US Postal rates

[ellenbethsdad]

I've just been reading on Starship Modeller that US postal rates have gone up and that means for us non US buyers an uncrease of UP TO 60% !!!!

Is this true? this could have a serious effect on my kit buying from stateside, the postage rates are high enough as is and on a $100 kit usually add at least another $40=$50

Not good if it's true.

Pete

[HugoDrax]

Personally not noticed it - unless this rise is planned not yet occurred?

Depends on how you get it posted. I had one of our Colonial model suppliers send me a standard 1:6 figure from New York state by air mail and it cost around $25-30. I had another send me one from New Jersey (big heavy b**tard, not him - the kit) and THAT was nearly $60 but by International Priority Mail. Had one recently from Dirty Harry country in San Francisco, also by IPM, and that was about $40. All of these in the last month or so....that said, I did send one from Blighty to one of the tea tippers in Michigan just before Chrimbo I think and that was £55GBP!!!!!

It really all depends on which service you use. USPS can be a better option, I have found.

A necessary evil, my friend, as there are so many good kits over there. Perhaps we should hire some ex-SAS types to go over there, parachute in and kidnap some of their best sculptors and bring them back to Blighty to make kits just for us....

I think I better put this bottle of Chianti away......

[Jesse321]

When it comes to shipping overseas, FLAT RATE BOXES are your friend!!

But here's what you need to know.

https://stamps.custhelp.com/app/answers ... nformation

[Brian McGuire]

When it comes to shipping overseas, FLAT RATE BOXES are your friend!!

But here's what you need to know.

https://stamps.custhelp.com/app/answers ... nformation

Thanks for the tip, Jesse!

[HugoDrax]

Nice one Jesse.

[Joseph Osborn]

The stuff I sell (decal sets & small resin parts packs) are costing approximately double the cost to ship overseas now. I use flat-rate shipping (not the USPS's, but rather my own system using First Class International) to make it easy for my customers (and me) and I just raised the rate to send a decal set order from $6 to $10. They aren't doing themselves any favors with this rate increase. I think FedEx may have something to do with it since much of the USPS's international mail flies on FedEx planes. Another bad part of the overseas shipping equation is there hasn't been a surface mail option for years now.

[ellenbethsdad]

It's true then:

small flat rate box up from $16.95 to $23.95
medium flate rate box up from $47.95 to $59.95 .....you'd think nobody knew there's a recession on

Don't forget the VAT and "handling charges " from Royal Mail to be added as well unless you want to chance getting the customs decloration being put down as less than $20, then if it gets lost in transit you have lost out big time.

pete

[Jesse321]

the issue is that the USPS is being forced to work under regulations that would have crippled any other organization by now. Very basically, they have to PREPAY Healthcare Insurance and Retirement Benefits for employees that have not only not been employed by the post office yet, but haven't even been BORN yet!!

You can read about it here:

http://business.time.com/2013/02/07/how ... -delivery/

[razorwyre1]

the issue is that the USPS is being forced to work under regulations that would have crippled any other organization by now. Very basically, they have to PREPAY Healthcare Insurance and Retirement Benefits for employees that have not only not been employed by the post office yet, but haven't even been BORN yet!!

You can read about it here:

http://business.time.com/2013/02/07/how ... -delivery/

i didnt read the article, but yes the USPS is forced to work under terrible burdens congress has imposed upon them.
and yes rates have gone up, BUT they are still the biggest bargain in international shipping available anywhere, by a very wide margin.
the private carriers are far more expensive, and much more hassle to work with.

[Lenny]

the issue is that the USPS is being forced to work under regulations that would have crippled any other organization by now. Very basically, they have to PREPAY Healthcare Insurance and Retirement Benefits for employees that have not only not been employed by the post office yet, but haven't even been BORN yet!!

You can read about it here:

http://business.time.com/2013/02/07/how ... -delivery/

I am a letter carrier for 20 years now. Not only does the postal service have to prepay benefits, there is 70 billion that has been paid already missing
The funny part is the postal service wants to hire new workers with no benefits at all.
Congress won't let them stop the prepayments. Wonder why? 70 billion missing

[starmanmm]

ellenbethsdad... I feel your pain... there is a kit from your part of the world that I would love to have, but the postal rate to ship it is almost half the cost of the kit.

Both Jesse321 and Lenny have it right. I have two good friends that work for the post office and they tell me the same story about paying for future workers.

No need to wonder where the money has gone ( the 70 billion ) just ask Congress what they did with it. To them... this is free money.

[LeatherFaceHugger]

I had to pass up on some long time sort after alien & pred kits due to these ridiculous shipping rates

[belrog999]

There is a ray of sunshine in all this mess. All packages now have tracking automatically.
Steve

[Todd P.]

Really? Domestic and international? I thought you only got delivery confirmation (NOT full tracking) for domestic packages if you paid for it. It's part of priority international shipping, but last I checked my first-class international mailings weren't tracked. I'd love to hear that's changed.

[Cult of Personality]

Todd; ALL Priority shipping now requires tracking and the fee is built-in. Tracking # is printed on your transaction receipt (NOT on a separate ticket), and I have been told tracking is now LIVE as opposed to hours (if not DAYS) out of synch. I have not needed to track anything yet, so I can not really say if this is correct.
Tom

[razorwyre1]

Todd; ALL Priority shipping now requires tracking and the fee is built-in. Tracking # is printed on your transaction receipt (NOT on a separate ticket), and I have been told tracking is now LIVE as opposed to hours (if not DAYS) out of synch. I have not needed to track anything yet, so I can not really say if this is correct.
Tom

its been that way for years when you use their online labeling and postage printing service "click 'n ship". the only services not available through click 'n ship are domestic first class and media mail.

does anyone have the statistics on rate hikes for the private carriers for the same time period?

[Heavy Metal Spike]

This is a shame. I aways preferred using USPS.

However, I've already skipped 4 purchases over the last 3 weeks because of the rate hike. I cannot justify paying 50-75% of the kit price in shipping.

I get round this with Narin because he's my single biggest source and he has no problems storing kits for me and shipping together. This isn't an option with 1-off eBay or forum purchases. Another blow to the hobby.

The cheapest shipping for me right now is Sideshow items, which come in at $25 each flat rate seemingly regardless of size - they must have a special deal with FedEx.

Shame that FedEx insist on being legal and charge 12% HST on the item value

.

[Todd P.]

Thanks for the updated info, Tom. You too, Ray. I knew about click 'n' ship but haven't used that since my printer ran out of toner and I lost the incentive to buy more. Click 'n' ship is great in many ways, but for me it eats more time than paying at the counter. I'll go back to it eventually, though. Heck, I'd go back to it now if I could also purchase parcel post and first class through it.

[tay666]

I might give that click & ship a try next time I have an international shipment.
My god, it took forever at the post office.
It's been well over a year since I shipped anything international.
This week I took a package in for first class international.
The poor girl behind the counter had to manually enter all the information in the customs form,
Contents. My name and address, addressees name and address. The whole 9 yards.

[XOFACTO2]

That's typical. Whenever I mail an international package I have to wait 30 minutes to an hour to get through the line and wait for the person to type in the info. They are not trained typists. I often have to tell them which copies of the forms I'm supposed to get back. I also have to point out which boxes they forgot to fill in that need to be filled in. Shipping internationals take a chunk out of my day. I always bring a magazine to read while I'm waiting.