Over the last few years we have been steadily increasing our capacity to handle overseas sales. In an increasingly global marketplace, this seemed not only prudent, but also absolutely necessary.
I've dealt with many of the challenges we have faced in previous columns on global trading, currency conversion, and insurance. After now having had some experience with developing shipping alternatives, this is the topic on which I'd like to focus.
Like many other booksellers, we began by using the obvious: the United States Postal Service. While the USPS had a surface mail alternative (remember the m-bag?), there was an economical way to ship heavier parcels. However, with the demise of surface mail services, we were forced to seek out other sources, and this has proved to be advantageous, if somewhat frustrating.
We began by signing up with UPS, and I wrote an entire column on their services. While the domestic Mail Innovation service has value, it took about a year for UPS to contact me after my initial contact - that is over a year! Awful service, so I sought a different source.
Our objective was to find a reliable overseas shipper that could save us money over USPS prices, while offering comparable priority service as well as a still lower cost "standard" air mail service that took a bit longer. We settled on FedEx International services.
The effectiveness of sales from shippers largely depends upon where you are located. While UPS took over a year to sign us up from first contact, just about the next day two FedEx sales executives came to our door. They had two tiers of prices based upon the length of time to delivery (5-10 days, 10-15 days), both below the USPS. Plus, they offered free shipping from our shop via FedEx Express to their Newark sorting facility. From there the parcels fly to their respective countries and are put into the local mail system.
To prepare a FedEx package, we have to apply a full address and return address, as well as a customs slip. Packages are put together in a FedEx-supplied waterproof mailer with an outside manifest. We put internal shipping references on each manifest so that we can track which of our orders went into each package, so there is a bit more work involved on the packaging side. They charge for fractions of a pound, so there are savings not only in the basic rates, but also savings because they do not round up.
While the prices are good, perhaps the only disadvantage we can see is that FedEx billing is hard to match against specific packages. Unlike a lot of FedEx web services it is not particularly user-friendly.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
