What are your shipping costs?

[sixgill pete]

I just recently sent a box USPS Priority mail to Canada. it weighed 34 ounces if I remember correct. It had tracking. Took 13 days and cost me 24.95 USD. Ridiculous. I personally feel the reason prices are so high in the U.S. is because it is just another way they can tax us to death. There is absolutely no way it could cost even close to that to ship. But like @Wrangellian said, postal mail is almost non existent anymore other than bulk stuff ( circulars and bills ) so they have to make money somehow. But, UPS and FedEx are even more expensive.

[Max-fossils]

9 hours ago, 6ix said:

I know this isnt directly related, but I can never figure this out... I buy heaps of trinkets from China... I have no idea how it works... free shipping on something worth so little.

 

 

2 hours ago, sixgill pete said:

I just recently sent a box USPS Priority mail to Canada. it weighed 34 ounces if I remember correct. It had tracking. Took 13 days and cost me 24.95 USD. Ridiculous. I personally feel the reason prices are so high in the U.S. is because it is just another way they can tax us to death. There is absolutely no way it could cost even close to that to ship. But like @Wrangellian said, postal mail is almost non existent anymore other than bulk stuff ( circulars and bills ) so they have to make money somehow. But, UPS and FedEx are even more expensive.

Those are literally two worlds apart  And a USA-Canada package should, logically, cost a lot less than a China-New Zealand package, so I have no clue how these two prices relate. I recently got a package from the USA, took a good 2 weeks to get here, and I saw the sender paid 40$!  This is including Tracking, but still, that's insanely expensive.

 

Bad news though from this side of the pond: prices of the postage went up by approx 8%, just heard this today in the news. The prices weren't updated yet on PostNL, but I'll let people know what the updated prices are. Not great news for me! 

 

Talking about news, my condolences to all the victims and families of the inhumane attack today in Las Vegas...

[Malcolmt]

I just sent a 3/4 pound package from Canada to the USA and it was $12.

 

I just sent a 5 pound package to the USA and it was $42 (This would have been about $70 to Europe)

 

It gets a lot more expensive in Canada to ship anything over 2 kilograms. (4.4 pounds)

 

Those prices included a small business discount otherwise they would have been about 10% higher

[Nimravis]

8 hours ago, sixgill pete said:

I just recently sent a box USPS Priority mail to Canada. it weighed 34 ounces if I remember correct. It had tracking. Took 13 days and cost me 24.95 USD. Ridiculous. I personally feel the reason prices are so high in the U.S. is because it is just another way they can tax us to death. There is absolutely no way it could cost even close to that to ship. But like @Wrangellian said, postal mail is almost non existent anymore other than bulk stuff ( circulars and bills ) so they have to make money somehow. But, UPS and FedEx are even more expensive.

I agree with your comment in regards to USPS vs. UPS or FedEx. Last year I sent a medium size Priority box full of candy / snacks to a climber friend who was in South Africa for a month. The items only cost me about $30.00, but the shipping was $65.00. Unfortunately she never received the package and it came back to my house 6 months later. So it was a $90 total cost (items + shipping) for the box to travel around the world. The good thing is that I did not send it UPS or FedEx, when I checked the price to ship it with either courier, they wanted around $300.00.

[caldigger]

16 hours ago, 6ix said:

I know this isnt directly related, but I can never figure this out... I buy heaps of trinkets from China... I have no idea how it works... free shipping on something worth so little.

 

I too have noticed this. I can get something from China sent by what they call "Economy Mail" for hardly anything with free shipping included and get it to me in less time I can ship something across the state. No wonder our markets are flooded with made in China goods. I bought some ammonites from China and they were in Los Angeles the next day.  I want their mail service!

[Brett Breakin' Rocks]

40 minutes ago, caldigger said:

I too have noticed this. I can get something from China sent by what they call "Economy Mail" for hardly anything with free shipping included and get it to me in less time I can ship something across the state. No wonder our markets are flooded with made in China goods. I bought some ammonites from China and they were in Los Angeles the next day.  I want their mail service!

I'm curious if there are local distribution sites .. especially on the West coast that act as hubs to --drop-ship-- the items for 'Chinese' dealers. This would be the most cost-effective and easily set up arrangements.

