Lorenzo de' Medici - art, language and culture since 1973

LdM Student Mail Service

LdM has a Student Mail Service to facilitate students’ mail and packages sent from family and friends. It is easier for you and more reliable to have your mail sent to the Student Mail Office than to your apartment in Italy, since there is always someone to accept it and since your name does not appear anywhere on your apartment mailbox. Please have your friends and family address the letters/packages to:

YOUR NAME
C/O SCUOLA LORENZO DE' MEDICI
VIA DEL MELARANCIO 6/r
50123 FIRENZE, ITALIA

Regular mail generally takes anywhere from 8-10 days to arrive, both to and from the US. Packages take longer: 10-20 days if sent Airmail, 60 - 90 days if sent Surface rate.

Express mail (Fed-Ex, DHL, etc.) takes about 3-4 days. We recommend using Fed-Ex, DHL, or TNT. We do not recommend using UPS.

It is your responsibility to check with the Student Mail Service, and to check your LdM mailbox frequently, especially when you are expecting a package.

Customs for Packages sent to Students - International imports are subject to strict customs controls, and many of them can entail fees. Each time food, cosmetics, electronics, leather products, medicines, vitamins and medical supplies, e.g. contact lenses, are sent and/or declared, your packages are more likely to be held up in customs.

Customs Procedures / Fees - For packages held up in customs, you will have to send/fax a copy of your passport and a signed declaration to customs officials, often pay a customs fee, and sometimes pay a processing fee in addition to the customs fee. For this reason we suggest you avoid sending these types of goods.

Medicine / Medical Supplies - For medicine, contact lenses, etc, we recommend that you bring a supply with you for your whole stay in Italy. If you run out, these items can be prescribed by a doctor in Italy. There is a service with English-speaking doctors which you can use to get new prescriptions. If you have a specific medicine that you take, we recommend that you bring a prescription from your home doctor to show to the doctors here. If medicine or medical supplies are held up in customs, you will have to provide customs officials with a prescription from a doctor in Italy, and there is the risk that they won’t arrive by the time you need them.

Import Value - Packages can also be held up in customs if the declared value doesn’t match the actual value of the item(s). If sending items that are used (clothing, etc), they should be declared as such, specifying “used personal effects”. Be sure to write the current value of the items, not the original price. New items should be marked “for private use.” Goods marked with high values will almost certainly be held up in customs, and the student will have to complete a declaration of the content and value. An import tax of above 30% of the declared value may be charged for imported new clothing.

Customs Notification – If the customs office notifies the LdM Student Mail Service directly of a package held up in customs, we email the student immediately. However, sometimes these notifications are in the form of letters addressed to the student, and in this case we cannot know that a package is held up in customs until the student finds the letter in their mailbox and tells us. This is why students should check their mailboxes and check in with the Student Mail Service regularly, especially when expecting a package. The customs office will wait for the requested documentation from 5-15 work days, after which the package will either be sent back or destroyed, depending on the package’s content.

Customs Assistance - LDM Student Mail Service offers assistance to students for packages which are being held in Italian customs for import restrictions. LdM’s package service consists of assisting students in:

filling out forms and documents;

• e-mailing or faxing the requested documents, or else explaining how to send them through the mail (the customs office may specify they want the documents faxed, scanned or sent);
• acting as an intermediary between the student and the customs office/shipping company when possible;
• transferring payments made by the students to the customs office/shipping company.

LdM is not responsible for any errors or delays by the customs office/ shipping companies, or any damages caused by the student’s delays in finding the customs notification, filling out the forms, etc.

Timing for Customs Clearance - The customs clearance time below starts from the moment a student informs LdM about this notification. Approximately 5-15 days for goods held in customs for tax reasons Approximately 10-45 days for packages held due to restricted content

Post Offices
Services available at the Italian post offices are: telegrams, stamps (“francobolli,” which are easier to purchase at a Tabacchi--stores/bars where cigarettes are sold), registered letters and delivery of packages. Once at a post office, you will also be able to exchange money and cash or send international postal checks. Fax services as well as coin and card-operated telephones are available in all main offices.

Here are the main post offices in the center of Florence:

Via Pellicceria 3 (Piazza della Repubblica under the arches)
Hours: Monday - Saturday 8:15am - 7:00pm Sunday CLOSED

Via Alamanni 18/ r (very near to the train station)
Hours: Mon - Fri 8:15am - 7:00pm; Saturday 8:15am - 12:30pm; Sunday CLOSED

Via Pietrapiana 53 (in front of the supermarket 'STANDA')
Hours: Mon - Fri 8:15am - 7:00pm; Saturday 8:30am - 12:30pm; Sunday CLOSED

Postal Rates Postcards & Letters (up to 20 grams, by Airmail):

AMERICAS & REST OF THE WORLD = € 0,80
EUROPE = € 0,62
Simply attach the stamp to the envelope and place the letter in the right slot of a red mailbox. Letters or packages that need to be weighed should be brought to a post office.

Sending Packages and Express Mail
You can send packages via the Italian post by simply going to the post office. The Italian Postal system also has a courier/express mail service. Sending a parcel “surface rate” is the least expensive, but it will usually take two months to arrive at its destination. Airmail costs about double the price, but your package will arrive in about 10-14 days.

Express Mail Service
In order to send Express mail from Florence, you must directly call the couriers and tell them about how much the package weighs, its dimensions and where it's being sent. They will give you an estimate cost and will set up an appointment with you to pick up the package at your home and collect the payment.

• DHL -  phone # 199 199 345

• Federal Express - phone # 199 151 119

• UPS - phone # 02 30 30 30 39
  

• Mail Boxes Etc - Via della Scala 13/ r (tel. 055 268 173). They will do your packaging and shipping for you as well as photocopies, fax and passport photos. They also have Western Union service and the possibility to rent a PC.  Visit Mailboxes.it