On Sat, 02 Jan 2021 12:15:09 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

Been helping out a pal with the same old car as me, who lives in
California.

He's been doing some engine work on it, and wants to replace the exhaust
manifold bolts with stainless steel. They are available on UK Ebay at
about a tenner a set - 16 bolts, plain and locking washers. But the
supplier won't send to the US.

It does seem odd to me he can't source them in the US. They are 5/16ths
UNC, and threaded all their length so not even a normal bolt which might
be a bit more difficult. IIRC 5/16ths UNC is as near as dammit the same as
american coarse.

Whatever. I've ordered them up to be sent here. What would be the best way
to send them there reasonably quickly and at the best price? Given the low
value, could they be sent as a gift to avoid the delay of duty having to
be paid? I'd guess they will arrive here in a jiffy bag.

Coming from the US to UK I've found the combination of USPS +
Parcelforce to be rather unpredictable in 2020. I had one parcel from
Denver that went to San Francisco then down the bay to San Jose and
back to San Francisco from where it was "exported". Two weeks later it
was exported again from Atlanta and it took Parcelforce several days
to acknowledge the UK arrival but after that the usual trip to
Coventry followed by a demand for tax etc and payment it arrived next
day. That took almost exactly one month.

I buy things quite often in the USA and I have an address who will
collect things for me and then put them all in one package. Almost
everything I buy is shipped via USPS in the US but I tend to use Fedex
to get it across the Atlantic (the consolidator has good rates with
them).

Almost every carrier in the US is suffering delays; USPS tracking says
"Alert: USPS is experiencing unprecedented volume increases and
limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19. We
appreciate your patience." The consolidator I use says "Carrier
delays: Your shipments are being processed and leaving our facility on
time. However, Fedex is experiencing delays scanning shipments at
their respective locations." and those Fedex delays have affected a
couple of US domestic items where vendors have used them instead of
USPS. UPS carried an item for me into the UK from the USA recently and
it sat at Stansted for about a week before delivery even though I paid
dues before it actually arrived in the UK.

In many ways I don't think it matters who you send it with - they are
all suffering at the moment. Parcelforce/USPS is probably cheapest but
slowest. Fedex and UPS expensive but quicker. Might be worth asking
DHL.

Whatever you do, don't try and cheat customs. Whilst it is possibly
true that bolts are not high on their list of things to stop being
imported that doesn't mean they will ignore them. Most of the stuff I
import to the UK is model railroad related and the consolidator is
very careful to ensure everything is accurately declared but that
doesn't stop UK customs having a rummage occasionally and I can't see
US customs being any less rigorous.