Tips Shipping 70 pounds for only $4.05? YES YOU CAN

Tips Shipping 70 pounds for only $4.60? YES YOU CAN

Shipping 70 pounds for only $4.60? YES YOU CAN.

"We all have used that small and medium Priority Mail box, the ones about the size of a video tape box. By now, you should be shipping from your ebay sold page by generating your label with free delivery confirmation and paying for it through Paypal. Not standing in line at the post office and paying extra for it.

The post office charges you by weight. But hold on! Did you know that you can fit either of those boxes into a Flat Rate Envelope for only $4.60! Yes you can, just pinch the lower corners of the envelope and the box will slip right in. Don't let the Post office tellers try to stop you. The DMM (domestic mail manual) has only 1 restriction, the primary sealing of the envelope must be made with the adhesive strip on the envelope, and YES you may add more tape to insure it does not pop open. Some tellers say only 1 piece of tape? How long of a piece? Three feet?"

http://reviews.ebay.com/TIPS-SHIPPING-USPS-70-POUNDS-FOR-4-05-YES-YOU-CAN_W0QQugidZ10000000000083666

Thanks for posting that cy! Always looking for shipping education!

Uh... perfect for shipping a 20x20x4cm Tungsten bar.

Wow! That's a great tip for eBay sellers. Charge the buyer $30 or even more, for shipping and then just pay $4.05, and pay nothing for shipping materials because you're using the USPS shipping materials. Great tip!

Brighteyez said:

Wow! That's a great tip for eBay sellers. Charge the buyer $30 or even more, for shipping and then just pay $4.05, and pay nothing for shipping materials because you're using the USPS shipping materials. Great tip!

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:laughing: Good point.

Just a quick tidbit: GPM Flat rate envelopes do have a weight restriction of 4lbs, IIRC.

For larger objects that don't fit into a flat rate Priority Envelope, there are flat rate boxes, for less than $10.

need to check validity of this statement...

"no customs needed if under 1lbs for GPM"

"Don't forget the Flat Rate Global Priority Mail envelope for international shipping. Weight limit is 4 pounds. Use the Priority Mail small boxes for the item and put it in the international envelope. If it weighs less than 1 pound, you don't even have to put a customs declaration on it!"

cy said:

need to check validity of this statement...

"no customs needed if under 1lbs for GPM"

"Don't forget the Flat Rate Global Priority Mail envelope for international shipping. Weight limit is 4 pounds. Use the Priority Mail small boxes for the item and put it in the international envelope. If it weighs less than 1 pound, you don't even have to put a customs declaration on it!"

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I've got that one covered...I asked about it at the PO. They (reluctantly) said that a customs declaration is not needed by the USPS, but may hold up the package on the other end in the destination country if it does not have one.

Whether that is accurate information or not, I have no idea. That's just what the clerk at the PO said. I originally did not have a customs form on a < 1-pound GPM item and they told me to put one on it...and I pointed out on the GPM mailer itself that said it wasn't required...they said, "Well...you're right, but..." and then the above...

JM-99

just spent 30 minutes with usps postal help desk to get to correct usps customs form web url. USPS site is very_user unfriendly.

this can only be accessed with IE: http://webapps.usps.com/customsforms/#
click on yellow bar "need help picking a form"

will pull up documention verifying this information:

no customs forms will be needed if items is non-dutiable and under 16 oz.
usps defination of non-dutiable is value under $400 and weight under 16 oz.

according to form below, this is valid for all countries.
Print form to take with you, if postal clerk gives you any trouble.
----------------------------------------------

Global Priority Mail (GPM) items, airmail letter-post items, and economy letter-post items that:
Weigh less than 16 ounces and do not have potentially dutiable contents. Weigh 16 ounces or more, do not have potentially dutiable contents, and are entered by a known mailer.

cy said:

no customs forms will be needed if items is non-dutiable and under 16 oz.
usps defination of non-dutiable is value under $400 and weight under 16 oz.

according to form below, this is valid for all countries.

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Thanks for checking, CY. They've always told me the form is required if the contents are not documents. Now I can cite their own website.

