US Parcel Service seem overpriced to anyone? :-/

[VK5CQ]

I bought 2 pair of shoes on eBay and was shocked to see a $60 shipping cost on the box.

(I saw the same cost on the eBay item, but I thought the vendor was slipping some of their profit into the S+H box, eg, to help reduce their eBay fee for the sale...)

Is it really -so- costly to export from USA, these days?

(Maybe the sight of all those HK-based vendors, who have comparatively low S+H fees - many shipping for Free - makes the US postal rates seem so high to me...)

Are there any workarounds for high S+H fees, for goods we'd -like- to buy from USA, eg, slow but reliable methods of shipping, etc.?

Alternatively:

Are there any Ham eStores out there (in USA) who have made -better- arrangements to ship gear, to places like AU & NZ?

(I guess that part of the question is for Aussies & Kiwis to help me answer... :-)

[K2MK]

Shipping prices even within the US have drastically increased over the last few years. And the USPS (US "Postal" Service) doesn't seem to have any non-air services anymore. The other problem is insurance. It's pretty difficult to insure high value items shipped internationally.

It is possible to minimize international shipping costs if your item can fit into one of the various international priority mail flat rate boxes. It must also meet a weight maximum for that box. I suspect that one pair of shoes would have been able to fit one of the flat rate boxes but two pairs probably wouldn't. The seller could have ditched the two shoe boxes and squeezed the shoes into a smaller box but you might not have liked that.

(I also believe that eBay changed their fee structure recently to include shipping cost in the final value fee).

You could go to the USPS on-line and see if $60 was fair and reasonable for your particular shipment. It sounds high but it might be correct. Large online shoe vendors like Zappos, Endless, or Shoebuy might have discounts available for international shipping.

73,
Mike K2MK

[KA5N]

With shoes, I would be more worried about the quality than anything else.  So many shoes
sold in the US are made in Asia and are inferior to shoes actually made in the USA using quality materials.   The rubber soles of Asian work shoes will dis entergrate after about one
year whether worn or not. 
Ordering shoes by mail is fraught with disaster anyway.  Buy shoes off of eBay?   Never!!!!!

Allen

[SWMAN]

 Even though not really the topic here, I just had to mention this about out USPO.
 A month ago I received a yellow ticket in my mailbox telling me that I had to go to the post office to pickup something. I took off work 45 mins. early to get there before they closed for the day. I waited in line and gave the clerk my pickup ticket. He returned and gave me a QSL postcard and said that ONE PENNY was due for lack of proper postage from the sender !!!!!!!
 I could not actually believe this and told the clerk what I thought about their cheepness. I was POed all the rest of that day! Just had to mention this and get it off my chest.

[KA5IPF]

While contemplating the creation of the earth and other minor events I realized something I hadn't thought about before.

Do you realize we pay insurance on our packages to cover the mistakes of the shipping company? Not our mistakes (pack it wrong and they won't pay) but theirs. Damaged or lost in transit, nothing we can do about it but we pay extra for them to pay us when they screw up.

Pop-a-top-again.

Clif

[AD6KA]

Don't have the shoes, parts, whatever shipped from
the vendor to overseas. That makes it a commercial
transaction with all kinds of takes and fees.

Have it shipped to a friend in the USA and repackaged
into a Flat Rate Int'l box. Remove any tags or docs that
say whatever the item is, is new.
On the Customs Declaration just put, for example:
"One pair used men's shoes, Gift, No Value"
Believe me, they won't question this.

I do this all the time with ham items and
parts going overseas. Take them out of the Mouser
(or whomever) packaging, wrap in newspaper,
declare "Radio Parts, Gift, No Value".
Works all the time.

73, Ken AD6KA

[KE5JPP]

Don't have the shoes, parts, whatever shipped from
the vendor to overseas. That makes it a commercial
transaction with all kinds of takes and fees.

Have it shipped to a friend in the USA and repackaged
into a Flat Rate Int'l box. Remove any tags or docs that
say whatever the item is, is new.
On the Customs Declaration just put, for example:
"One pair used men's shoes, Gift, No Value"
Believe me, they won't question this.

I do this all the time with ham items and
parts going overseas. Take them out of the Mouser
(or whomever) packaging, wrap in newspaper,
declare "Radio Parts, Gift, No Value".
Works all the time.

73, Ken AD6KA

The USPS rates just went up on January 22 of this year.  A medium flat rate International Priority Mail box costs $47.95 to ship without added insurance.  A large flat rate box is $60.95 without added insurance.   A small flat rate box (which is about the size of a VHS tape) is $16.95 without added insurance.  I doubt a pair of shoes will fit in a medium box.  Unless the item is really light, it is cheaper to use the USPS International flat rate boxes.  If it is a light item, then it is sometimes better to weigh it and have postage based on weight.  It will only save a few dollars though over the flat rate boxes.

