USPS Services For International Buyers

Formerly, there were eight different services, each with its own price tier, provided by the USPS. With the price hikes of May, 2007, these were  streamlined down to four. Global Express Guaranteed, Express International, Priority Mail International & First Class International. We won't be discussing the first two, as the charges are so ridiculously outrageous I would never offer them for my small items.

This guide has been updated to reflect the price changes of May, 2009.

Streamlining down to four services does NOT mean International Shipping has become easier. Pricing is still a tricky matter. Let me illustrate:

First Class International...Well, Lessee...There is one set of prices for Canada. Another for Mexico, and then different ones for the various Zones around the Globe. I actually spent a morning printing out and studying the list of countries and zones. The difference in Rate Zone 3 between a 7 ounce package and one that weighs 8 ounces is literally  ninety cents. A one ounce mistake will cost a Seller a buck. OUCH! And it happens more easily than you might think. All a Seller has to do is forget to weigh the item WITH the envelope.

The difference from Zone 2 (Mexico) to Zone 3 (Spain) for an 8 ounce package is $3.50! That is an expensive mistake for any Seller. It's mind-boggling...and means I cannot set one flat price and have it apply to every country like I can for domestic shipments. This is why I only have Canada as an individual destination in most of my listings. It's the only country to which rates are reasonable enough to list separately. For other countries, simply email me and I will reply with your 1st Class International price.

The USPS does not provide envelopes for 1st Class International, which means we have to add the cost of the envelope, label, any packing materials--and the weight of such packing materials--the same as we do for Domestic 1st Class.

Priority Mail International:  Okay, we started with one basic price for most countries. That price used to be six bucks for a small envelope and nine bucks for a large. It was easy and it was fair. No more! All Priority International packages, except for Canada & Mexico start at $13 now (plus the cost of that label and packing materials and any handling charges, but only if we use a Flat Rate Envelope. That is a jump of over 100% from just two years ago!  I cannot use a smaller envelope to charge the more reasonable six dollars for a chemise or collar going to the UK. Nope. Not anymore. And I have to watch the price of First Class International as well. For a 15 ounce package, Flat Rate Priority is thirteen bucks, but 1st Class International is $10.10.  At one point it becomes wise to pay the extra couple bucks and take the Priority service.

So...If it's going Priority (and fits inside the flat rate envelope), it's going to cost you thirteen bucks, regardless of where it's going. Flat Rate Priority International envelopes can weigh up to 20 pounds, so weight is no problem. Size, however, can be restrictive. That envelope won't hold much more than three or four pieces of lingerie, and it takes two sets of hands to get the thing to close. I know this from experience! lol I'm a miracle worker at stuffing those envelopes! lol

We can use regular Tyvek Priority envelopes, but those are called "Variable Weight."  That is even MORE expensive. Up to one pound in a variable weight envelope, going to Rate Zone 1 (remember, that's Canada) is $17. The same envelope to Rate Zone 5 (Belgium or Denmark) is $24! The same item, in the same envelope, but it will cost the Seller a very painful $7 mistake if sending to China or Chile rather than Canada. Canada is, by the way, the ONLY country in Zone 1. Mexico is Zone 2. Go Figure.  GO NAFTA!!! Mind you, this is yet another increase. It was a $5 mistake from May 2007 to May 2008. The USPS raised it's rates again.

Did I mention it was mind boggling??? Are you keeping up? I was going to make scorecards, but haven't figured out how to pass them out. lol


Canadian First Class International: Here we have a paradox. Even if you include your phone number, I still can't print your label! PayPal's postage system does not offer First Class International service.  Express and Priority are my only choices. I do NOT want to charge you for the convenience of printing a label if you don't want to pay that much. I'd rather charge my Canadian Buyers one third the price (on average) and spend time in line to pay for shipping. This is one of the trade-offs we have chosen for the sake of happier customers. Other sellers may make other choices. We offer Priority, of course, so the speed of delivery to Canadian Buyers is in their hands.

Please note: I am NOT responsible for Canadian Customs being slow processing your package. Complain to them, not in my feedback.

