I hate the post office. I hate the people who work there. Now I have another reason to hate the post office: Prices. Yeah, yeah, I know that they aren't even making money as it is, but I can't believe how ridiculous it is to mail things, especially internationally. I just mailed a box of gifts to Spain and it cost me more than the gifts in it ($125). Same for a package to India (well, not as expensive as the package to Spain). It's insane. UPS, FedEx and DHL at least have good excuses for their prices: good service. ~String
Agreed. Its one reason why most of my books were donated before leaving. It would have cost me more than 2000 dollars to ship them, far more than the actual cost of the books
Well I don't think the USPS is entirely responsible for the cost of international postage. So thinking domestically I've got no complaints. I know that all I had to do, to send my Xmas cards to people all over the US (and in some pretty remote places) was to put a single stamp on them and put them in my mailbox with the flag up and the next day the nice postman would come and pick them up and i could be pretty well assured that they would all be delivered in good condition in a short period of time to the correct person. Not bad at all.
In other words they are still cheeper than the private companies but your still winging about the prices. Now mail is going down which means costs go up because they can't spread the costs as wide. You also complain about tax so the government can't pull the extra expenses out of general revinue. So what do you want string?
Yeah, yeah. I know. Correct. I'm venting. When? I happen to think that taxes support a lot of good things and are quite necessary. To vent. I feel better now. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ~String
Know how many times I've shipped books across the country (and once across the Atlantic)? Book rates are still pretty good. I remember shipping four or five boxes back from Spain when I lived there. I still have a number of them. ~String
How much did you pay? I had six boxes of books some of them bought new [from Amazon] most of them hunted out from secondhand book stores, garage sales and flea markets but even then the cost did not reach a thousand dollars - I would have had to pay over 2500 to ship them home and that was the cheapest option I could find. Its cheaper for me to replace the books than ship them
Look sister, this was in 1994. I can't remember what I spent on the box of chocolates I bought for my boss last week, let alone what I spent sending books home from Spain 16 years ago. What I do remember is this: (a) Delta Airlines weren't Nazis back then and allowed me to ship three extra boxes with my luggage for a nominal cost and (b) the Spanish postal system charged me a price so reasonable**, that I lied and shipped a lot of "other" non-book things home. It took WEEKS to get the stuff. They ship it oversea, which isn't very prompt. Did you specifically request the "book rate" which they don't advertise as an option, but exists. Just gotta' request it. Wait. How the hell many books were you shipping? I sent three (or so) boxes home, and each maybe contained 15-20 books. ~String **little do most people know, postage prices are determined by international agreement. Styles, box requirements and postage stamp designed all have to conform to international agreement.
The cost of mail attempts to deal with not just the handling of your own country but also the countries that you go through (Obviously there is also the potential for insuring items too). Airfreight can be more expensive than shipping, although it is direct (well more direct). Shipping can be cheaper but takes longer and can potentially end up being a little wayward in regards to how an item gets somewhere. (I mean a box could be placed on a ship to England, that's then freight transported to an aircraft and shifted over to Spain etc) Next year, just book the holiday to Spain and take the gifts with you Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Really? Just checked and today you can send a Large Box: 12" x 12" x 5 1/2" with a maximum weight 20 pounds from anywhere in the US to New Zealand for $53. Or to fit different size books you can send a 13 5/8" x 11 7/8" x 3 3/8" or 11" x 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", again with a maximum weight 20 pounds for $41. http://ircalc.usps.gov/Default.aspx?country=10324
1. My 42 cents for a stamp (or whatever it costs these days) is a pittance for the service they provide. And yes, postal workers work hard. 2. I have a brother in Florida who has a bunch of clothes for me. Everytime a family member visits him, they come back with a suitcase full of clothes for me. Shipping is quite expensive. 3. The bulk of my shipping is eBay stuff which the buyer pays for.
that's the way to do it. buy online and many companies ship internationally. most people don't need to buy locally and send anymore but some things they still do. there are some things that can't be bought online.
Agree I buy almost everything but groceries on line (and I buy specialty items like clotted cream and Tasso ham online), and I find that the cost of shipping items is LESS then the combined cost of driving to the store and the local sales tax (9%) So consider if I buy a pair of pants and a shirt from an online store for $100, vs going to the local mall (10 miles round trip) in which case driving costs are at least $.50 per mile and the tax would be $9 so the combined cost is $14 to buy it locally and shipping would be less than $10 (and a lot of times I get free or much lower shipping by buying carefully). Arthur
