You may remember that in my last post there was a picture of a box of Quality Street chocolates. You may also remember that I told you these were very popular with ex-pats.
The reason there was a box of Quality Street in the house at all is this: one of the forums I belong to is running a Secret Santa, and because it’s an international forum, it’s already well under way, to give people time to post things from various countries across the world.
And one of the American members of this forum, knowing that I’m English, sent me a plea for help.
‘Help!’ she cried.
I said that I’d do what I could, if only she’d elucidate.
‘My Secret Santa is a Brit who lives over here now, and she’s hinting that she wants some English candy! And in particular, some Quality Street!’ she elucidated. ‘And we can’t buy it over here!’
Well, never let it be said that I’d ignore a chocoholic in distress, so I said I’d see what I could do. And the next time I went shopping I picked up a variety of English sweets - which the Americans call ‘candy’ for some reason - and put them on the scales …
… whereupon I took a deep breath and sent a PM* to my friend.
‘Are you aware that the postage on your stuff is likely to come to .. um .. quite a lot?’Â I said, cautiously.
She said she was.
So I went and added up the weights of various combinations of the items I’d bought and consulted the Post Office website (which I must say is very useful for making estimates of shipping costs) and I sent the results to my SS* contact.
‘Here’s a list of how much it would cost you to send the two boxes of chocolates, OR the three bags of sweets, OR one box of chocolates and the bags,’ I said. ‘You choose!’
‘Send the lot!’ she said.
So today I took a package to the Post Office. It contained £9.60 worth of sweets in five packs. Guess how much it cost to ship?
The lady at the Post Office raised her eyebrows when she weighed it, and she frowned and shook her head as she informed me that it would cost eighteen pounds and sixty-seven pence to send over, which is just about twice as expensive as the actual contents!
But it will all be worth it, because the things inside that package are more or less unobtainable in America and if you do find them, they cost an arm and a leg.
Hmm. I think I know why.
*Personal Message
* Secret Santa
Like the cost here of a small bottle of HP sauce or a packet of Birds Custard !!
Thankfully I’ve put in my shopping list to Daphne and as a result, my goodies should be here tomorrow week. Sorry Post Office but I’m bypassing you.
Oh and I guess seeing Daphne and Stephen will be quite nice too !
Silverbacks last blog post..Those Of A Nervous Disposition……….
Oh my! That is a lot of money! But I always say that if a person is willing to pay a lot for something, then it is worth it to that person!
I once queued up for hours for tickets to see Liza Minelli (just after she made Cabaret) live at the Festival Hall. Just as I got to the ticket window they sold out! I would have paid almost anything for those tickets, and I did! I sought out, and found a tout. I bought 2 tickets at about 3 times the value and was extremely happy. The show was worth that, and more to me :O)
Babs - beetles last blog post..What will you get for Christmas?
Well, that kind of happiness is priceless. (Or so the TV commercials tell us.)
Ruth Hull Chatliens last blog post..A Blue Ribbon!
I know who they’re for!!! (Oh, what terrible grammar!)
Said ex-pat will be SOOOOO happy!!
Hmmm… may have to get you onto finding me some Bourneville (the dark chocolate Cadbury) - let me check around over here though…
Thanks for doing that - I suggested the SS contact you… hope you didn’t mind!
Hmm… I am going to have to check the international foods section of your local supermarket. The chain here “Wegman’s” is well known for keeping a large variety of foods from other countries, and they have a fairly extensive UK/Irish section. If they have Quality Street stuff, I’ll let you know.
Besides, no price is too small for good chocolate.
Mr. Nighttimes last blog post..Oh brave new worlds.
Wait ’til she gets hit with the import duty
What a nice idea… sounds like you hang out at friendly forums!
Somnambulists last blog post..Phriday Photo XVI
Oh good grief!!!! That is a lot of postage.
Oh but it WILL be worth it if only for those chocolate and toffee fingers - ummmmm.
J.Js last blog post..Baby P
Glad you visited my blog.
When we lived in Morocco the supermarket had Quality Street at Christmas!!!
I was all excited and bought some.(I am English)
Anyway we now live in New York.
We have an English shop called Myers of Keswick on Hudson Street. It has a website.( and has been on my blog)
Marmite, Ribena, Branston pickle etc.
Where does your friend live in the US? Maybe she can order from Myers a bit cheaper?
elizabeths last blog post..Reflections on the Blogosphere
It’s a great story, well told! I know that the postage of a package is sometimes more expensive than the contents. I use to send parcels to Australia whenever one of the grandchildren is having a birthday or my daughter and partner are having theirs. Now St. Nicolas’Eve is coming on December,5th, which we celebrate instead of Santa Claus at x-mas. So I had to send another parcel, which was very expensive indeed. Well nevertheless I think it’s worth while. I hope your friend will be as happy as my relatives.
Reader Wils last blog post..Awards
Awww poor princess…..you can see she was hoping what was in the parcel was for her as it smelt sooooo nice!