If you are wanting us to ship to a P.O. Box and do not include your phone number, we cannot print a label.  We have to stand in line anyway, since it's an International shipment and can only be accepted at the window; but with our own label at least we wouldn't have to stand there to pay for it. Dropping off is much faster than paying at the window. Only two international Buyers I've ever had have put their phone number in their PayPal and eBay accounts.  We understand the desire for privacy; but in my nine years as a seller, perhaps three Buyers have ever called me. I have never called a single Buyer.

International shipping can get really ugly for the small, home-based Sellers like ourselves.  It's intimidating to someone who has never dealt with it before and has to teach themselves.  Lessons can be painfully expensive for a small mistake, something that wouldn't matter but a few dimes in Domestic shipping. A single such mistake can be enough to stop a Seller from shipping outside the USA altogether. And I can't blame them!  I am fortunate enough to have dealt with International Shipping on a large scale (very expensive and big pieces of art) in my last office job. I have experience with services and Customs.

I want to be able to sell to everyone but different countries have all sorts of different rules regarding what can and cannot be sent to them. The USPS website only has a list of countries with specific service limitations (who can and cannot process Global Guaranteed, for example) and embargoes, not what is specifically forbidden by each and every country in the world. It's a nightmare! Truly.

As the person living in that foreign country, it is up to the Buyer to know what is not allowed. I know Australia won't allow plant seeds or livestock (forget shipping the tadpoles!) but what else? I have no idea. No Seller can know what isn't allowed in every country around the globe, and Ebay is no help. They exclude entire categories from International Sale rather than do the research for us.

It would also be very nice if Buyers would remember that once we take a package to the USPS, it is out of our control.  We have absolutely NO control over what happens to the package from that moment on. Example:  Two packages are going from NYC to Canada...One gets to Vancouver in four days. The other seems to vanish off the face of the Earth and arrives in Toronto 6 weeks later.


The USPS isn't going to be able to tell us anything. They see exactly the same things that we see when we look up the Customs number on the USPS website. That entry will probably NEVER update, even after the item has been delivered. Canadian Customs and Post do not send such information back to the USPS.  Take your customs  number and look for yourself.  I've been told by my local postal workers that Canadian Customs in  particular is NOT cooperative; and if there has been such a long delay, it usually means Canadian Customs has the package. It may be sitting in a bin somewhere waiting for an agent to get to it. It could sit there for four weeks before a Customs Agent puts his hands on it.  Again, NOT my fault.

If you want to be assured that your package will arrive faster, then spend the extra $10 and pay for  Priority like the rest of the world. Keep in mind, however, that delivery dates and times are NOT guaranteed for Priority or 1st Class International services. It takes as long as it takes and that is something we both have to be prepared for. Getting mad at your seller won't help anything.

Ebay's policy regarding the Feedback Star ratings for Shipping Time state that you are not to rate the time it took your package to get to you, but how long it took the Seller to get the package to the post office. That will be within 1 business day if you buy from me. Maybe two. I've done my part to expedite your package. Giving me a low Star rating for delays by your own Customs Office is entirely unfair to me. I did nothing wrong and I can't call them and tell them to hurry, now can I? You have to do your part and call your post office to see if you can get any information. Please don't demand that I find your package. I can't go walking through the USPS facilities, and certainly am not going to be flying to your country to look through your Customs Office. They really don't like when we do that and I don't want to get arrested. So be reasonable.

We must both be patient and maintain cordial communication. At this point, because there may end up being a dispute, I insist that all communication be conducted through Ebay's message system. That makes our correspondence official and professional, and decreases the likelihood that a Buyer is going to start calling me names.  Communication and cooperation work both ways. You have to do your part. If I ask you to call your postal system, please write me back and tell me what they said. If I have to write you back days later to ask what they said, then who is the one not communicating? We have to keep each other posted. By working together, perhaps we can get our collective postal systems to kick loose the package. With a squeaking wheel on either end, they're more likely to make us shut up by delivering! lol

I have never had a single package to Canada, or any other country, be completely lost. They all get to their destinations. It's just a question of when. Please email your Seller to tell them the package arrived. By this point, we're as anxious as you.

Happy Shopping!

Tyler.