USPS Domestic / International Shipping Calculator Link

LEDAdd1ct

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As an international forum, I constantly see people outside the United States asking for shipping quotes, and I repeatedly see U.S. sellers scratching their heads or balking at the prospect of deciphering international shipping rates.

I don't know if this is valuable enough to be a sticky, but I thought this link might be helpful to this forum:

Domestic and International USPS Shipping Calculator

You can easily click the drop down menu to select international destinations.

If this thread isn't warranted, then I apologize.

I thought (think) it might help our members abroad and our sellers here.

I realize this isn't a traditional WTB/WTS/WTT thread, but I thought it might be beneficial for all those overseas. :)
 
Last edited:

compasillo

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This thread deserves a sticky, but I'm not sure it belongs to this forum section.
Anyway, thanks a lot for posting
 

LEDAdd1ct

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You are very welcome.

If the mods do not feel it warrants deletion, perhaps it can find a home here or somewhere else.

This is the only place where transactions occur on CPF proper, so I started it here.
 

Mattaus

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This is a good idea, but I think more options need to be included. I only say that because, just for shits and giggles, I wanted to see how much it would cost to send a small box to me from the US, and $79.95 is definitely more expensive than I've been charged in the past. I may need to do some fiddling with options to get other types to show up perhaps?

I just want to be sure because I don't suddenly want to start paying 4 times the typical postage costs because a seller blindly grabbed the rates from that link...

Happy to be corrected and will edit this post accordingly if I am wrong/deluded/stupid :)
 

LEDAdd1ct

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You're certainly neither deluded nor stupid.

USPS is a company, and they want to make money. So they deliberately obfuscate the cheaper options.

You need to check the drop down box "Display all Options."

Scroll all the way down for the "average guy" rates. :)
 

persco

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Toronto, ON
This is a good idea, but I think more options need to be included. I only say that because, just for shits and giggles, I wanted to see how much it would cost to send a small box to me from the US, and $79.95 is definitely more expensive than I've been charged in the past. I may need to do some fiddling with options to get other types to show up perhaps?

I just want to be sure because I don't suddenly want to start paying 4 times the typical postage costs because a seller blindly grabbed the rates from that link...

Happy to be corrected and will edit this post accordingly if I am wrong/deluded/stupid :)

The first quotes show are for GSX Global shipping (expensive), click on the options below and you'll get regular flat rate small box shipping (eg, to Canada it's $20). It's easy to miss the options.
 

880arm

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This is a good idea, but I think more options need to be included. I only say that because, just for shits and giggles, I wanted to see how much it would cost to send a small box to me from the US, and $79.95 is definitely more expensive than I've been charged in the past. I may need to do some fiddling with options to get other types to show up perhaps?

I just want to be sure because I don't suddenly want to start paying 4 times the typical postage costs because a seller blindly grabbed the rates from that link...

Happy to be corrected and will edit this post accordingly if I am wrong/deluded/stupid :)

That price looks like it is for a fairly large box up to 20 pounds in weight. When you open the link LEDAdd1ct provided, and after you select your country, make your selection from the flat rate boxes shown right below where you select the country. You may have to scroll the list to the right to select the smaller boxes.

Doing it this way the small flat rate boxes are $23.95 to ship from the US to Australia (up to 4 pounds weight). I don't know how much you normally pay but at least it's a lot less than the $79.95!
 

Mattaus

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Ah! lol...I missed the small 'more' button on the right hand side. I normally don't fall for such simple shenanigans but it seems USPS got me this time :p
 

TriggerHappy

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New Zealand
... repeatedly see U.S. sellers scratching their heads or balking at the prospect of deciphering international shipping rates.

Thanks - I hope this encourages more sellers to ship outside the US!
Just because we are not in the USA doesn't make us all scammers - we're just normal people who want to participate in the international used flashlight trade.
We pay with paypal, communicate with email, and wait patiently for our packages to arrive - give us a try! :)
Cheers
Pete
 

ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond

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The USPS has one big downside which is that they will only provide tracking if you send items via USPS Global Express mail. This is a big issues for many sellers because it means that I can either:
1) send you a package at first class rate for less than $10 and keep my finger crossed you get it, or
2) charge you $45 and send the package Global Express with a tracking number and be sure you get, and get it fast.
My personal policy is that I ship CONUS (Continental US) at no extra charge for small/inexpensive (ie: less that ~$200) and generally only $5 more for international first class. Bigger boxes obviously cost more as appropriate.
For expensive lights (ie: Ti Customs) I require Global Express for international shipping for the security and protection from a PayPal scammer.

I also prefer to only use the USPS and not get involved with FedEx, UPS, DHL etc because they all have their own issues as well. As bad as USPS rules may be at least I only have to learn one set of them.


I've had two bad experiences shipping internationally and adopted the above guidelines to protect myself.
 

tobrien

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Georgia Highway 441
The USPS has one big downside which is that they will only provide tracking if you send items via USPS Global Express mail. This is a big issues for many sellers because it means that I can either:
1) send you a package at first class rate for less than $10 and keep my finger crossed you get it, or
2) charge you $45 and send the package Global Express with a tracking number and be sure you get, and get it fast.
My personal policy is that I ship CONUS (Continental US) at no extra charge for small/inexpensive (ie: less that ~$200) and generally only $5 more for international first class. Bigger boxes obviously cost more as appropriate.
For expensive lights (ie: Ti Customs) I require Global Express for international shipping for the security and protection from a PayPal scammer.

I also prefer to only use the USPS and not get involved with FedEx, UPS, DHL etc because they all have their own issues as well. As bad as USPS rules may be at least I only have to learn one set of them.


I've had two bad experiences shipping internationally and adopted the above guidelines to protect myself.
what's wrong with FedEx, UPS, and DHL? they've always come through for me
 

octaf

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It's a drag that USPS express raised their fees up again. It used to be around $30, now it's about $45.


Last time I got a package from the states, it was a small box priority mail, but it seems that the seller added an option of 'signature confirmation' - I don't know if there's a such an option or not - , and anyway I was surprised at the price tag of $35.99 of this priority mail. And it took 2weeks, incredibly slow compared to USPS express which only takes 4~5 days. I know from my past experience that PO man does not come to the door and ask for signature confirmation for priority mail from US and often it gets lost in the mail box.


As far as DHL, UPS, FedEx is concerned, they usually charge more than USPS, and their service is not that better than USPS in my experience and opinion.
 
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