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Shipping Overseas

Ill be flying out of the US in a few weeks, and won’t be back home for at least 4 years. Two-parter here:

1. What do folks overseas do, when they have a hankering for Stirling or BandM? It seems like many manufacturers won’t ship outside CONUS. Do I stock up now, or wait for relatives to send me stuff?

2. What European soaps/ scents should I get into? I’ll be living in the Ramstein-Meisenbach area, which is driving distance from France, so there should be a number of wonderful products at my disposal.

Thanks for the help!

-WetShavingRules.
 
Ill be flying out of the US in a few weeks, and won’t be back home for at least 4 years. Two-parter here:

1. What do folks overseas do, when they have a hankering for Stirling or BandM? It seems like many manufacturers won’t ship outside CONUS. Do I stock up now, or wait for relatives to send me stuff?

2. What European soaps/ scents should I get into? I’ll be living in the Ramstein-Meisenbach area, which is driving distance from France, so there should be a number of wonderful products at my disposal.

Thanks for the help!

-WetShavingRules.
Shaving Time out of the UK do Stirling and many other brands.

Shipping should not be a problem to Germany and it's closer than the CONUS!

Our Main Brands - https://shavingtime.co.uk/pages/our-main-brands
 
Rasoigoodfellas carries Stirling out of Italy. And they have their own soaps as well. Areffa Soaps from Ukraine is also very nice. And when in France there’s always Martin de Candre. UK soaps are also very nice. And I will chip in for the Dutch with a couple of nice soaps as well.

Regarding question number 1, you might want to check what you want in advance. If you are staying in Germany there is a chance EU taxes apply and that gets added to your shipping and purchase obviously next to potentially having to deal with import duties. But guessing you will be based as US military personnel you might be exempt (and get us some Lupos for less 😈).

Cheers,

Guido
 
Ill be flying out of the US in a few weeks, and won’t be back home for at least 4 years. Two-parter here:

1. What do folks overseas do, when they have a hankering for Stirling or BandM? It seems like many manufacturers won’t ship outside CONUS. Do I stock up now, or wait for relatives to send me stuff?

2. What European soaps/ scents should I get into? I’ll be living in the Ramstein-Meisenbach area, which is driving distance from France, so there should be a number of wonderful products at my disposal.

Thanks for the help!

-WetShavingRules.

It may come as a surprise to you that many excellent shaving products are actually cheaper and easier to find in EU than in the US. There are many online vendors, but if you have a US Amazon account you can use that for European Amazon purchases too (e.g. amazon.de or amazon.fr).
Unfortunately, Brexit made purchases from UK vendors for EU customers more cumbersome (VAT and duty does now apply), but shipping within the EU is easy and there are no customs barriers.
Prices within the EU already include VAT (you don’t have to add anything to the price), but for EU cross-border purchases the vendor may charge the destination VAT (e.g. Germany) instead of his home country VAT (e.g. a shipper from France or Spain). The difference in the final price is usually minor.

As far as Stirling is concerned, check this: Search - https://www.giftsandcare.com/en/search?search_query=stirling
I found this company a reliable supplier for many shaving products.



Hope this helps…


B.
 
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If you are on a US DOD base, the BX/PX can fix you up for a lot of stuff. Are you US DOD and, if so, things will be easier for family and friends to send you packages.

That being said, there are a lot of awesome wet shaving products in Europe. Right now, for whatever reason, I seem to be finding the best deals to the USA from the UK though.

In terms of having a friend ship to the EU for you, I tried doing that with a softball-sized item to Austria. UPS and FedEx were >$60 and the cheapest rate at the USPS was $42!

I would try some of the European shave products personally as opposed to getting USA options. Italy and the Baltic states also seem to have smaller boutiques with awesome stuff to choose from so, don't overlook them while in Germany!
 
Not sure about germany but almost all french grocery store (not convenience store) appear to carry Palmolive in a tube, I know this is not what you asked for ... but then Germany, Weleda, Tabac should be easy to come by, but then if you want higher end product online will be the way to go, as for stirling soap, they make it easy

 
Now here is the kicker, why ship the product when you can ship the dude

If I am not mistaken you should be near Kaiserslautern, hello DB Frankfurt to Paris line

Screen Shot 2023-02-26 at 10.41.56 PM.png


PLANETE RASOIR 58 RUE DE CLICHY 75009 PARIS

quick subway ride

Screen Shot 2023-02-26 at 10.46.30 PM.png


lunch please


you think you were done on your trek ? on to gare du nord ... already see where you are going ?