 

Cheers,

B

[caldigger]

The stuff I have gotten is postmarked from China. I really don't see how they do it. I can get something for .50 cents have it shipped to me for free and I'm sure the packaging alone cost more than that.

[Nimravis]

32 minutes ago, caldigger said:

The stuff I have gotten is postmarked from China. I really don't see how they do it. I can get something for .50 cents have it shipped to me for free and I'm sure the packaging alone cost more than that.

I also agree Doren- my wife orders things from what I would consider the Chinese version of another large on-line entity, and she receives items post marked from China and the delivery is pretty quick and free.

[6ix]

About China - I read somewhere that they load things in bins - once they have enough bins fulled for a certain distribution area then send them out...

 

So in NZ I have had delivery in 5 days recently of some rock grinding disks for my grinder - that was a record, usually I give it a month - 45 days.  One item took 8 months LOL.

 

Heres an example of getting my engraver shipped from the US

[Max-fossils]

Thanks everyone for the replies! 

 

Seems like China is even better than the Netherlands (shipping-wise that is)! That's really crazy, how something of such little value can be shipped around the globe for free. And then, sending a small package a few km away costs a fortune... 

 

It's interesting to see how drastically shipping can change from one country to another!

[caldigger]

I have found the average cost of the packages I have sent overseas ( Europe, Asia) have been around $22-25 U.S. However, I just sent one to Nala in France and it set me back $50. for the same size package. Maybe depends on where in those countries it has to go.

[Kane]

On 2017-10-02 at 11:43 AM, sixgill pete said:

I just recently sent a box USPS Priority mail to Canada. it weighed 34 ounces if I remember correct. It had tracking. Took 13 days and cost me 24.95 USD. Ridiculous. I personally feel the reason prices are so high in the U.S. is because it is just another way they can tax us to death. There is absolutely no way it could cost even close to that to ship. But like @Wrangellian said, postal mail is almost non existent anymore other than bulk stuff ( circulars and bills ) so they have to make money somehow. But, UPS and FedEx are even more expensive.

The question about taxes is a little more nuanced. Revenue allocations and operating costs for state-run industries is very important here. What is it like in the US? Up here our system is a crown corp, but with arm's length boards.

[Wrangellian]

On 10/3/2017 at 5:49 PM, caldigger said:

I have found the average cost of the packages I have sent overseas ( Europe, Asia) have been around $22-25 U.S. However, I just sent one to Nala in France and it set me back $50. for the same size package. Maybe depends on where in those countries it has to go.

There could be something to this - when I sent a package to Monica in Mississauga ON, the clerk told me that the cost would depend on where in ON it goes to - even where in Mississauga! He looked up the postal code on the computer and said "yep, that's a good destination", so it wasn't expensive. I had no idea there were 'good' and 'bad' destinations other than in a broad sense based on distance (eg. a nearby town vs. the opposite end of the country).

[Max-fossils]

On 10/4/2017 at 2:49 AM, caldigger said:

I have found the average cost of the packages I have sent overseas ( Europe, Asia) have been around $22-25 U.S. However, I just sent one to Nala in France and it set me back $50. for the same size package. Maybe depends on where in those countries it has to go.

That's horribly expensive! My average cost is 4 euros per package (international that is). Sometimes I have to pay 6,70, and once I had to pay 11 euros to send a package to Portugal. I nearly always send big envelopes and stuff those with fossils; greatly reduces shipping costs (the 11 euro package was a parcel, which is why it cost me more). I also never add signing or Track & Code to my package in order to keep the costs down.

5 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

There could be something to this - when I sent a package to Monica in Mississauga ON, the clerk told me that the cost would depend on where in ON it goes to - even where in Mississauga! He looked up the postal code on the computer and said "yep, that's a good destination", so it wasn't expensive. I had no idea there were 'good' and 'bad' destinations other than in a broad sense based on distance (eg. a nearby town vs. the opposite end of the country).

Very weird... 

[Kane]

10 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

There could be something to this - when I sent a package to Monica in Mississauga ON, the clerk told me that the cost would depend on where in ON it goes to - even where in Mississauga! He looked up the postal code on the computer and said "yep, that's a good destination", so it wasn't expensive. I had no idea there were 'good' and 'bad' destinations other than in a broad sense based on distance (eg. a nearby town vs. the opposite end of the country).

