Hello, I wanted to send a brand new ipod touch and a notebook laptop to my girl in Kiev....if I were to ship using DHL or FEDEX or UPS, will it be successfully delivered to her?? I was thinking of shipping it to the DHL or UPS location in Kiev and having her go there to sign for it and pick it up if it is possible??, my main concern is it not being stolen or confiscated along the way. What is the best way to ship it to Kiev and have it arrive safely?? Thank You much appreciated.
I had good luck buying things on E-bay and having them shipped directly to Ukraine. I live in America and it is expensive to ship, but some things were shipped for free and others were only a few dollars. Check to see if they shipp to Ukraine before you buy. I have sent I-Pod, webcams and leather purse. Only lost one web cam and they sent another one. I wouldn't send anything you fear will be "Lost". It is at least common BELIEF that things are stolen regularly. The airports in Ukraine for instance all have plastic wrap businesses to wrap and seal your luggage.
****BUT****, if you have not met this lady in person yet,,, it is not appropriate to send expensive gifts. Take the laptop and ipod with you and meet her in person. Use them while you are there and if you are pleased with her,,,, leave them with her.
I sent over a dozen packages to Ukraine. Most were under or around $100 in cost. I used USPS each time. Only one, the last one didn't make it. I hear they have automatic insurance, but since all of the others made it, I didn't keep my receipt on this one. They were movie discs.
I would use DHL and have her pick it up at the DHL office. FedEx and UPS are not commonly used in Ukraine, whereas DHL seems to be pretty popular. If you are worried about the contents getting stolen, you should be able to add extra insurance for a few dollars. I've shipped with DHL many times back and forth and have not had any problems.
My bigger concern would be that it would get hung up in customs. I've always shipped to myself, when I was either going to or coming from Ukraine, and I always wrote that the contents were used personal items. Since this will not be possible for you, when you go to the DHL office to ship you should ask them what is best to write on the form.
As I recall taxes on electrical items are extremely high in Ukraine, when sending by courier one needs to declare in the manifest what is in the package and many, if not all, packages go thru an x-ray in customs, Ukraine.
I can just imagine those customs guys when they think that their Christmas has come early with the arrival of a brand new laptop, there should be significant import duties to pay, in theory, I believe, the recipient should pay these duties when the item(s) is delivered to her but my past experience(s) have been that customs will hold it for ransom introducing all other charges (bribes) and all sorts of paperwork that will need to be completed before they will release it.
I'd suggest taking it with you on your next trip to Ukraine, remove all packaging, put it in a laptop bag and sling it over your shoulder.
No. Don't bring a laptop for your gf in the FSU. Buy it there. It's probably cheaper and it has the cyrillic alphabet.
I also must add, the person I sent the package to told me after she received the package that it has been opened about one third of the time. There were other times, I'm sure when it has been opened and I have not been told or it was not noticed. Nothing was taken until that package that never got there.
You can buy stick on Cyrillic letters for you keybpoard on E-bay. I have them on my computer and you can still the Roman letters. Your task bar can be set to change with a click from Roman to Cyrillic. I have had them on my keyboard for a year now and they are in good condition
I remember putting a cyrillic keyboard on my computer and it didn't work properly. I had to change it back to the other keyboard. The woman I visited (the Zaporozhye "doctor") decided one day to visit a computer store and buy accessories for her computer. "Buy", of course was to have me pay for it. One of them was a keyboard and she gave me her old one.
You havr to change the language settings to match the keyboard. once you have the settings prompted, you can leave the choices on the menu bar and just a click to change from English to Cyrillic.
That makes sense. The computer asks what language to use when you first set it up, I don't know how to go back to that screen. Is the Russian language in all computers? It was an old computer. It just went kaput a few months ago. I think I bought it in 1999. It was irritating when I couldn't get it to function right. I remember it working somewhat, but I don't remember what exactly was wrong. I still have the keyboard.
Computers are binary. The operating system is what is your interpreter. If you have most versions of Windows, right clic and choose "encoding". It will show the most common languages. Click on "more" and you will see every language that is possible. You can try choosing Cyrillic. If it does not come up immediatly, then it is more complex, but can be done in the settings or control panel. Try that first