General > General Technical Chat
Would you really sell on ebay ?
Simon:
--- Quote from: peter-h on October 13, 2020, 02:49:01 pm ---"The cost of shipping out of the USA went up dramatically around 10 years ago. I used to send quite a bit of stuff and as long as it wasn't huge or super heavy there were economical ways of doing it. Now all of the low cost surface options are gone and USPS only offers the high priced premium airmail services. Shipping even a small package to the UK for example will cost over $50 now,"
I find that really surprising.
What about normal airmail / air parcel post?
I've been importing from the US for 40+ years and the biggest issue I have seen is that most US firms are not interested in using the "Post Office" because somebody has to mess about, go there, etc. Whereas if they use say Fedex they just chuck everything on a big pile, have a streamlined system for labelling it / printing off the AWBs, and the Fedex driver just collects the lot, so nobody has to do anything "complicated". The result: I pay $150 for shipping the smallest item, whereas airmail would have cost $15.
--- End quote ---
So i started bulk buying probe master and reshipping in the UK because to buy one set from the US cost the same for the shipping as it did for the probes.
SilverSolder:
--- Quote from: Simon on October 13, 2020, 03:48:33 pm ---
--- Quote from: peter-h on October 13, 2020, 02:49:01 pm ---"The cost of shipping out of the USA went up dramatically around 10 years ago. I used to send quite a bit of stuff and as long as it wasn't huge or super heavy there were economical ways of doing it. Now all of the low cost surface options are gone and USPS only offers the high priced premium airmail services. Shipping even a small package to the UK for example will cost over $50 now,"
I find that really surprising.
What about normal airmail / air parcel post?
I've been importing from the US for 40+ years and the biggest issue I have seen is that most US firms are not interested in using the "Post Office" because somebody has to mess about, go there, etc. Whereas if they use say Fedex they just chuck everything on a big pile, have a streamlined system for labelling it / printing off the AWBs, and the Fedex driver just collects the lot, so nobody has to do anything "complicated". The result: I pay $150 for shipping the smallest item, whereas airmail would have cost $15.
--- End quote ---
So i started bulk buying probe master and reshipping in the UK because to buy one set from the US cost the same for the shipping as it did for the probes.
--- End quote ---
Yes, the insane charges have created opportunities for local distributors. Maybe it's all intentional! :D
peter-h:
I don't believe this is true in the US. Airmail (for "letters" and "small packets up to 2kg") exists all over the world, by international agreement. You can airmail a 2kg package from Mongolia, most probably.
Some countries support up to 4kg; possibly more. IIRC, Sweden used to. I used to be able to tell you but Royal Mail don't seem to publish an easy "book" anymore; it's probably online.
So all the US firms which tell you they can't do it
- are just being lazy
- pay $100 to Fedex/etc under some block deal and charge you $150 (they could not add $50 to airmail)
- are selling diamonds
- are in a market where there is a high level of buyer fraud, so they need continuous tracking (tracked airmail is "recorded" only at the ends of the journey, broadly speaking)
- have customers who are too stupid to understand "shipping time 5-10 days"
- are just being lazy
- are selling to countries where almost everything gets stolen
It is certainly true that in some countries anything which can get stolen does get stolen e.g. Egypt has a theft rate on airmail packages exceeding 50%.
It is also true that 1st World postal services seem to be poorly managed and this creates opportunities for the couriers to rip everybody off.
Simon:
If you go to a post office you may find the printed price guide but they are getting harder to get hold of. I grabbed one as their site is crap! I can't just look up a weight and destination anymore I have to put an address in because they want to flog me the shipping there and then.
Yes everywhere does 2Kg but after that it gets tricky. I tried to send 2.17kg the other day to Belgium but they won't have stuff over 2kg, luckily I just pulled out some packing, cut the box down and sent it next day at 1.7kg. I was happy being lazy with the packaging and paying a couple of quid more but instead was made to save my money :)
james_s:
--- Quote from: peter-h on October 15, 2020, 01:18:05 pm ---I don't believe this is true in the US. Airmail (for "letters" and "small packets up to 2kg") exists all over the world, by international agreement. You can airmail a 2kg package from Mongolia, most probably.
--- End quote ---
I'd encourage you to visit usps.com and try getting some shipping quotes on various packages. Keep in mind if you try to send a small packet and it is either rigid or more than 1/4" thick it will be charged as a parcel instead of a packet or letter.
You also cannot use the automated kiosk for international parcels. You have to visit the post office in person during business hours which usually means take time off work, stand in line for anywhere up to an hour depending on how busy they are, find the right customs form and fill that out, believe me, I've done it loads of times and it's a big hassle. I didn't develop the system, I'm just stuck living with it.
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