Shipping item from Italy

Everything you want in terms of consumables is widely available in the US. Just look at Amazon and you will see a large assortment of olive oils (not to mention your local supermarket). Pesto is a dish made fresh. The stuff in the jar is best given away. Wine? Once again there are terrific Italian wines available in the US. And cheese: if you can't find what you want locally check out Dean & DeLucca. Best to taste in Italy, buy it back in the US. If you taste something you really like at a proprietor they will often tell you how to buy it back in the states. If they offer to ship, you will often find the cost of shipping and insurance vastly outweighs any saving from buying perishables locally.

We find that you can bring small amounts of olive oil, wine and hard cheese back with you. We've brought a couple of kilos of very hard cheese (vacuum packed) along with a bottle of oil and wine (suitably wrapped and packed in checked luggage). Most of the larger producers we've visited have distribution in the U.S. or are capable of shipping. Unfortunately, you can't always find the small producers you might visit have U.S. distribution, but if they are seriously interested in getting their product into the U.S. they typically can ship or at least package it for you to tuck into your checked luggage.

We traveled with friends a few years ago and she bought enough ceramics (along with our pitcher, bowl and a few other things), that they shipped for free and everything made it safely to Oregon.

You can buy most anything on amazon.com or other websites, but it means more if it was a place that you actually visited. You might check out some of the producers you are visiting ahead of time and see if they have a website/shipping/US distributor. We were pleasantly surprised to find a truffle company now has shipping to the U.S. and also found it on eataly.

When we were in Bellagio in 2013 we purchased a hand carved nativity scene along with a crèche made out of driftwood. We had it shipped home and it arrived safely and is one of my favorite mementos of that trip. What we found out is that when you ship out of the country you don't pay the VAT (value added tax). So once you subtracted the tax, The shipping was just a little more than it would have been if you included the tax.. There was no way we could have carried that nativity around Italy for 2.5 weeks. We did bring a container of olive oil that we purchased at a small agri-turisto on our tour. We had it in our checked luggage.

I buy olive oil and other products and ship them home via Mailboxes Etc., found in many cities in Italy. They will pack the box for you if needed.

Some smaller producers do not ship, and while some things can be bought in the US, others cannot. Some wineries will ship but you have to take care of customs yourself; others can manage that for you.

What we found out is that when you ship out of the country you don't pay the VAT (value added tax). So once you subtracted the tax, The shipping was just a little more than it would have been if you included the tax..

This only works if you have the merchant ship it for you. But it's a great idea for things like that.

I concur with the Mailboxes Etc suggestion. I've used them and while pricey, they carefully wrap and pack everything for you and there are no issues with delivery.

Pricey is right. Several years ago we shipped a small box from Sorrento (medium heavy) and it was around $80.

As Zoe said, Mailboxes, Etc., is a good bet. A bit pricey, but on the other hand we've never been assessed customs on a package they sent for us and we sent about 10 boxed of personal goods when we moved back. MBE did a great job.

I am in most ways a budget traveler, but the cost of mailing something back rather than schlepping it with me is worth the expense.