Food Swap

Got it, thanks!  Wow, I have no idea how much shipping costs. guess this will be a trial run!!!

I have not done mine, I am at a lost as to what to ask for?

Stacey, it's been so long that, besides a few important things, I couldn't remember what I missed from the US either! So, I went onto www.stopandshop.com (any grocery store would do), and checked out their online shopping option. You can browse by food category and get a lot of good ideas!

mart and I did a quick look at tesco.com, threw things into the basket and then calculated the weight thanks to the grams listing for each item. Then we took the weight to parcelforce.com and calulated the price for the package. I think its going to be really tricky! The shipping came to £14.50 for £13.00 of food!! Might have to adjust our prices a bit to compensate for shipping.

Has anyone found good shipping rates yet?

Stacey, it's been so long that, besides a few important things, I couldn't remember what I missed from the US either! So, I went onto www.stopandshop.com (any grocery store would do), and checked out their online shopping option. You can browse by food category and get a lot of good ideas!

Brilliant!!!  I am there now.  I used to do the Peapod delivery, it's Brill!!!!!  (Those Double Stuf Oreos are on the list!!!)

I'm heading to the post office today; I have one batch purchased, and I'll get the other one sorted out soon.

OK. Wait...I know Im totally thick but was the £16 supposed to include shipping? Cant get much that way. I was willing to pay the £16 plus shipping. Can we just wing it if we prefer or are the rules set in stone? Maybe it can be up to us and our foodie friends?

What about $30. At the current exchange rate thats £16. And that would include shipping as well.

Pebbles, this is what we decided on in terms of total $/£ amount. I agree with you, though. After hearing what others say about shipping costs, that's not going to leave much for food & treats! I'm perfectly happy going over my amount, but I guess it's an individual decision. Sending parcels by surface is another option.

I'm going to see what the difference is between surface and air.

I would have thought that so long as you and your foodie friend are in agreement,  if the cost runs over, that's fine.

Perhaps after the first shipment, we can all compare notes, and then if any tweaking is necessary, we can take it from there!

I'm fine with it going over!  Especially since my ff has two ff's!!!

I think the concern would be that the US counterpart would feel they would need to also go over and they are already paying twice as much due to the exchange rate--- and in some cases are doubled up with partners.

I say do what you feel comfortable doing.  If it more fine, if not fine. 

When we post the food items from the UK, is there anything I should tell the postmaster about the contents?  He always asks me what is in the parcel I'm posting to the States.  Should I say 'clothing' or 'gifts' or ??  I believe I'm outside the boundaries wrt customs in sending food that has dairy.

As long as nothing is going to SPOIL you should be fine. I suggest that you go back and read carefully what I posted on the rules and regs of sending food and also what to declare to Royal Mail. all of the info you need should be there.

Huge thanks to Kellie for this great idea!!  I posted my parcel yesterday and it's been such fun participating in the Food Swap.  Hopefully we can keep it up, I'm sure it would be a hit. 

Btw, I see that J&J was sued over Splenda adverts.  Their marketing implies that Splenda is natural (made from 'natural sugar') when they really replace (the sugar molecule) with chlorine atoms.  I guess chlorine is no carb?  

I love the company that I work for but holy sh*%  .  Shipping international with FedEx or UPS is spendy.  The only affordable option I found is USPS but they say 4-6 weeks.  Does anyone know a quicker cheap way?