shipping from the US ...best economical method?

[starwatcher]

Any suggestions on shipping methods from US to the UK where the actual rates are not sky high? I would like to ship small (sometimes collectible) items tp the UK, but the rates I'm finding with the USPS are a bit beyond reason. One recent auction I'm running is a collector set of small Hot Wheel cars in a case that weigh only about 3+ pounds when packed. Usps website quotes shipping to the UK at about $24...AT COST.

USPS First Class International is slightly less expensive on light weight items that less than a few pounds, but the option for insurance is not there.

Any suggestions? I used to ship a lot of items overseas from the US before the last postal rate hike.

[merlin]

you can send by land but $24.00 is not much really approx £12.00 which is quite good

[ForeverGem]

Any suggestions on shipping methods from US to the UK where the actual rates are not sky high? I would like to ship small (sometimes collectible) items tp the UK, but the rates I'm finding with the USPS are a bit beyond reason. One recent auction I'm running is a collector set of small Hot Wheel cars in a case that weigh only about 3+ pounds when packed. Usps website quotes shipping to the UK at about $24...AT COST.

USPS First Class International is slightly less expensive on light weight items that less than a few pounds, but the option for insurance is not there.

Any suggestions? I used to ship a lot of items overseas from the US before the last postal rate hike.

HELLO

THE BEST WAY IS TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT ON LINE WITH USPS . BECAUSE MORE YOU PRINT SHIPPING LABES ON LINE WITH USPS LESS YOU PAY. AN EXAMPLE I USED TO SELL A LOT ON EBAY AND SEND ABOUT 200 ITEMS IN FRANCE AND UK PER MONTH AND INSTEAD TO PAY 24 USD I WAS PAYING 15$ SO ITS PRETTY A GOOD DISCOUNT

GOOD LUCK

[Cutmetal]

I have had good experiences with DHL...
Also found rates very competitive against UPS & FEDEx
Check them out here...

DHL .... http://www.dhl.com/splash.html

UPS.... http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shi...ing/index.html

FedEx... http://www.fedex.com/us/intltools/freight/

Check a comparable weight and pkg.dimensions for the destination for each company. You will find a big difference between them.

PS... Also found the DHL web site the easiest to navigate for a price quote.

Rick

[cvd]

Friends don't let friends use couriers out of country.

I paid $200 for $50 parts due to their brokerage. Ended up in court with two of them.

Couriers can quickly give you a bad name

[woodworkingparts]

We ship to the UK and other countries every day. We use only USPS as it is by far the cheapest way. You can ship up to 4 pounds for the first class rate which is the cheapest. If you can put the item in a flat rate envelope, you can ship up to 4 pounds for about $11. If you can get up to 25 pounds is one of the flat rate boxes that is also a good deal.

As a general rule, if you put a package on an air plane, do not use anything other than the USPS. Any other carrier will be very high plus the customer most likely will get a brokerage fee on their end from the likes of UPS. That is not a good customer relations for future business for you.

[LoriKeet08]

I will share another handy little trick I learned about on "that-other-site" (okay I admit, I did learn a FEW things!)

Sorry, the link wouldn't work so I thought it was worth it to copy and paste it!

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TIPS SHIPPING USPS 70 POUNDS FOR $4.60? YES YOU CAN !
by: mark1vws( 6859) 2203 out of 2297 people found this guide helpful.
Guide viewed: 34828 times

Shipping 70 pounds for only $4.60? YES YOU CAN.

We all have used that small and medium Priority Mail box, the ones about the size of a video tape box. By now, you should be shipping from your ebay sold page by generating your label with free delivery confirmation and paying for it through Paypal. Not standing in line at the post office and paying extra for it. Since you have electronic postage, you need not wait in line. Simply put your items in the outgoing mail box or hand them to the postal clerk at the counter. Your buyer will receive an email from Paypal that you are shipping the item. Coming soon to Paypal, scan sheet to log all of your items, with 1 click, into the postal system at the post office or when your carrier picks them up. Just like click&ship online with the USPS.

You can order all of these boxes and have them delivered FREE, simply sign up at usps.com or on your next visit to the post office, while standing in line, simply pick up some from the Priority Mail display.

The post office charges you by weight. But hold on! Did you know that you can fit either of those boxes into a Flat Rate Envelope for only $4.60 Yes you can, just pinch the lower corners of the envelope and the box will slip right in. Don't let the Post office tellers try to stop you. The DMM (domestic mail manual) has only 1 restriction, the primary sealing of the envelope must be made with the adhesive strip on the envelope, and YES you may add more tape to insure it does not pop open. Some clerks say only 1 piece of tape? How long of a piece? Three feet? The "one piece" regulation is a myth.

When printing the label, a pop-up goes to your printer. Choose to print 2 labels. One for the box on the inside (in case it comes out) and one for the envelope. The Priority Mail Tyvek envelopes make good padding by slipping the box into one of them first. (they are free too). DO NOT FOLD THE CORNERS OVER AND TAPE THEM DOWN. If you do that, you now have "modified" the envelope and weight applies. It must look like an envelope. Notice the green home made "SCAN BEFORE DELIVERY" label.

My personal record is sending 8 brass padlocks weighing 12 pounds. The limit is 70 pounds in a flat rate Priority Mail envelope. Filled a box with nuts and bolts, could only get it up to 46 pounds. I will have to try lead fishing weights!