What does "potentially dutiable contents" mean? I think they mentioned something about only documents didn't need a customs form when I was there also...and that CD's didn't count, even if they just contained documentation.

I hate going to the post office...I suppose I'll print it out and take it next time too. But they do seem to like to bully you into affixing the form. I'm not sure if it's a power thing...or ignorance or what. They literally did tell me it could get held up in the destination country if it does not have a customs form attached. Go figure.

JM-99

according to usps guideline verbally given to me: (should have asked for verifing document)

item has to be under $400 value and weight less than 16 oz.

Jumpmaster said:

What does "potentially dutiable contents" mean? 9

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Just a FYI, the local SJ postal office here have recently been turning down more and more of these packages ship in this format. The clerk will refuse to stamp (intl) your package and make you ship it by weight.

You probably have to go to several different office and YMMV.

If you want to try this route, I recommend reinforcing the envelop from the inside using several pieces of 3M tape.

Good luck everyone.

if you take along documentation backing up the regulations.

don't see how any postal clerk could turn down a package. they are real sticklers for following regulations. just there are so many of them, it's hard to know them all. usps clerks are probably doing what's safe without looking the actual regulation.

took me 30 minutes with usps help desk to find this information out. no way your local postal clerk will go to this much trouble. they will say.... next...

guess I'll find out on next intl shipment.

Jumpmaster said:

I've got that one covered...I asked about it at the PO. They (reluctantly) said that a customs declaration is not needed by the USPS, but may hold up the package on the other end in the destination country if it does not have one.

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This is what will happen if it is missing:
The package will most likely be opened looking for a invoice/proforma invoice if they believe the package was shipped from a business.
If invoice not found (or package not opened) I will get a letter from the custom office that they need documentation of what I paid. This may not always be easy to come up with when you have only sent a paypal.
All this makes the package arrive very late.
Packages also arrives much faster if a low value is written on the custom form (below $30).

Sigbjoern

:twothumbs Nice find !!

There is also a flat-rate box available. I think it's around $7-ish.

I think you missed the point of the eBay article (or just another eBay hustle that someone is trying). The point that they're expressing is to put the flat-rate box into the flat rate envelope and pay the lower envelope flat rate.

Trashman said:

There is also a flat-rate box available. I think it's around $7-ish.

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Haha! That's a funny one! Looks like there's a postal clerk that is being nice and giving you just enough rope to hang yourself

You're right, the Postal Service does not require a customs declaration, no postal agency in the world requires a customs declaration. It's the customs agency in the country of destination that requires the customs declaration. While the information that the postal employee "reluctantly" gave you is 100% accurate to a tee, I suspect that you may have gotten exactly what you asked for and nothing more.

Now if you ship it without a customs declaration and it is rejected at the country of destination, you may never see the parcel again because you never guaranteed return postage (which would be on the customs declaration ) and the package should, by policy, be destroyed. Anyway, I guess you could say that getting delayed at the destination could have been a bit of an understatement.

Actually I think there are postal employees that are members of this site, though I don't know if they work the retail end. If they are, perhaps they could chime in if you guys don't attack them.

Jumpmaster said:

I've got that one covered...I asked about it at the PO. They (reluctantly) said that a customs declaration is not needed by the USPS, but may hold up the package on the other end in the destination country if it does not have one.

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You could ask for a supervisor and ask them to show you where it says you can't send it at the flat rate envelope option. I believe the reference for International is Pub 42. If they give you flak at the GPO, try the one on Meredian, they still seem to have some administrative staffing there.

modamag said:

Just a FYI, the local SJ postal office here have recently been turning down more and more of these packages ship in this format. The clerk will refuse to stamp (intl) your package and make you ship it by weight.

You probably have to go to several different office and YMMV.

If you want to try this route, I recommend reinforcing the envelop from the inside using several pieces of 3M tape.

Good luck everyone.

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Envelopes
It says you can use tape to secure the flap.

Customs forms (click on 'forms usage')
Under 16oz documents only, not goods.

Country rules

Domestic Mail Manual

International Mail Manual