-amit.com/
http://www.ups.com/