I near always stay away from UPS, but as said if you self-declare then it isn't so bad. Even with a UPS account you need to phone them AS SOON AS YOU HAVE A TRACKING NUMBER or they will decide for you that they will act as your broker and charge insane fees, especially if it is a Ground shipment. Air isn't so bad as there are caps (the latter applies to FedEx as well for that matter). A few weeks back a shipment came UPS when I wasn't expecting it to and they wanted $80 brokerage along for a $120 item. I told them to send it back. Three days later the item shows up at my door with no brokerage fee owing. Go figure.
On those big purchases though it is the duty/taxes that you want to avoid. Make sure you get the NAFTA paperwork sent if the item is Made in USA. Some, but not all companies are up on this. Stillen is a bad one for that and even tries to charge you for THEM to broker for you. I crap you not. Have to email them and get a custom invoice made up for you, but of course they don't tell you this you need to be aware and ask yourself. Extra $40-50 in their pocket and out of yours.
I have had MUCH better experiences with FedEx for both business and personal shipments, but again I always opt for Air where possible. You'll pay the different in brokerage anyways and then some so often it works out cheaper to ship 3 day Air - plus you get it faster!
As mentioned, Whitehead or basically any other shop/dealer will mark up and pass on any fees to you.
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