Hello!
My cousin in Germany ordered and got the Fairphone 3 to me, as i’s not available in North America. However DHL told her she cannot send the battery. Does anyone know of other carriers, or a way to send batteries overseas? I really appreciate some insight!
Perhaps look at UPS which has a handy flow chart:https://www.ups.com/dropoff/?loc=en_DE
Don’t know about the vagaries of certain US States however, and can come down to whether battery is removable or not from device with the former being rare these days.
put the batterie in the phone,
dont send it alone
Think DHL Express should be able to transport the device/battery, but it should be labelled as containing Li-ION battery.
Thanks a lot fp_user. I just called DHL, dangerous good department (yes that’s what’s called :-D), and he said it should be installed in the device, and since it’s only one, there is no labelling required. Let’s see if I am lucky to get my phone in Canada.
The one for US, and Netherland, doesn’t need extra labelling, but the french one you sent needs it. I don’t understand whay it is so complicated.
Yes, that’s what I understood, but DHL seems to have different policy depending on the country.
I guess it depends on local laws, that are reflected in DHL policies.
And sending batteries alone cross-border is not an easy task, even within EU:
Sending a phone including a battery is no problem on the other hand.
Thanks a lot Bert. It’s the whole package. I just ordered it with Vireo to my cousin’s address, and she wants to ship it to me. So the battery is inside the phone, and in a same package. But one of the DHL office told her she can’t send a battery at all, and the other one said, you can risk it, and it might get returned to you when they check thing on the Frankfort DHL depot. However I could not find that info on the DHL website, and they all mentioned that it’s no problem to ship a phone with a contained battery, so we’re a bit confused on policy of DHL in Germany.
Is the information you have on the link for DHL packaet, or DHL express, or it should not matter at all?
I just want to give my cousin instruction when she goes to DHL office, so they don’t refuse.
You find the relevant info for international packages via DHL Express (the other options seem to be national only) on this page:
https://www.dhl.de/de/geschaeftskunden/express/infos-knowhow/downloads.html#gefahrgutversand
(German only)
This point Versand von Lithium-Batterien
downloads a ziped interactive PowerPoint presentation,
LiIon-batteries of less than 100 Wh (the FP3 has 11.781) can be sent inside the phone and don’t need to be labled.
Just the packaging has to be sturdy enough. Using the package, the phone came in, should be good enough.
I hope, the presentation is clear enough for you. Otherwise just ask; if you like by pm.
the employee at the office doesnt know his own rules .-D
it is correct, that they send the phone if the battery is inside the phone
your cousin should speak wirth a other employee 
Thanks a lot Bert. That’s really nice of you for spending time on finding these.
She sent the package today,so let’s hope it doesn’t get rejected in the depot.
My cousin said the exact same thing! She went with the copy of the powerpoint @BertG gave, and the guy accepted the package! :-))) No we’ll see if I get it in Canada!
Totally nuts. The battery is safer out of the phone. But then no one could ship any device with a sealed in battery, so they pretend it’s OK. Like airport security rules, made by people who don’t understand the basics of quantitative risk assessment.
Just lie about what’s in the package!
I guess the reasoning is, that an unsealed “lonely” battery with the contacts open, could somehow experience a short-circuit. And that’s nearly impossible inside a device, even if the package breaks and the device falls out.
So, maybe not totally nuts. 
I totally understand, there are so many rules that don’t make sense. But these things happened before, and coming up with an explanation that is comprehensible for everyone, is not easy.
I am still waiting for it to arrive, and there is no update on the DHL.de shipping info. I’m happy I didn’t lie, cause if it’s lost they have to pay for it no matter what.
And my package is no where to be found!
I don’t believe the shipping can be this complicated. And that DHL express is totally different from DHL Paket international (This seems to be the Deutsche Post) and the employee didn’t say anything to my cousin, and she also did not know they are different. Basically I lost 500 euro, and have no idea to revive it. My cousin called the post, and they said wait :-/
Only if Fairphone could have sent it to Canada! :-((
Don’t panick yet.
When I sent a cover to Taiwan, it took more than 3 weeks (if I recall it correctly; it may have even been more).
And even though I (on my costs) added the tracking option, this was no help at all, as it was a most unspecific location device. (My buyer was really beginning to lose hope and trust in me. 
)
It might take some time to pass customs or even to get onto a plane, depending on the amount of parcels they get for Canada.
Yes, DHL and DHL Express are different services (different companies originally, but their current owner Deutsche Post slapped the DHL label onto both of them). But choosing DHL Paket International means it should still have tracking and insurance up to 500 EUR …