UPS and FedEx are generally more expensive for international shipments than USPS.

Gene

[K1CJS]

With their flat rate boxes, USPS seems cheaper than other shipping companies to me.

[N1CX]

And it's called FRAUD. Not only is it illegal but your certifying on the customs forms that what you say is true. And it's not.

Don't have the shoes, parts, whatever shipped from
the vendor to overseas. That makes it a commercial
transaction with all kinds of takes and fees.

Have it shipped to a friend in the USA and repackaged
into a Flat Rate Int'l box. Remove any tags or docs that
say whatever the item is, is new.
On the Customs Declaration just put, for example:
"One pair used men's shoes, Gift, No Value"
Believe me, they won't question this.

I do this all the time with ham items and
parts going overseas. Take them out of the Mouser
(or whomever) packaging, wrap in newspaper,
declare "Radio Parts, Gift, No Value".
Works all the time.

73, Ken AD6KA

[WB2WIK]

You might inquire if there are sea freight companies who ship U.S. to AUS and NZ, there probably are but I haven't tried.

I DO send via sea to the Philippines almost every single month and it's very, very cheap using a special service that all Filipinos here seem to know about called Balikbayan.  They come to your home, pick up cartons (anything can be in them, up to 80 lbs per carton), you sign a form and pay them per carton (it's cheap).  They load it in a container on a ship bound for the Philippines and 3-4 weeks later it's there.  They unload it from the container, load it in a truck and deliver it to the destination (usually residential), give it to the addressee and take a digital photograph of the addressee opening the carton, as evidence they delivered it in good condition.  Then they send you that digital photograph via e-mail to confirm the delivery.

All for about $80 per carton, up to 80 lbs.  You can ship a lot of shoes for 80 lbs.   They don't care what's in the carton although the form declares it's nothing toxic nor explosive.  They take any kind of household items.

Again, that's for U.S. to P.I., but I'd "think" there may be something similar for AUS, just never looked into it.

[K1CJS]

If you want to get technical about it, the item, once opened by your friend, isn't 'new' anymore--it's second hand, no matter if your friend used it or not.  We're all guilty of stretching the truth in one fashion or another, but in this case, it isn't, not at all.  And if you claim that you're not, you're only fooling yourself.

And it's called FRAUD. Not only is it illegal but your certifying on the customs forms that what you say is true. And it's not.

Don't have the shoes, parts, whatever shipped from
the vendor to overseas. That makes it a commercial
transaction with all kinds of takes and fees....

[W9CW]

I recently sold a wattmeter to a ham in Australia.  I shipped it via USPS International Priority Mail in a Priority Mail Large Flat Rate box.  Of course, it required the inclusion of a USPS Customs Declaration and Dispatch Note - CP 72.   The price for mailing, inclusive of $125 insurance was $65.70.  The postal clerk said delivery would take around seven to ten business days.  However, the parcel sat in U.S. Customs (USPS International Parcel Unit) in Chicago for over two weeks!  At the three week point, it finally reached Australia, and a few days later was delivered to the buyer.

Except for the customs delay, all went smoothly.  The biggest problem was finding out which EEL/PFC nomenclature to use on the CP 72 form, as the Postal Service makes it somewhat difficult to find in able to classify the item.  IMO... since 9/11, and the two wars this country's been fighting, shipping internationally has become much more difficult, and certainly most expensive.

[K7LA]

When using US Postal Service shipping overseas, the magic number to remember is a limit of 64 ounces (4 pounds).  Anything over that weight limit and the postage cost goes up astronomically.  I asked my local postal clerk what happened to the old surface or "boat rate."  He replied "The boat sank!"
 

[KE4DRN]

I also ship small packages out of the country
using Global Priority Mail flat rate boxes.
I use the USPS.com site to generate the postage
and it creates the customs forms easily.

I drop them off at the post office if the value
of the item is over $50 and ask the clerk for
'package acceptance'.  You get a receipt that
has the customs tracking number and it shows
it has left the country.

Depending on the destination, you can get tracking
details.

I've only had two packages delayed over four weeks,
they were shipped to different cities in Italy.
Otherwise, the delivery is under two weeks.

73 james

[K8AXW]

And it's called FRAUD. Not only is it illegal but your certifying on the customs forms that what you say is true. And it's not.

What you say is true.  However, considering the way we're all getting shafted on everything we do, everything we buy.... while the service including unwarranted delays, lost parcels which we have to buy insurance for while at the same time our seaports are being worked overtime unloading Chinese products, I call it "Getting Back at the Man!" 

They want to play, I say, "Game On!."