John H. writes:
<< When is a package a letter? When you take it to the post office. >>
I understand and am empathic to the points you are making, but to
clarify:
When it is under 1 lb., you ship without insurance and you want to save
money over Air Mail - Parcel Post. It's called Air Mail - Letter-post
and its just as fast - at about 600f the Parcel Post price. Boxes are
fine for letter-post. Doesn't require a Custom's form (the half sheet
white one), so it sails through without any taxes. Quite popular among
buyers who are willing to take a risk to avoid fees. Doesn't sound
right for your business, though.
The $40.45 limit to Australia is for Registered Mail via Air Mail -
Letter-post. That isn't insurance! It only produces a paper trail of
the signatures of everyone who handled the package along the way. Think
of it as chain of evidence. (For Registered you also have to wrap the
box in paper and use paper tape with lick-em adhesive - so that
tampering can be detected). You couldn't insure because Letter-post
doesn't allow it. Via Parcel Post the insurance limit is a whopping
$3,370, which has to be among the highest allowed for any country. That
is a testament to the USPS confidence in the Australian postal service.
Conversely, be careful with countries that have low insurance limits.
Rates can be determined at:
http://ircalc.usps.gov/
FWIW, in at least 2000 shipments via US Postal Service, I've never had
damage and only once did a COD package get rifled of its contents. But
there have been a few long delayed international shipments. In some
regions of the US the service is exceptional. I have a 7 day/9 hour
Postal Express station in the neighborhood grocery store. It is ranked
as one of the busiest stations in volume per clerk (2) and gets tons of
eBay shippers, esp. those doing late shipping and weekend shipping. UPS
doesn't count those weekend days as shipping days, which sure makes
customers smile when I ship on Saturday/Sunday and it arrives on
Monday/Tuesday.
The USPS rates and options are hard to understand, but once you do, the
POS system at all the post offices will accept your choice. And the
clerks will generally give you fine service because you are a regular
and know the ropes.
Gary Reese
Las Vegas, NV
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