i agree that International shipping is expensive (BTW, that does not
include Alaska, Hawaii or US possessions such as Puerto Rica).
Domestic shipping is not as bad. USPS has raised the rates on their
Flat Rate shipping by a substantial amount, but the rates on USPS
non-flat rate has not been increased as much. Before shipping a
package, weigh the package and check the USPS.com price calculator to
see if your package is less expensive via normal Priority Mail or by
Flat Rate - if the distance is short or the weight is small, regular
Priority Mail may be less than the Flat Rate prices.
I do check and give my customers the benefit of whichever the lower rate
may be. Flat Rate is not always the most economical. With non-flat
rate, the package size makes a difference - if the dimensions do not
exceed 12 inches in any direction, it will garner the lowest cost. I
use many of the 12X12X8 boxes that are provided by USPS at no cost for
shipping when the Flat Rate shipping costs more than regular priority
mail. That size is adequate for the Elecraft K2 and smaller
transceivers that I repair.
Still for international shipments, USPS may be less expensive than UPS
in the long run. UPS charges a "brokerage fee" for international
shipments that may be anywhere between $30 and $100. That must be paid
by the recipient. USPS does not impose those same fees. In other
words, even though the USPS international rates are high, it may be much
less than UPS to the customer. I do not know of such fees for DHL and
FedEx international shipments because I have no experience with them.
I have not done comparisons with the new USPS Priority Mail rates, but
with the prior rates, USPS Priority Mail was only a bit more than UPS
Ground, and delivery times (domestically) were 2 to 3 days. UPS Ground
rates were a bit lower, but delivery times were 5 to 7 days. UPS 3 day
select was more expensive than USPS Priority. So if delivery times are a
criteria, then USPS Priority Mail may still be the choice.
73,
Don W3FPR
On 1/20/2016 7:06 PM, Joe Subich, W4TV wrote:
I have had some international orders for just the K3 sides at 49.95
> but they get hit with over 60 bucks in shipping fees before this fee
> increase.
International shipping was absurd *before* this last increase. I had
foreign customers pay nearly as much to ship a cable as the cost of the
cable itself. USPS may be pricing themselves right out of business.
With Regional Rate packages no longer available to small shippers
(those who do not mail more than 50 pieces at a time or pay a monthly
fee to a third party like Stamps.com, Endicia, etc.) and the absurd
increases on international, it's just getting out of hand.
73,
... Joe, W4TV
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