I'm shipping my PC internationally. For those that have done the same, can you share your experiences/advice?

[Hacienda]

I'm shipping my full size desktop. It's going from S/E Asia to Northern Europe, so quite a distance. I'm not concerned with the logistics, customs or paperwork - that's all covered. In any case, I am both the person sending it and receiving it.

I would, however, greatly appreciate any experience or advice you wise internet denizens could share with me about how to best prepare my computer. I've of course asked the shipping company, but I imagine for reasons of liability, they didn't/won't say more than 'pack it real good' and a preemptive lmgtfy didn't yield anything useful (other than take out your display card as a mitigation, which I will be doing).

I'm sending it by air using a local DHL/UPS-like analogue with a good reputation and an affiliate in the destination country, and I intend to ship the PC, foam and all, in the original box the case came in. The consignment is also insured to the hilt for what it's worth.

As it is, I plan on hand-carrying the HDD and possibly the display card separately (the PC is for gaming, ergo, the vga is ~50% of the computer's value), on the flight I will be taking in parallel with posting my desktop. In an ideal world (if only), I'd receive the parcel a few days later, replace the HDD and vga, turn it on and voila. In the very worst case I still have all my data on the rig's HDD (and backed up elsewhere, of course).

Can I do anything else?

My cable management inside the case is good and tidy, everything's screwed on tight and it's travelling as a 'very fragile' shipment. Yet I'm dreading opening it up to find it totally wrecked.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JDMStanced]

im curious too. i need to ship my mid tower case from America to Europe. people help!

 

[hang-the-9]

I'm shipping my full size desktop. It's going from S/E Asia to Northern Europe, so quite a distance. I'm not concerned with the logistics, customs or paperwork - that's all covered. In any case, I am both the person sending it and receiving it.

I would, however, greatly appreciate any experience or advice you wise internet denizens could share with me about how to best prepare my computer. I've of course asked the shipping company, but I imagine for reasons of liability, they didn't/won't say more than 'pack it real good' and a preemptive lmgtfy didn't yield anything useful (other than take out your display card as a mitigation, which I will be doing).

I'm sending it by air using a local DHL/UPS-like analogue with a good reputation and an affiliate in the destination country, and I intend to ship the PC, foam and all, in the original box the case came in. The consignment is also insured to the hilt for what it's worth.

As it is, I plan on hand-carrying the HDD and possibly the display card separately (the PC is for gaming, ergo, the vga is ~50% of the computer's value), on the flight I will be taking in parallel with posting my desktop. In an ideal world (if only), I'd receive the parcel a few days later, replace the HDD and vga, turn it on and voila. In the very worst case I still have all my data on the rig's HDD (and backed up elsewhere, of course).

Can I do anything else?

My cable management inside the case is good and tidy, everything's screwed on tight and it's travelling as a 'very fragile' shipment. Yet I'm dreading opening it up to find it totally wrecked.

Thanks in advance.

Taking out the drive and video card is a good idea, the card could get dislodged during shipping, drive may be damaged same way, and if PC is lost, then you are out those parts and good luck trying to claim full value of the components, never mind losing your files if you don't have a backup.

Aside from that, nothing much you can do, motherboard and power supply are pretty well connected to the case, so should not have much chance of other damage. If you have a liquid cooler you may want to cover that as well as you can with a plastic bag or few to keep leaks from getting to the computer.

 

[JDMStanced]

That sounds like a reasonable thing to do!
How much does it usually cost for shipping?

 

[hang-the-9]

That sounds like a reasonable thing to do!
How much does it usually cost for shipping?

Depends on where you are shipping and how you are shipping, how heavy and large the box is. You need to go to some shippers and find out online, they all have cost calculators.