Taffy and William sympathise with her as I have been munching my way through a rather large box of maltesers over the past week which they think smell so delicious
Silverback - Well, that’s just cheating!! LOL!
Reminds me of my brother, who when he was small, used to announce the arrival of Grandma with the words ‘Here comes Beanies!’
She used to bring him Smarties - described in the ads at the time as ‘chocolate beans’ I believe!
Babs - Indeed. Any thing is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, after all!
Funnily enough, I saw Liza Minelli in June this year at the Hollywood Bowl. She was one of the star turns at Opening Night!
Ruth - Yes, I think it is. Although the price is high, I’m thinking it’s worth it now and then.
Jeannine - SHHH! Not a whisper on the Undisclosed Forum! No mention of the postage must be made … heads might roll!! LOL!
Bourneville, huh? So happens I have a family sized bar of that in my drawer right now! Not my personal favourite but to each his/her own! Remember my first taste of the Green and Blacks with cherries? I think I nearly walked into a lamp-post!
Mr N - And we do have good chocolate over here! I must admit, yours tastes … funny. And unexciting. Good chocolate shouldn’t be over sweet, and it simply must melt in the mouth!
Somnambulist - I only hang out on friendly forums! If things turn ugly too often, I’m history. I don’t have time to waste on crap like that.
Let’s hope customs don’t get too curious, huh?
JJ - I know! My son has a penchant for the purple ones, which you can now get in extra large size sold individually - you know the ones, hazelnut in caramel. I always thought they looked odd because they are shaped like brazil nuts.
Elizabeth - Thank you! That’s good information to have and I will let my US friends know if they ask me in future. I’m quite happy to do it for them, but if they can save money, why not?
Reader Wil - I do agree. It is so worthwhile just to bring a smile to someone’s face, isn’t it? When we spent a year in New Zealand we had to limit our gift-giving at Christmas because it was just so expensive, and we chose light items too. You still do it, thought, don’t you?
Taffy’s Mum - Ah, but what you don’t know, and what she clearly DID know, is that the contents of that package up there were not chocolates, but dog cookies! That’s a gift - uuhh .. payment for Miss Gracie’s services as guest calendar girl for November!
Hmm, we have a British imports store in downtown Frederick. I wonder if they carry Quality Street chocolates there? I’ll find out. Now I’m intrigued and want to taste some.
Peace - D
RiverPoets last blog post..Proposition 8
River Poet - You should try them! They are sooooo good!
mmmmmm……..I miss chocolates!
meleah rebeccahs last blog post..Friday Funnies: The Rude Customer
Man… I had a postage sack half-filled with books shipped across the Atlantic once for less than £18!
Jay, you’re so good to do all that research and organising ! I’d want to have you on my team any day !
Coastal Aussies last blog post..Golden light on flowers, from my garden
Haha! A little like my paying $45 to get christmas decorations ‘gamma irradiated’ by customs when the decorations only cost three Euro! We can get Quality Street here and the round tin of ‘lollies’ as we call them are very popular at Christmas for some reason.
Meleah - Aw .. I do feel for you. Chocolate is something I’d miss a LOT if I was told I couldn’t eat it.
Jake - Did you ship them surface?
Aussie - Thanks - I don’t mind doing it, it all helps to make someone’s Christmas fun! Actually, the person who asked me to help out is making my dogs some gorgeous collars as a thank you - which I didn’t expect or need her to do - isn’t that lovely of her?
Baino - Yes! Don’t you just hate that? LOL!
Mm… the shops are already full of those round tins of Quality Street in preparation for the Christmas shoppers! Very popular here at Christmas, too!
coolness. I want Johnny Depp to play Twilight - is that wrong??
sandys last blog post..The new receptionist at Kessler and co.
Sandy - No, my dear, that is not wrong. LOTS of us wanted Johnny to play Twilight. LOL!
I don’t like the guy they chose for Edward in the movie. ‘The face of an angel’? I don’t agree. *Pouts*
Jeannine - SHHH! Not a whisper on the Undisclosed Forum! No mention of the postage must be made … heads might roll!! LOL!
Bourneville, huh? So happens I have a family sized bar of that in my drawer right now! Not my personal favourite but to each his/her own! Remember my first taste of the Green and Blacks with cherries? I think I nearly walked into a lamp-post!
There won’t be a word from me!!!
Secret Santa….. I used to run one of those in my last job - there were 200 people playing and we used to get dressed up in Santa outfits to deliver the gifts. I shall miss it this year - there’s only two of us in this office.
Kates last blog post..yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!!!
Jeannine - I know - you’re very good at the Secret Santa thing, aren’t you! LOL!
Kate - Gosh… 200 people!! At least each person only has to give one, right? Some places here do a lucky dip. You get told whether to buy for a man or a woman, then all the packages are put out and you go and pick one for yourself from the appropriate box or table. I think it works quite well! But I think Secret Santa is more fun because you know a little bit about the person you are buying for!