Thread: Ridiculous postage charges. What's the worst you've had?

What gets expensive is delivery confirmation - depending on the country, the only way to get that is with express mail.

A few weeks ago I sent a package to Norway, it was around $50 IIRC.

I've shipped many straight razors to Australia for under $5. I mail first class. The buyer gets a "tracking" number that doesn't include real tracking, but does verify the package was placed in the mail. You sometimes see a few hops in tracking until it leaves the US, after which you are blind.

A priority box like this stuffed into an Express envelope like this! 41.85 insured for 695.00.

It doesn't need to go Priority, stanard airmail is fine n you don't need to unsure a $10 razor. The razors I sell on ebay or here, I'm prepared to wear the liability up to $100. That way, the buyer gets postage for about $11. Above $100 an I make the buyer pay for insurance.

I didn't read the OP well enough - yeah, I wouldn't go to the trouble of insurance and delivery confirmation for international shipping of a $10 razor.

Valuable packages though, are worth the expense to me.

I ship out roughly 40-50 packages a day. When I used to get overseas buyers i would charge extra because i had to sit there and fill out the customs forms and all that madness..i hate doing it. Now its all automatic for the most part so i dont hike up the rates.

Originally Posted by johnmrson

I'll make sure I check the envelope for the actual cost when it arrives.

This has been discussed before. I, like many others, charge more than raw postage.
The padded envelope costs a dollar and a half as well. A box 2 euros.
Add a half euro for the packaging chips / bubble wrap.
Add a percentage for the insurance.
Add a euro for driving to the mail center in the next village.

And suddenly (and with the insurance included) 20 or 25 dollars is a very reasonable price.
Especially concerning the insurance. Many people ship things and then leave unsaid who is taking the risk.
I don't. If you buy something from me, you either agree to take the risk for all shipping related risk, or you pay for insurance.

EDIT: I just noticed I didn't include shipping registration and confirmation.
Without the first, your package goes in the open mail room instead of in secured bag that is secure till the destination. Without the latter, the package is just shoved in the mailbox, left on the porch, or just dropped off somewhere in the vicinity of the mailbox (or the lobby of the apartment building)

I just checked the web site, the cost for a small box is showing as $39.97 CDN for a padded envelope $7.40. The seller might not want to take a chance it won't get broken in an envelope. Maybe I did something wrong, but if so, the seller may have made the same mistake. Shipping with Canada Post is insane, I can get something from the UK for much less then it costs to ship from only a few hundred kilometers away.

EDIT: Bruno makes an excellent point.The cost for a registered and signed for envelope is $27+

I receive approx. 200 parcels per year. Always trying to use most economic ways of delivery. Yes, one or two parcels get lost annually, that is approx. a sum of 80-100$. Which is partly shared with sellers, with those who know me for years. This loss is much smaller than annual additional payments to Posts of different countries for more reliable delivery.

It's not the actual cost of the mailing that's causing the problem it congress trying to limit govt by putting the Post Office into the hands of private business. If you check, during the previous administration a bill was passed forcing the Postal Service to have 'all' of it's employee benefits funded for the next ~25 + years by 2014. No other agency or business in the US is required to do this. To accomplish the requirements of the bill the Postal Service has to raise rates, cut services and close offices. Basically give 'Bad' service so it's standards are lower to that of private carriers. Nice.