if you dismantle the USPS it will just be replaced by other services (FedEx, UPS, etc.) at a higher cost.
Cost is just one of many factors evaluated for delivery service. I for one don't mind paying more, if usps can provide certainty of service.
I guess that's why I don't use usps.
I haven't used anything but USPS, since shipping rates for small volume customers are insane with UPS/FedEx. A box that costs $5 shipping anywhere in the US, costs $35 with UPS and $40 with FedEx, and the shipping time is longer. International shipping for a medium box was $49 with USPS, it was $150 with UPS and $190 with FedEx. Unless there is some trick I am missing.
wizdum:
I haven't used anything but USPS, since shipping rates for small volume customers are insane with UPS/FedEx. A box that costs $5 shipping anywhere in the US, costs $35 with UPS and $40 with FedEx, and the shipping time is longer. International shipping for a medium box was $49 with USPS, it was $150 with UPS and $190 with FedEx. Unless there is some trick I am missing.
Glad to see lots of us are doing our parts to spread out arduino stuff around the country and globe. I'm also doing USPS alone unless customers provide their shipping labels or account numbers for other carriers.
What I wish USPS would have online:
Customs form for international first class. Load my address automatically.
Domestic first class stamp purchase.
liudr,
USPS does have customs forms, with address book. My wife uses that feature a lot for my mailings.
Fills out forms, pre-pays, can even arrange for at-home pickup. If dropped at the actual Post Office, all they have to do is scan the barcode.
CrossRoads:
liudr,
USPS does have customs forms, with address book. My wife uses that feature a lot for my mailings.
Fills out forms, pre-pays, can even arrange for at-home pickup. If dropped at the actual Post Office, all they have to do is scan the barcode.
Is it priority or international first class? I'm shipping first class and can't find electronic way to fill forms or pay.
Hmm, I don't know. I'll have to ask her when I get home. Just shipped a couple things to Germany, that's how we found out rates went from $17 to $24.
liudr:
CrossRoads:
liudr,
USPS does have customs forms, with address book. My wife uses that feature a lot for my mailings.
Fills out forms, pre-pays, can even arrange for at-home pickup. If dropped at the actual Post Office, all they have to do is scan the barcode.Is it priority or international first class? I'm shipping first class and can't find electronic way to fill forms or pay.
I have filled out the customs forms online, but I always ship priority mail.
Experienced it while shopping @ SparkFun
wayneft:
I would switch to something like Stamps.com and send everything International First Class Mail and insure the package. Through the Post Office, you can't insure International First Class but through Stamps.com you can. The cost is based off item price and is usually only a few bucks. So you can now ship something overseas, insured for usually around 7 bucks.
I have always wondered about the insurance thing and if it is a good deal for small businesses. When you are shipping items less than a couple hundred bucks, does insurance make any damn sense in the long run, assuming you are sending at least a few hundred packages a year? The insurance isn't there for the insurance company to lose money. It works in their favor. Wouldn't self-insurance work in your favor too? Charge the customer 1% for "insurance". Put it in a jar (either literally or figuratively). Compare your losses to your insurance gains. I bet it works in your favor. You can certainly check it against past results of you track that data. Insurance makes sense for low-probability large losses to spread that risk. It doesn't usually make sense for relatively common but small losses.
P.S. Don't take insurance in blackjack either.
wizdum:
I haven't used anything but USPS, since shipping rates for small volume customers are insane with UPS/FedEx. A box that costs $5 shipping anywhere in the US, costs $35 with UPS and $40 with FedEx, and the shipping time is longer. International shipping for a medium box was $49 with USPS, it was $150 with UPS and $190 with FedEx. Unless there is some trick I am missing.
Isn't that the truth, at least for domestic. Here are rates from Digikey to where I am in Illinois. First Class or Priority always takes 48 hours. UPS and FedEx standard services takes 3-4 days and costs FOUR TIMES as much as first class and more than twice as much as priority mail. A lot of my orders actually use the 8 oz shipping rate. UPS and FedEx start making sense when the package gets heavy, but ICs are small and light. A big assortment of resistors or caps might be a pound.
so does anybody have some tips for mailing small electronics to countries outside the US?
rezahussain:
so does anybody have some tips for mailing small electronics to countries outside the US?
Yes, make sure to check that it's not ITAR restricted before you do otherwise you may go to FPMITAP.
rezahussain:
so does anybody have some tips for mailing small electronics to countries outside the US?
USPS small flat rate boxes are like $15 to anywhere outside the US. Anything larger than that, and its cheaper to break it up into 5 smaller boxes.
USPS small flat rate boxes are like $15 to anywhere outside the US.
Not anymore - that was the whole point of this thread.
The rate has gone from $15 to $17 and now has jumped to $24!
Perhaps small padded envelopes will work out to be cheaper.
CrossRoads:
USPS small flat rate boxes are like $15 to anywhere outside the US.
Not anymore - that was the whole point of this thread.
The rate has gone from $15 to $17 and now has jumped to $24!
Perhaps small padded envelopes will work out to be cheaper.
I thought they had gone from $10 to $15, gah.
Just shipped a 2lb 11oz 4"x4"x5" package domestically - $11.49. Perhaps my FedEx shipping account (with employer discount) would have been cheaper but I doubt by much. My guess is that the big shippers (i.e. the Amazons of the world) are getting subsidized by us small fry.
Constantin:
Just shipped a 2lb 11oz 4"x4"x5" package domestically - $11.49. Perhaps my FedEx shipping account (with employer discount) would have been cheaper but I doubt by much. My guess is that the big shippers (i.e. the Amazons of the world) are getting subsidized by us small fry.
Hey, check out priority regional rate box A:
I would have spent the same money you did with the same box except I'll be able to afford $500 insurance with the money saved.
Internal US not too bad for small flat rate boxes - only jumped from $5.35 to $5.80.
International is the killer. Small flat rate box, DVD size box, padded envelope - all shown online as $23.95 to Germany, UK, Australia, Chile, Abu Dhabi.
But I was able to deliver over three times the volume/weight and the same cost to lots places with US using regional rate boxes so if you need to ship a largish package go with regional rate boxes.
Look here
https://www.usps.com/ship/service-chart.htm#2
There is no Regional Rate Boxes service listed for international.
