Thread: Shipping from the US — should I use UPS?

Ian, have never used UPS, but have used Fedex they are brilliant.

USPS Express are very quick, had a delivery yesterday which was sent from Florida on the 9th of May (could have been there the day before yesterday, but didn't go to my P Box then). Admittedly it was only a relatively small parcel (2.0mm nozzle and needle for my PorterCable HVLP spray gun), but I was suitably impressed. Normally takes longer from Sydney to here!

Ian,

I ordered some gear from Lee Valley a couple of weeks ago and used UPS. It arrived in less than a week and I was VERY happy . I am going to order from Lee Valley again but might try surface mail just to cut down on the cost and because I don't need what I am ordering in that much of a hurry.

Hi Ian

It depends on the size, I guess.

I try and use USPS Priority Mail® Flat Rate Envelope 6 - 10 Days
or Priority Mail® International 6 - 10 Days (for packages).

http://ircalc.usps.gov/default.aspx?...ngle&CID=10013

Regards from Perth

Derek

Questions to ask are whether there is tracking and whether there is insurance.

Ian, What's the UPS price?

I've used USPS 4 times in the last 6 months - all arrived in under 10 days.

Cheers

Have heard the UPS try to slug you with Custom Duty and won't release it till it's sorted

I don’t get it. I used Derek’s calculator. The prices for a 9lbs router plate are.

Global Express Guaranteed® 1 - 3 Days Calculate Calculate
Express Mail® International 3 - 5 Days $59.40 $54.65
Priority Mail® International 6 - 10 Days $52.40 $49.78
Priority Mail® Flat Rate Box 6 - 10 Days $37.00 $35.15

This is what I got for lee valley.

Shipping and handling charges for overseas orders are based on the destination country and the total weight of the order. To have the Veritas® Router Table Top (05J2001) shipped to Australia, the shipping options are:



Shipping Method Cost Shipping Time

EXPress Post $191.71 USD 8 to 10 business days

Surface delivery $90.95 USD 8 to 12 weeks

UPS Express delivery $127.13 USD 5 or 6 business days to all major centers

$60 vs $191. Am I missing something?

Thanks every one.
I've successively used USPS Surface or Express mail for previous orders.

This time UPS is only USD$15 more than surface mail but $35 LESS than Xpress Post. Historically the difference between UPS and Xpress mail has been only been a few dollars.

Originally Posted by BobL

Ian, What's the UPS price?

Bob
for this order, the shipping quotes are:
Surface Mail 8-12 Weeks $66.43
Xpress Post 6-10 Business Days $116.21
UPS Express 5-6 Days to Major Centers $81.24

Originally Posted by Bodgia

Ian,

I ordered some gear from Lee Valley a couple of weeks ago and used UPS. It arrived in less than a week and I was VERY happy .

so it looks like UPS have given up on the "there's a $200 Customs processing fee"


ian

Originally Posted by ian

so it looks like UPS have given up on the "there's a $200 Customs processing fee"

That's good.

Wongo: email the $%^&#@% and tell them the cost of shipping via the USPS Web Calculator is what you said and challenge them to provide an explanation for the inflated cost. There's probably insurance, handling and some more of those partridges in pear trees involved.

Interesting there no longer appears to be a surface mail option. Last December I shipped 39 lbs of stuff for USD$82 by surface mail. Looks like we got in just in time

Originally Posted by BobL

Interesting there no longer appears to be a surface mail option. Last December I shipped 39 lbs of stuff for USD$82 by surface mail. Looks like we got in just in time

Wow, I used the USPS shipping calculator about 3 weeks ago and surface was still there. Had a look now and its all changed.

That is a huge bummer that Economy Surface shipping is gone for getting heavier items to Aus, as it was always about a 1/3 of the cost of airmail.

OK, so after reading through the boards on the U.S. Ebay site, it appears there have been big wholesale changes at USPS on May 14th..

A lot of sellers are pretty pi$$ed that Economy Surface has been removed. It will shut down a certain percentage of international buyers as the new airmail costs are far more expensive.

"Apparently" USPS states that surface shipping only represented 2.7% of the total revenue and was not worth it for them...this is bull$*!t coming from a company with a turnover of US$68 billion in 2003.....

Don't know if UPS still charges their "customs brokerage" fees, but apparently they are now roughly the same price, if not cheaper. not happy, Jan!

I imported my Dewalt 744XP table saw from Mexico with UPS. It arrived here in the UK in perfect condition. I was able to use their online tracker and I new exactly where it was at any time. When it arrived in the UK and cleared customs they contacted me by phone asking if the label address was the one I wanted to use. They delivered it to home and the driver took it down to the shed and unpacked it to make sure it was not damaged in the box. That's what I call service.

Has anyone tried to reason with Mel from Lie-Nielsen? For example, they quote $48 for shipping a smooth plane, while the USPS web site quotes $43. After a dozen e-mails, she finally relented. Moreover, they only use USPS Express (EMS) because "we have lost many shipments using other less reliable methods"...this doesn't cut it for me, honestly, other "less reliable" methods work perfectly ok when I am buying other items from the USA. I would contact Lee Valley and ask them to match the costs off the USPS web site.

Originally Posted by Cinario

Has anyone tried to reason with Mel from Lie-Nielsen? For example, they quote $48 for shipping a smooth plane, while the USPS web site quotes $43. After a dozen e-mails, she finally relented. Moreover, they only use USPS Express (EMS) because "we have lost many shipments using other less reliable methods"...this doesn't cut it for me, honestly, other "less reliable" methods work perfectly ok when I am buying other items from the USA. I would contact Lee Valley and ask them to match the costs off the USPS web site.

you're a tough B, Cinario

so Lie Nielsen charge $5 to fill in the customs paper work — seems reasonable to me
much better than the alternative "we don't ship outside the US"


ian