So don't pay $5.75, $7.10 $8.80 or MORE $$$$ for weight of those small boxes. Parcel Post & Media Mail may even cost more than the Flat Rate Envelope! Don't bother to even weigh it because the flat rate envelope has no weight filed to fill in when shipping online with paypal. Send everything with free delivery confirmation (when you purchase online) to Alaska, Hawaii, coast to coast. Priority Mail is the same rate to Guam, Puerto Rico , the Trust Territories, Marshall Islands (those little islands in the South Pacific) Don't forget our service personel at APO and FPO addresses (you may have to ship from the post office for certian apo fpo locations)

List your shipping as Priority Mail. Stating that you ship by standard flat rate shipping gives the buyer an expectation of some slow shipping method that you plan on making extra money on, and waiting longer for the item to get to them. You can offer 3 domestic and 3 international methods of shipping your item in the listing. Give the buyer a choice of three but list the 1st method as your choice. You can also state the weight of the item in the listing, especially if it is over 1 pound. Should they calculate the shipping cost themselves, they might think it is costing YOU more to ship than you are charging! Everybody loves a deal.

Flat Rate boxes are great too. Stuff them full, for only $8.95 , Same deal. No weight restriction up to 70 pounds. 2 sizes FRB-1 5x8x11 and FRB-2 3x11x13 . Starters, hardware, flywheels, cast iron, brass, anything the size of a shoe box that is heavy. Use all the tape you like. (I can only get 46 pounds into one) The FRB-3 comes in March 2008 with $12.95 flat rate shipping in a 5" deep 12" x 12" box. $2 discount when sending FRB-3 to APO or FPO destinations in the specially marked APO FPO box!

But.... is that a good deal for your customer? Sure it is. The difference between 2 items may be the shipping cost. If seller 1 and seller 2 buy from the same source, sell for the same price, then the edge is SHIPPING. Offer the same rate nationwide and get the highest bid for your item by leveling the playing field with equal shipping cost for all bidders.

So, if you ship small items by this method:

1.You don't need a scale. Postal system won't even ask for dimentions or weight on flat-rate packages.

2. You don't need to learn to use a web site to find out shipping costs or have a calculator in your listing.

3. Stuff whatever packing material you wish to use, weight does not matter. Cardboard, paper etc, no need for lightweight styrofoam or bubble wrap.

*The Post Office provides FREE boxes and envelopes to ship Priority Mail. Why buy padded envelopes or small boxes at your expense, then pay postage when that combined expense is more than $4.60 Use Priority Mail for all small and or small heavy articles.

Uniform box sizes make for efficient shipping. Irregular boxes from home are 2nd class citizens when the volume gets heavy around the holidays. Red, white and blue Priority Mail boxes travel faster.

Don't forget the Flat Rate Priority Mail International envelope at $11 Worldwide ($9 to Canada) Weight limit is 4 pounds. Use the Priority Mail small boxes for the item and put it in the envelope.

You are now able to use the Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes (frb-1 and frb-2) to send items worldwide as Priority Mail International. Weight limit is 20 pounds. You will need customs forms filled out. Yes it costs more, $23 to Canada and Mexico, $37 worldwide! So that generator I sent April 2007 to Italy, weighed 10 pounds, cost $52, now after May 2007 since it fits into the flat rate box it oould only cost $37 and I could have sent 2 of them in the same box!

Global Prioriy Mail envelopes and boxes will be accepted until stock is depleated for shipping. Priority Mail International rate will apply.

Parcel post $8.39 for up to the first pound is NOT a cheaper way to ship. Parcel post forces ground transportaton. (costs more in gas & time to drive coast to coast than to fly) So small items that weigh 1 to 13 oz ship cheaper with 1st class mail parcel in a bubble envelope or small box.

Watch out when exceeding 17" on any one side of your 1st class mail package. The post office charges a BALLOON RATE for being too big if your item weighs less than 20 pounds. (not on Priority Mail)

Now that over 30,000 people have read this guide, and are probably saving on shipping, how about a YES to this guide was helpful since it did not cost you anything.

Thanks,

Mark

[TruantCoins]

Hi all! LoriKeet08 gave the ultimate answer for shipping! almost ;-)

I have found that shipping valuable items are somewhat easier and cheaper to ship if you use Express Mail instead of Priority Mail because the insurance is cheaper, i.e., a $4,000 item might cost $53.75 by Priority Mail with insurance but it is only $42.25 by Express Mail with the same $4000 insurance. SO you get two things 1) save a little on shipping and 2) impress your customer with Lightning fast shipping!

I don't know the break even point, but it isn't that high so don't always rule out Express Mail!

On the international front I use First Class International often because it is cheaper for me AND my customer. MANY countries will allow First class mail packets to be shipped with NO Customs declaration. But be very careful with high value items, i.e., Germany will sometimes enforce their ban on Priority and Express shipments valued at $500 or more. You will MAYBE get the package back in a week or two and in the mean time your customer is wondering where the packet is.

Happy Bidding!

[gazza]

We're currently creating a postage calculator to allow for zip codes to be entered and shipping calculated by distance. USPS and UPS will be included.

Gazza

[LoriKeet08]

We're currently creating a postage calculator to allow for zip codes to be entered and shipping calculated by distance. USPS and UPS will be included.

Gazza

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

This is going to make MANY new sellers VERY happy!!!! And those who have gotten by without one thus far are going to see just how helpful it will be! )