Massive US International shipping rate increase

[imironmann]

Just wondering if anyone else in the U.S. has noticed the INSANE increase in the cost of international shipping?

I just got home from the post office to ship 3 boxes.

One steelbook within the U.S. just cost me $3.43 to ship to Texas.

One steelbook shipped to The Netherlands just cost me $14.90.

Each steelbook packed and ready to ship weighed about 10 ounces.

I have a collectors edition strategy guide book I was supposed to be shipping to the UK but I didn't ship it (sorry rapidly-greying):sorry: because they wanted $27.63 for shipping. The book all packed up and ready to ship weighed just over 2lbs.:sick:

I currently have a trade thread open but due to these shipping costs I don't think I'm going to be able to trade outside of the US. Unless the person trading with me can somehow make up the difference by either covering the shipping cost or trading something along the lines of 2 steelbooks for 1. I don't see that happening on equal valued items.

Anyone have any thoughts or maybe know if UPS or Fedex has any cheaper services. I know this will affect many collectors.

[Murtera]

Just wondering if anyone else in the U.S. has noticed the INSANE increase in the cost of international shipping?

I just got home from the post office to ship 3 boxes.

One steelbook within the U.S. just cost me $3.43 to ship to Texas.

One steelbook shipped to The Netherlands just cost me $14.90.

Each steelbook packed and ready to ship weighed about 10 ounces.

I have a collectors edition strategy guide book I was supposed to be shipping to the UK but I didn't ship it (sorry rapidly-greying):sorry: because they wanted $27.63 for shipping. The book all packed up and ready to ship weighed just over 2lbs.:sick:

I currently have a trade thread open but due to these shipping costs I don't think I'm going to be able to trade outside of the US. Unless the person trading with me can somehow make up the difference by either covering the shipping cost or trading something along the lines of 2 steelbooks for 1. I don't see that happening on equal valued items.

Anyone have any thoughts or maybe know if UPS or Fedex has any cheaper services. I know this will affect many collectors.

Yeah, the changes on these suck. I actually work at eBay and this is a big concern with all the members.

They made the changes on Jan 27th. There us a lot of information on there site about the changes, but in some situations, international has gone up close to 100%. FedEx and UPS seem to have at least competitive rates compared to the new USPS changes but I'm not sure if it will really save you money. Only thing you can really do is check the prices online and compare.

I do agree that this is going to cause somewhat of an issue with collectors trying to get things out of the US.

[Cosmic_Link]

$3.43 for 1 steelbook in the US isn't such a bad price. It cost me about 3GBp just to ship a steelbook to Vhal! :banghead:

That was recorded though... However, recorded only adds 95p onto the price of standard post.

[imironmann]

I'm pretty sure this will have a big effect on more then just collectors. This is going to effect on all kinds of things.

[Thetof91]

I have a collectors edition strategy guide book I was supposed to be shipping to the UK but I didn't ship it (sorry rapidly-greying):sorry: because they wanted $27.63 for shipping. The book all packed up and ready to ship weighed just over 2lbs.:sick:


Still cheaper than if I had to ship something with that weigth to USA.. Will cost 47$ with tracking.. xD

[SwiftDeath]

Just wondering if anyone else in the U.S. has noticed the INSANE increase in the cost of international shipping?

I just got home from the post office to ship 3 boxes.

One steelbook within the U.S. just cost me $3.43 to ship to Texas.

One steelbook shipped to The Netherlands just cost me $14.90.

Each steelbook packed and ready to ship weighed about 10 ounces.

I have a collectors edition strategy guide book I was supposed to be shipping to the UK but I didn't ship it (sorry rapidly-greying):sorry: because they wanted $27.63 for shipping. The book all packed up and ready to ship weighed just over 2lbs.:sick:

I currently have a trade thread open but due to these shipping costs I don't think I'm going to be able to trade outside of the US. Unless the person trading with me can somehow make up the difference by either covering the shipping cost or trading something along the lines of 2 steelbooks for 1. I don't see that happening on equal valued items.

Anyone have any thoughts or maybe know if UPS or Fedex has any cheaper services. I know this will affect many collectors.

Yeah USPS is now as costly as Canada post. Really not very competitive imo which sucks. Plus to get tracking on First Class International you have to buy registered, which used to cost 11.75 but now costs 12.75 :swoon:

At this point it's probably going to be cheaper to send things via USPS Priority Mail International and just do bigger trades

Sending around 8 lbs Priority anywhere in the world costs around 60 - 65 USD which is a reasonable price if you can make a deal for that much weight

Maybe try to get a couple deals in the works with British members and have 1 member disperse the goodies to everyone else?

Btw I was also trying to sell a CE guide a while back

http://collectorsedition.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9851

Shipping was 21 USD before the price hike and that guide weighed over 2lbs as well so at least a 6 USD hike I would say

[xpl0sive]

I've noticed this as well. Pain in the ass for those of us who buy a lot from America. With the Aussie dollar being so strong against the American dollar, a lot of us are shopping overseas, but it doesn't seem so appealing now.

[MortalMonday]

It's tough now for sure. I just mailed a poster tube to Australia via express mail that would have normally been about $40 to $45, and it costs almost $70. :(

[xpl0sive]

Surely this can't be good for the US economy? They'll be losing a lot of business now from international customers. Great news for the local economy here in Australia though, as it means more people will spend their money here lol.

[imironmann]

It's just one more step in the inflation process. I believe that over time this will snowball throughout the rest of the world.

[Xmo]

Well USPS has been drastically changing. Two of my uncle works there and just a couple years ago, they starting putting GPS receivers on their mail carriers to track them. If they stay on a certain area for a long time they get written up and it puts them under pressure on there job. They said it used to be a fun job where they had enough break time to go chill.

[SwiftDeath]

The problem is that USPS is losing money like nobodies business

Last year they reported a loss of 16 Billion dollars :swoon:

http://www.wjla.com/blogs/capital-insider/2012/11/usps-keeps-losing-money-congress-weighs-action-17266.html

Most recently they've announced that they will no longer deliver First Class mail on saturdays

http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2013/02/07/how-the-usps-decision-to-stop-saturday-mail-delivery-will-affect-marketers/

Honestly I worry about the postal service. I think its run poorly personally but who am I to judge? :shrug:

[Dr_Jengo]

Bad news.. Bad news..

90% of my collection is shipped internationally. A large majority from US.. I'm screwed.. :facepalm:

[Ionotropic]

Unfortunately, I don't think the USPS can survive in the long-term unless the government intervenes.