Screen Shot 2023-02-26 at 10.50.04 PM.png


Yup Yup Yup Jermyn street

Screen Shot 2023-02-26 at 10.53.01 PM.png


I'll let you map your trip in London , you ought to put some work into it too.

But I'll give you a great one

Man in seat 61

That should help you to go around for 4 years, Europe and train go hand in hand my friend
 
maggards do ship overseas too - i spent many years in SE asia and cam eto accept shipping costs and times as a necessary expense. In europe - as others have written, you have many options and I think a great opportunity to explore new brands. One I have to mention is meissner tremonia - hard to get if you are not in europe.

Good luck with the travles and new assignments - exciting times
 
Ill be flying out of the US in a few weeks, and won’t be back home for at least 4 years. Two-parter here:

1. What do folks overseas do, when they have a hankering for Stirling or BandM? It seems like many manufacturers won’t ship outside CONUS. Do I stock up now, or wait for relatives to send me stuff?

2. What European soaps/ scents should I get into? I’ll be living in the Ramstein-Meisenbach area, which is driving distance from France, so there should be a number of wonderful products at my disposal.

Thanks for the help!

-WetShavingRules.
Both Stirling and B&M are easily available for residents in Germany.
You'll likely miss out the seasonal offerings but the regular stuff is basically available.

You rather should avoid UK offerings due to import sales taxes being applicable post Brexit.

Shoot me a PM and I'll be glad to share some online vendor resourses with you.

As per the second part of the question: welcome to Speick, Mühle (nice shaving creams despite razors) and Tabac land. You'll be pleasantly surprised to find out how cheap all the Proraso stuff is over here 😉

Cheers from Germany!
Guido
 
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Legion

Staff member
My wife is American, and sometimes her sister sends her a care package of things she can't get here (mainly junk food, makeup and hair products).

Shipping usually costs more than the actual items.
 

Dave himself

Wee Words of Wisdom
+1 for Shaving Time I've ordered from them and have no complaints. They also have a good selection of soaps and creams. I recommend the Lothur company soaps and creams I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
 
good advice above. depending on where you'll stay, there are a few online options. Stirling is available in "local" webshops mostly.
In many places you can get basic stuff from the drugstore (i.e. DM, Müller, etc), like Speick.
I definitely wouldn't ship anything from outside the EU, it is just a nightmare. Cost, delays, customs, tax, etc. Save yourself the trouble and buy from a local seller (even US artisan stuff).

Edit: I see you'll be in Germany. Most webshops ship to Germany for a reasonable price, you'll be fine imo.
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
There are plenty of good suppliers in Europe
Giftsandcare in Spain
Rasiogoodfellas in Italy
Shaving.ie in Ireland
They will ship to Germany no problem, VAT is included when you order and as they are all in the EU there are no customs fees. Supplier's in Britain are a problem since Brexit and you can be charged customs fees that amount to a sizeable additional cost (my son ordered clothes and was asked to pay more in fees than the clothes cost). There are different shipping costs from different vendors depending on where you are so check that out before ordering. Rasiogoodfellas has free shipping on orders over a certain amount listed on the website. Within the EU you can also order alcohol based AS without any problems.
As for good European products to look for MdC, Muhle, Saponifico Varesino deserve special mention. Stirling products are available from all three of the vendors previously mentioned although more from some than from others.
Good luck with your posting
 
Europe is easy. A lot of European products and vendors.

Living in South America, that’s the challenge. Shipping international is always very expensive and dealing with customs is very stressful. I always pay at least 2 or 3 times the US price considering taxes and fees. Also, I have some products seized by customs.

Wet shaving is easy to stock up and easy to carry. Razors are small and soaps last a lot. Besides electronics, cosmetics are the products I buy every time I travel abroad.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
I look at the stuff I use every day here in the States. I have several US soaps, but also soaps from the UK and the EU. I would say, Canada Shaving Soap is what I use the most. My razors are mostly manufactured outside the States: Turkey, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, the UK, Canada, Germany, etc. The same could be said for the vast majority of shaving brushes.

Early on here, I PIF'd a shaving brush to a member in Canada. I would have been much better off just getting a brand new one sent off... it was over $30 dollars from Florida to Canada. Shipping costs for out-of-the-States packages can be brutal. I had to send some legal documents to our son who is currently residing in Croatia via DHL..... it was $118
 
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