Shipping souvenirs during travel in Italy

My experience is that most shops will ship for you - they charge for the shipping and the packing service. Your hotel can direct you to UPS or similar stores but I suspect the prices will be about the same. It's been a couple of years since I shipped anything but 50 euro sticks in my mind for some reason - and that was the base price.

Shipping home is expensive. However, if the shop does it, then the VAT is save and will partially off set the price of shipping. We have shipped home some large art works that ranged in the $500 to $1000, so the tax savings more than off-set the price of shipping. If you want to checking pricing just log on to any of the shipping sites (Fed Ex, UPS, etc,) and pricing a dummy shipment of 10 lb to get a price range.

For smaller items you might consider checking an additional bag when returning home. It might be cheaper than the postage and I know that some eBay sellers would rather avoid Italy's post.

Some years ago we shipped home some ceramic pieces from Positano. The merchant handled the whole thing, and yes, refunded our VAT on the spot. The pieces arrived in perfect condition.

I would be very surprised if the place in Venice doesn't offer to ship the items for you (at a cost, of course.) I did that with some mosaic items from Ravenna and was glad not to have to haul them around for the rest of my trip. You're paying for that convenience.

As others have noted, it is best to ship with the merchant for more expensive/delicate items as they can then eliminate the VAT and if anything goes wrong you can deal with the merchant. In other cases, the major cities have Mailboxes Etc outlets and/or offices for the main shippers. I've used Mailboxes Etc and they carefully pack for you and speak English. Google or ask the merchant or hotel for directions. Price varies by weight and size so it is hard to say how much it might cost. But expect to pay at least 50 euro and for larger/heavier items it can be over 200 euro. Make sure to get insurance and your tracking number.

I was just in Venice in Feb. and went to a mask making class as well. I did a small one, so I just carried it, but a number of people that I traveled with bought tons of stuff and had things shipped. All arrived, except one postcard a woman sent to herself... she is not sure now if the box she put it in was actually the poste:)
Our group also went to Florence and Rome and the heavy duty shoppers shipped from everywhere, even though many also bought an additional suitcase:)

Edit:
About horror stories... they all paid by credit card and the items were shipped from the stores. They had documentation and would have had recourse if the items did not show up, but would been sad not to have their purchases.

I have heard so many horror stories about shipping anything from Italy. If I had to ship something, I would probably do it from a shipping company like FedEx or UPS. Ceramic, hand painted, wine stoppers make great gifts and are very small and lite weight. You can always find a corner In your suitcase to put them.

I ship a box back to the US every trip, I use Mailboxes Etc., which handles several companies (UPS, FedEx, others); never had a problem. They will also pack for you.

The only time we thought about using Mailboxes, Etc. in Rome, they wanted €60 to ship a €10 print to the US! We managed to find room for it in our bags.