Packaging and Shipping FAQs

MBE matches your time and budgetary requirements for your shipment with the perfect courier for your needs. If you need an express courier, we will pair you with one.

Our worldwide network of partner carriers can deliver to almost any destination on almost any timeframe while always delivering the best possible value for your money. All you need to do is give us your target. We’ll manage the rest.

All shipping couriers require fuel in order to deliver your items. The price of fuel will often be subject to change.

To cover this, all carriers apply a fuel surcharge to their services. This means you won’t see it applied to our printing or graphic design services. It’s purely tied to how courier companies operate.

You’ll see our fuel surcharge figures change on the first Monday of every month. For example:

MBE fuel surcharge from 1st to 31st October 2018:

• Standard domestic shipments: 11.75%
• Domestic express and international shipments: 20.25%

MBE can ship almost any kind of item you can imagine. We have solid relationships with a number of specialist transport companies which make this possible.

But, some items are subject to shipping restrictions due to international law, for instance. These items include:

• Fragile items such as bottles and other objects made from glass
• Fresh and perishable foods
• Metals and precious stones
• Personal effects
• Pharmaceuticals
• Plants and weeds
• Works of art and antiques

If you have a question about a specific type of item, please do contact us by phone or online or knock on the door of your local MBE Business Centre to find out more.

You can have us ship almost any kind of item which isn’t subject to the shipping restrictions listed above. There are a few exceptions, however:

If your goods are banned by local, state, federal or national law, for example – or if they’re subject to import or export bans. We also won’t ship any items which might be dangerous for our staff or which might damage our vehicles, equipment or other goods which might be nearby.

Goods which it is illegal to import or export generally include:

• Animal skin and fur
• Currency and negotiable instruments such as cheques, bills or bonds
• Hazardous materials
• High-alcohol content beverages
• Ivory and ivory products
• Live animals
• Pornography
• Some antiques, artwork, precious stones or other highly valuable items
• Tobacco and tobacco products
• Weapons

If you have any concerns about your shipment specifically, do reach out to us. We’re always happy to advise you about how we can help you get your goods to where they need to go.

It’s rare, but sometimes you’ll want to send items to a destination which courier services don’t usually cover. This is the time when a remote area surcharge might apply to cover your carrier’s costs.

The exact amount a remote area surcharge will be will vary in each case. If you’re in doubt, you can check this remote location tool or get in touch with us directly to find out more.

In many parts of the United States, you can’t ship wine if you’re intending to sell it. Thus, the phrase “only for personal use”. MBE has a special wine shipping service which can help you meet all of the rules and regulations required in the USA and elsewhere. You will likely need to have an import license, but we can also provide further information about this when you get in touch.

Do be aware that some parts of the USA currently do not allow the shipping of wine for any reason:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Kentucky
• Illinois
• Mississippi
• New Hampshire
• North Dakota
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Utah
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin

If anything changes in future, this list will be updated.

We commonly ship goods to the following parts of Africa:

• Algeria
• Angola
• Benin
• Botswana
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde Islands
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Congo (Brazzaville)
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Equatorial Guinea
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Ivory Coast
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Republic of Congo
• Rwanda
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• South Africa
• Swaziland
• Tanzania
• Togo
• Tunisia
• Uganda
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

We commonly ship goods to the following parts of South America:

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Chile
• Colombia
• Ecuador
• French Guyana
• Guyana
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Suriname
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

We commonly ship goods to the following parts of North and Central America:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Anywhere in the former Dutch or Netherlands Antilles
• Aruba
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bermuda
• Bonaire (former Dutch or Netherlands Antilles)
• Canada
• Cayman Islands
• Costa Rica
• Curacao (former Dutch or Netherlands Antilles)
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• El Salvador
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Jamaica
• Martinique
• Mexico
• Montserrat
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Puerto Rico
• Saba (former Dutch or Netherlands Antilles)
• St. Barthelemy
• St. Christopher (St. Kitts-Nevis)
• St. Croix (US Virgin Islands)
• St. Eustatius (Netherlands Antilles)
• St. John (US Virgin Islands)
• St. Kitts (St. Kitts-Nevis)
• St. Lucia
• St. Maarten (former Dutch or Netherlands Antilles)
• St. Martin (Guadeloupe)
• St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands)
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• United States
• US Virgin Islands
• Trinidad and Tobago

We commonly ship goods to the following parts of Asia:

• Afghanistan
• Azerbaijan
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• Brunei
• Cambodia
• China
• East Timor
• West Bank (Gaza)
• Georgia
• Hong Kong
• India
• Indonesia
• Iraq
• Israel
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Macau
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mongolia
• Nepal
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palestine
• Philippines
• Qatar
• Republic of Yemen
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Sri Lanka
• Syria
• Taiwan
• Tajikistan
• Thailand
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• United Arab Emirates
• Uzbekistan
• Vietnam

We commonly ship goods to the following parts of Oceania:

• American Samoa
• Australia
• Cook Islands
• Fiji
• French Polynesia
• Guam
• Kiribati
• Kosrae (Federated States of Micronesia)
• Marshall Islands
• Micronesia (Federated States of Micronesia)
• New Caledonia
• New Guinea
• New Zealand
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Palau
• Ponape (Federated States of Micronesia)
• Samoa
• Solomon Islands
• TongaTruk (Federated States of Micronesia)
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu
• Wallis and Futuna
• Yap (Federated States of Micronesia)