Serious Issues with International Shipping - Anyone have any pointers?

[Former_Member]

Hi Team!
OK, so i have these international customers and PayPal and USPS.com want to charge really high prices and don't let you ship anything but Priority International Express International. That's WAY too high. So I signed on with ATS yesterday, and it is anything but reasonable.

What do you guys do for International? Has anyone ever used Stamps.com and/or Endicia, and how do those compare for you? To me, having another monthly fee of $15.95 or more is just unthinkable.

I want to be able to:
1) Print postage at home
2) Choose what level or type of shipping I want, not be told what to do
3) Have my mail carrier pick it up, not
4) Drive to the post office, wait in line and pay manually.
If it comes down to #4, then I find I must be forced to add a Shipping & Handling Fee which I do NOT want to do.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

[Former_Member]

I haven't found a way around doing #4, which means you cannot do #1-#3 (as you've already discovered) if you use USPS. But I love USPS, and my post office is fairly close, so it's not that big of a deal to me (unless I don't have a box to use). I ship 3 days a week, using USPS, and doing #1-#3 for all my domestic packages. On the days that I have international packages, I make a trip to the Post Office.

[Former_Member]

I'm right with you sacredsuds. My post is very close and I live in a small town so I'm sure to see some I know while I'm waiting in line...which is never very long anyway.

I live where there are no roads in and no roads out, you can only access us by plane or ferry. USPS is the only affordable option. So I ship internationally for under $8.

[Former_Member]

Cassias, I used to struggle with that a lot. I would take each international package to the PO (which is a half an hour away).

Finaly I just decided to only do flat-rate shipping. For international buyers, their option is a flat-rate enveleope. ($11 for mexicao and Canada, $13 everywhere else). I don't think it has cut down on my international sales much.

My only big problem is that unless you use a Priority Mail box, there is no tracking available. That number Paypal give you with your flat-rate PM International label is actually a customs number, not a tracking number (even though they call it that). I found this out the hard way, when a customer told me they never received their package and the best advice the national postmaster could give me was to have the customer call customs from their end and see if it was held up there somewhere.

So, I don't know if that's helpful or not. Good luck!

[Former_Member]

Steampunk - hi neighbor!

[RebeccasSoapDeli]

Most people - don't think it works on a mac - download shipping assistant from usps.com which allows them to print a label with customs form. You can also print just a customs form without a label and address by hand on usps.com if you don't have the shipping assistant. Then add stamps and pop in the box. This will only work for parcels under 13oz. though. Otherwise you still have to take them to the P.O. I think stamps.com is about $15 a month. Only really worth it if you ship a lot internationally. I just ship priority up to 4lbs. internationally and use the flat rate padded envelopes because I can stuff them pretty full.

[RebeccasSoapDeli]

Swan, I have heard you can't track flat rate priority but regular priority international is trackable.

[Former_Member]

The flat-rate boxes are trackable (medium and larger) but the envelopes are not. =[

And I tried to print flat-rate envelope shipping on USPS.com last week and couldn't. tried several times and just gave up. The person on live chat help couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work either. =[

[Former_Member]

Ladies, you have helped tremendously. Thank you all so much.
I am marking this and will refer back until I become well versed!
XOX!

[Former_Member]

thanks guys, just asked this question this morning as i'm shipping to australia today........see other thread on this today as there was tracking info in responses!

[VintageRenude]

I have had similar issues and found the most economical route was to order the customs labels from USPS and ship regular first class. But then I do have to go to the PO if it's over 13 oz. And there is the lack of tracking as you mentioned Swan. The customs label is not a tracking label.

When shipping internationally I always ask my customers to please let me know when their package arrives. So far, no problems yet.

[Former_Member]

I ship USPS Priority almost exclusively and have not had any issues so far (fingers crossed), I have shipped a few items internationally and was able to fill out the customs form online through USPS or Paypal as part of the shipping label. The only thing I had to do afterward was to sign the form. But I have only sent the flat rate envelope International so far, not the larger packages. I dislike that the priority shipping costs are high, but I want to have a better chance that my items are handled well.

[GoTo]

I use the free downloadable USPS Shipping Assistant for international First Class labels & it prints the customs form right on the label (no more running out of little green forms), then use postage stamps to cover the cost.

For items 13 oz & under, I leave it in the mailbox for my carrier to pick up or drop in any mailbox I go by. (Both domestic & international packages over 13 oz with only stamps for postage must be handed to a postal clerk.)

Read more about that program and a lot of other shipping here:

~~Shipping Basics~~
http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/6382394

[PangaeaDesigns]

Yes, I was just about to suggest the USPS Shipping Assistant. You can download it here:

http://www.usps.com/shippingassistant/

I even order my stamps online at USPS so I never have to go to the post office!