This is an interesting and educational topic. I haven't yet had to ship any equipment overseas, but there is a EU ham who wants to buy my Ten-Tec 526/"6N2" transceiver if I decide to sell it (which I haven't - it's second only to the FT-817 for convenience for portable work).
Though it's a quasi-governmental agency, the US Postal Service was privatized several years ago. As such, they are expected to make a reasonable attempt at being profitable. The "Flat Rate" boxes are the latest attempt at being competitive with UPS and FedEx, at least for shipments within the US (all 50 states). There are probably an equal number of horror stories about packages being damaged by USPS and the other carriers. In the last year or so I've sold some ham equipment that was excess to my needs. One bit of value-added service that the buyers have enjoyed is that I paid for professional packing at the local UPS Store. Never a problem. It cost me a bit more, but I had the peace of mind knowing that the gear would arrive at its destination in the same shape that it left my hands. After my mother passed away we cleaned out the condo and shipped things that we wanted to keep from Florida to California. Even a music box with blown-glass figurines on top arrived with no damage. An interesting thing about UPS is that in case of loss or damage, only the shipper can file a claim. By using the packing and shipping services at the UPS Store, they are considered to be the shipper and if things go sideways they will step in to resolve the problem. The other thing is that, since it was packed by a UPS agent, they are less likely to reject a claim because the item was not packed adequately. The USPS must be doing a better job at being competitive, as I'm seeing more and more goods that I order shipped that way rather than by UPS. FedEx sometimes uses the arrangement whereby they ship the item through their own channels to a point near its destination, then dump it into the postal system for delivery. I'm not sure how this saves money, but it must. 72/73 de Jim - AD6CW On 6/2/2011 3:45 PM, David Herring wrote: > Let me just add a few bits of information about shipping to the 50th state: > > USPS is quite likely the best way to ship to Hawaii (provided you DO NOT ship > Parcel Post or Media Mail -- they can take up to 3 months to get here, even > from places as close as California). Priority Mail and First Class are > excellent to Hawaii, arriving in a few days. They are insurable, trackable > and almost always arrive in good condition. > > The old notion that USPS is rough with packages doesn't seem to be true > anymore. Some of the worst looking packages, as far as being beaten and > mistreated, have come UPS. > > UPS is about the worst way to ship to Hawaii, inasmuch as they cost about 3 > times as much as Postal for no better service. Oh, and they just love to try > and convince us that we don't have Ground service to Hawaii and that we must > pay even more for 2nd Day Air. It's a bunch of hogwash. We get Ground > shipments everyday (still 3 times overpriced, though). > > FedEx to Hawaii is great when the package is too big or too heavy for Postal. > They are more expensive, but not ridiculously so as in UPS. > > So, I say all this, not to clog up the reflector, but to just suggest that > anyone selling anything here should lay off the "CONUS" restriction. If you > want to limit to USA Only, well that's one thing, but no need to cut AK and > HI out of the party. > > True story: > > I was going to buy a $1000 item from someone who as it turned out didn't want > to sell to HI. I explained that there is no difference in shipping and if > there was, I'd make up the difference. Then he says he can only ship via > UPS, and that shipping would be nearly $300. > > *I don't think so!* > > I tried to suggest USPS, or even FedEX, but he'd have no part of that. So he > got to keep his item (I have some suggestions as to where he could store it, > but never mind that now...). > > Now, a little while later, I found the same thing for about the same price, > and it was being sold by someone who didn't mind Hawaii and didn't mind > postal. Shipping via Postal was about $40, insured and tracked. It arrived, > in perfect condition, in 3 days from the east coast. > > Those of us in Hawaii deal with this everyday. Its an island...if you want > it here you have to ship it here. So those of us that live here know the ins > and outs of shipping here. if in doubt, ask us. > > OK, I'm done. Back to your regularly scheduled programming, already in > progress. > > 73& Aloha, > Dave AH6TD > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
