Posting items internationally

[Lucie]

I do have a friend who posted a gold watch to Australia that never arrived. It was confiscated, so they would neither deliver it to the recipient or return it to sender.
Although a lot of people seem to post things without difficulty, I've never wanted to take the risk.

[Edhelien]

I shipped to Australia in August, it arrived in one week (5 working days!), no problem.
I know about the restriction, but always thought it applies to bullion and gemstones only, as others said.
I always write real value (purchase price) in custom declaration, but declare only £50 (as default) to RM for insurance. No problem with that, except one post office which I don't use anymore. I sometimes declare more (£100) when I feel I would be able to prove it as wholesale value.
I am quite ok with the risks for orders bellow £250, but I am worried about higher amounts (mainly because I don't want to use Parcelforce).
90% of my international orders go to USA (and it is approx. 2/3 of all my orders). Most of them is in £100-200 range, but as I've started to use gold more often, I feel I need to find a solution for more valuable items.

[pearlescence]

I shipped signed for to aus yesterday with no probs. Put metal components on the declaration and the correct commodity code for silver findings