First Class International

[TheFairLine]

We are interested in listing all of our items with international shipping. In the past we only listed international using Priority Mail on our website and other venues because our customer has to sign for it when they pick it up at their post office.

We are considering First Class International to keep the costs down for the customer but there is no signature on the other end.

May I ask what experiences you all have had using First Class International. Do you have trouble with missing packages.

Another question is how do you do your shipping profiles when you have items with many different weights? Is it better to not do shipping profiles and just list shipping separately on each item? Our U.S. based shipping is confined to 4 shipping prices / profiles.

Thanks for any ideas. I am just trying to figure out all the options and then decide.
Kare

[EleanorsVintage]

I love 1st class International. I wish domestic 1st class didn't have the weight limit; it makes no sense to me that you can ship something heavier internationally but not domestically. Anyway, I have shipped to many places, Europe, Japan, South America, Australia, and have never had a missing package (fingers crossed!). It is a lot cheaper than Priority, and if you are worried, it is still way cheaper to include insurance and send 1st class.
Good luck!

[KiltedWoman]

I've never had a package go missing. About 25% of my sales go overseas. I've shipped to the Uk, Australia, Spain and South Africa. You can calculate the price according to weight for the places you expect to sell to.. I would not use shipping profiles if I had lots of different weights.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

I ship lightweight items but international shipping is still pricey. I ship everything first class. My shipping profiles include U.S., Canada and Everywhere Else. I try to quote higher shipping fees to cover my costs. I have it noted in my policies that over payments of $1.00 or more will be refunded. I shipped an order to the UK last week and refunded $2.00 - not a lot but I want to be honest with my buyers. Today I had a sale to Australia but I haven't packaged it yet. Hopefully the buyer will get a refund because it'll mean I won't lose money! lol

As far as missing packages, I've never had a package go missing - domestic or international.

[BlackCatStudio98]

I haven't shipped many items internationally on Etsy, but I have quite a bit of experience with it elsewhere. I never had any packages go missing. I did have a very few that took 4-5 weeks to arrive, but most arrived in 1-2 weeks.

The few that I've shipped on Etsy with first class international have arrived safely as well.

[TheFairLine]

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the info and advice. We have shipped a lot internationally but always with Priority Mail and only had one problem. A very expensive shipment to England and the lady said she didn't get it and that someone else signed for it in place of her. Of course we did not have to take the loss on that because there was a signature.

Think we will go with 1st Class international.
Thanks again,
Kare

[Former_Member]

I ship everything that's under 4 lbs via 1st class International unless the customer specifically requests an upgrade to Priority.

The only time I've ever had a problem is with the UK when someone 'claimed' that they didn't get the package even though they complained about having to pay the duty on it.

[Untwistedsister]

My packages tend to be easy to ship FC international weighing between 2 and 4 ounces usually. There's tracking now to so many countries and third party insurance with UPIC (purchased with an etsy label) or InsurePost

[TheFairLine]

Thats great to know Terri I will look into the 3rd party ins.
You all have been great with sharing your knowledge!!
Kare