Go To Great Panes

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2009

Visit our Etsy shop: GoTo

Here’s a handy little shipping zones tool from USPS:

http://postcalc.usps.gov/ZoneCharts/Default.aspx

Visit our Etsy shop: GoToSupplies

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2009

Postal Rates Going Up–May 11

A little reminder that the rate for First Class Mail is going up 5 cents May 11, 2009 but…

it only goes up for the first ounce. The additional ounces rate stays the same so a 1 oz package will only be 5 cents more than it was before the change, and a 6 oz package will only be 5 cents more than it was before the change. Not so bad!

Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services & Extra Services are also going up. There’s a little info here about how the rates have changed:

http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2009/pricingfactsheet2009.htm

See this page for full details:

http://www.usps.com/prices/pricechanges.htm?from=prices&page=NewMay09Prices

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2009


Do I need a customs form?

I’ve heard this question many times unfortunately the answer folks get is rarely accurate. The misunderstandings are sometimes perpetuated by postal clerks, so going to the post office for answers is not always more helpful than asking in the forums.

The short answer is:

It doesn’t matter:
• how light or heavy it is,
• how big or small,
• if it is a gift or something you sold.

If there is something that might require either duty or taxes (like sales tax) to be paid on it, it needs a form. Personally, I don’t know which goods are charged tax in different countries, so all our packages get forms. Plus it can speed the way through customs if a package does get stopped (and an enclosure with the price will help too).

You can see that answer directly on the US Postal Service website and be confident you have the right answer–the key is not to just look at the chart, but also the fine print below it:

The fine print:

In both of the above options, the important point is about “potentially dutiable contents”–if it has any, then it should have a customs form.

The page has chart that tells you which customs form you need based on:

• type of mail service you are using (First Class International, Priority Mail International, etc.), and
• the declared value of the items in the package (this doesn’t include postage–so don’t add that in).

If you are having trouble seeing where it says you need a customs form, these images have those parts highlighted in yellow for First Class International and Priority Mail International:

First Class International

Priority Mail International

So the only packages that can travel internationally without a customs form are shipped First Class International and are either:

• Under 16 oz and have no potentially dutiable contents,
• Over 16 oz, have no potentially dutiable contents and are shipped via ‘known mailer”.

If you are looking to print First Class International labels without a paid subscription service, check out the following post–the customs form gets printed right on the label automatically too:

The new USPS small flat rate boxes are available! Order a set of 10 or 25, and they’ll be delivered to your door free!

Size:
5-3/8” x 8-5/8” x 1-5/8”

Cost to ship in the US:
$4.95 At the PO
$4.80 Online

Shipping internationally:
$10.95 Zones 1 & 2 (Canada & Mexico)
$12.95 To the rest of the world

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2008

Shipping is going up for certain services on January 18, 2009.

First Class will be staying the same for the time being, the new rates can be seen here:

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2008

Have you considered getting a post office box to protect your personal information? The USPS website now has a search engine that allows you to find information about local post office box sizes, availability and pricing:

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2008

Need to know what the USPS holiday shipping deadlines are?

Checkout this page from their website–keep in mind they don’t make guarantees for First Class or Priority Mail!

When the FAQ page loads, click “2008 Holiday Shipping Deadlines” from the hot topic list on the right:

If you have a Paypal account and a scale, you can take advantage of Paypal’s shipping label service:

1. Log in to Paypal, you’ll be on the “My Account Overview” page.

2. Click the “Profile” link to go to the Profile Summary page.

3. Under “Selling Preferences”, click on “Shipping Preferences”.

4. There you can select your default shipping carrier and opt to display the ship button next to transactions on the “My Account” page. Save each of your changes.

5. Now go back to the “My Account Overview” page. You should see a column that is labeled “Order status/Actions”. A drop down menu for printing shipping labels should now appear for payments you’ve received (you also have the option of just adding tracking info or just marking a package as shipped). If you click the link and ship the package through it, the ship button will change to say Shipped, Track. Clicking “Track” will take you to the tracking page for the service you sent the package through.

