posted on November 17, 2000 02:48:30 PM
I made my very first international sale today. The winner is in Australia. Now what? I am not sure how to ship an international package. It is a small package weighing approx a little under 3 lbs. Do I just take the rate from the USPS rate calculator? Are there any extra fees? Can you insure an international package? What are the Special Delivery and Special Handling fees? Sorry for all the questions, I lurk here alot but rarely post, but have learned so much from this board. Hope someone can help me with this. Thands
select the country and find out what they offer by clicking on the various options...
click on A PACKAGE; on next page, enter your ZIP CODE and theirs, then the weight of parcel..
Some countries offer Insurance, others don't. You will know once you continue with the procedure: if it asks you about Insurance, then, obviously, it offers it.
posted on November 17, 2000 08:32:25 PM
Your package should qualify for the small packets rate; make sure you tell your buyer that surface mail may take over two months to get there. Make them buy the insurance if it's available to Australia--chances are greater of things getting lost when shipping overseas. (I lost a $150 book I had purchased from England and it took months to sort it out.)
Print out what the rate calculator tells you; some postal clerks are not well informed about international shipping and will try to stick you with the much higher parcel post rate. I've been told that the special delivery option is a waste of money. Hope this helps some.
posted on November 17, 2000 09:23:22 PM
Air Small Packet is usually your best bet for international packages. But, if you look at the rates for Australia, you'll see that a 4 pound package sent Air Small Packet is $30.85 and a 4 pound package sent Air Parcel Post is $28.76. So, in this instance, Air Parcel Post is actually cheaper than Air Small Packet. Both should take 7 - 10 days to arrive.
And another advantage of Parcel Post is that it can be insured ($1.60 for up to $50.00 insured amount, $2.50 for $100, etc.) and Small Packet cannot.
You also have the option of Surface Small Packet ($11.96 for 4 pounds) or Surface Parcel Post ($18.32 for 4 pounds). Once again, only the Parcel Post rate can be insured. Surface can easily take 4 to 8 weeks.
You will also need to fill out a Customs form (small green one for Small Packet, large white one for Parcel Post), but they are available at your PO and are easy to fill out.
Good luck!
Edited to add that Registered Letter Packet is probably the safest way to send something overseas, but is expensive. A 4 pound (the maximum) package sent Air Letter Packet is $38.60 plus an additional $6.00 to Register. The maximum indemnity is $40.45.
[ edited by mapledr1216 on Nov 17, 2000 09:32 PM ]