Important Notes:
• Every label you print through Paypal will get Delivery Confirmation automatically–you can’t opt out of it.
• Delivery Confirmation is free on Priority Mail packages, and discounted to 19¢ on First Class and Parcel Post.
• First Class Mail Envelopes/Packages with Delivery Confirmation must be at least 3/4 inch thick or in a rigid mailer (see here for rigid mailer info, section 9.2.2.c), or it will be bumped up to Priority Mail. (And it may arrive “postage due” for the amount between the price you paid and the rate for sending the package Priority Mail.)

You can even use Paypal shipping if your customer didn’t pay you using Paypal–see here:

Getting a Handle on International Shipping

We struggled with setting prices for international shipping, but after some research we came up with this plan:

• United States (on Etsy you’ll also need “United States Minor Outlying Islands”, shipping USPS the rates are the same as zone 8 shipping)
• Canada
• Mexico
• Everywhere Else

A lot of that decision was based on this info, looking at shipping via international first class:

Size:
• Packages up to 4 pounds
• No more than 24 inches long
• No more than 36 inches in combined length, height, and depth
• At least large enough to accommodate the postage, address, customs form, and other required elements on the address side.

Source: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immc2_021.htm#ep2086946

Country Listing:
http://pe.usps.gov/text/pub51/pub51cl.htm

I took a look at that list, exported it into Excel and sorted by country. That told me that Canada and Mexico were the only countries in zones 1 & 2 (respectively). All other countries are in zones 3 through 9. Then I noticed on this chart:

First-Class Mail International:
http://www.usps.com/prices/first-class-mail-international-prices.htm

that up to 8 oz, rate zones 3 through 9 were the same.
Over 8 oz, I saw they were pretty similar too, with usually less than $1.00 difference with zone 3 having the highest rates. Since there are so many countries in zones 3 through 9, I just lump them together and charge based on zone 3 rates. That way we’re never shorting ourselves on shipping charges, and the over-charge on packages heavier than 8 oz won’t be much.

Now that you have a feel for the international shipping zones, you can use the USPS website’s shipping calculator to estimate your shipping costs:

Postage Price Calculator
http://ircalc.usps.gov

If you don’t have a scale to weigh your packages you can take them to the PO and get weights for items that you’ll typically ship, but a scale is really worth its weight in gold for the convenience of printing out shipping labels (through Paypal Shipping, USPS Shipping Assistant, or other services from home).

Need to insure your International First Class package?

USPS doesn’t offer insurance for this service but you can insure through third-party insurers for less than USPS charges for domestic packages. See the “Shipping Insurance” post on the main Shipping page of this blog–link on the right in gold under “Pages”, or click here:

http://www.gotogreatpanes.com/blog/shipping

Print First-Class Mail®  Labels for both Domestic and International Packages

If you like printing your shipping labels from your computer and want the option to ship to buyers via First-Class Mail®–either Domestic or International–without a subscription to a postage service or using Paypal, the USPS Shipping Assistant can help.

It is a small program that you download from the USPS website, and it allows you to print labels for both domestic and international shipments. You can ship First Class, Priority Mail or any other service the USPS offers with labels generated through this program. It’s free and easy to use.

What’s the catch?

You can’t pay for postage with it (unless you have a subscription postage service). You just affix postage stamps to the package in addition to the label. When I am at the post office, I pick up some stamps of varying values to cover the bases–75¢, 41¢, 26¢, 4¢, 3¢, 2¢ and 1¢. I keep enough on-hand to make up postage for any combo I might need plus, I think it’s kind of fun to get a package with a fun mix of stamps on it.

Please note: All packages heavier than 13 ounces with postage stamps must be taken to the post office to be shipped.

Then why use it?

You get a nicely prited label for your package to help speed it through the system, the discounted electronic rate for Delivery Confirmation (19¢ for domestic First Class Mail and free for domestic Priority Mail), discounted international mail rates and discounted signature confirmation.

Shipping internationally?

The Shipping Assistant even prints the customs form right on the label for you–it asks for the information as you fill out the label details, and prints out ready to ship–except for the postage, of course!

USPS Shipping Assistant:

Download it here: http://www.usps.com/shippingassistant

USPS Rates & Fees: http://pe.usps.gov/text/dmm300/ratesandfees.htm

The only minus for me is that the program only keeps records of shipments for three months, just like when you print through the USPS® Click-N-Ship® system. It would be great if it kept them for a full year, or gave you the choice of how long to keep the records.