It might be a function of taking advantage of an economy of scale here. There will be a higher volume of mail passing through the larger distribution and sorting centres, so I would assume that the larger hubs for inbound/outbound mail (or mail passing through to other sorting facilities) would be near the larger city centres, and that somehow minimizes cost per piece. There is some kind of method to the madness, some kind of complicated logistics formula  

 

If you've ever watched a tracked package, it isn't always a direct route. I've had packages come within a few 100 km of me midway through its journey only to suddenly go to the west coast, and then back again. 

 

Direct routes for parcel delivery in one's own town/city can also be strangely convoluted. If, let's say UPS' local distribution centre is near your home, you would think it would be the first parcel delivered. Not so. But there is a reason: UPS, for example, has experimented with delivery logistics for increasing efficiency, and found that delivery was faster if the vehicles reduced the number of left turns they make on their route. Strange, but true! 

[Max-fossils]

2 hours ago, Kane said:

It might be a function of taking advantage of an economy of scale here. There will be a higher volume of mail passing through the larger distribution and sorting centres, so I would assume that the larger hubs for inbound/outbound mail (or mail passing through to other sorting facilities) would be near the larger city centres, and that somehow minimizes cost per piece. There is some kind of method to the madness, some kind of complicated logistics formula  

 

If you've ever watched a tracked package, it isn't always a direct route. I've had packages come within a few 100 km of me midway through its journey only to suddenly go to the west coast, and then back again. 

 

Direct routes for parcel delivery in one's own town/city can also be strangely convoluted. If, let's say UPS' local distribution centre is near your home, you would think it would be the first parcel delivered. Not so. But there is a reason: UPS, for example, has experimented with delivery logistics for increasing efficiency, and found that delivery was faster if the vehicles reduced the number of left turns they make on their route. Strange, but true! 

In the Netherlands it's very 'standard'. Sending an envelope of the same weight within the NL will always be the same, regardless of where in the NL it is, and an envelope (of the same weight) internationally will always be the same, regardless of the country. Then for parcels, sending it within the EU will always remain the same, and all the other non-EU countries cost the same. It's interesting to see how different countries can handle shipping prices very differently.

[Wrangellian]

21 hours ago, Kane said:

It might be a function of taking advantage of an economy of scale here. There will be a higher volume of mail passing through the larger distribution and sorting centres, so I would assume that the larger hubs for inbound/outbound mail (or mail passing through to other sorting facilities) would be near the larger city centres, and that somehow minimizes cost per piece. There is some kind of method to the madness, some kind of complicated logistics formula  

 

If you've ever watched a tracked package, it isn't always a direct route. I've had packages come within a few 100 km of me midway through its journey only to suddenly go to the west coast, and then back again. 

 

Direct routes for parcel delivery in one's own town/city can also be strangely convoluted. If, let's say UPS' local distribution centre is near your home, you would think it would be the first parcel delivered. Not so. But there is a reason: UPS, for example, has experimented with delivery logistics for increasing efficiency, and found that delivery was faster if the vehicles reduced the number of left turns they make on their route. Strange, but true! 

I guess it's something like that. I recall something about a computer program that computes the best route thru a town that a courier uses to deliver packages, and that the route isn't always what you'd think it would be. But going to the West Coast and back doesn't seem very economical, considering they're charging based on your package's size/weight vs. their cost in space and gas.

I don't know why they can't somehow subsidize the few remote deliveries using proceeds from the much more frequent urban-to-urban deliveries, to even out the costs like the NL apparently does. If they can use computer programs to penalize people for unwittingly living in the wrong postal code (even within a city!), then they can use computers to even things out some, so that we aren't surprised by unpredictable costs!

[Kane]

1 hour ago, Wrangellian said:

 

I don't know why they can't somehow subsidize the few remote deliveries using proceeds from the much more frequent urban-to-urban deliveries, to even out the costs like the NL apparently does. 

Absolutely! That's one of the points I've been trying to flesh out in a policy paper I've been tinkering with in light of recent census data. Higher rates for more remote (i.e., rural) areas actually may exacerbate the rural-urban divide. Simply put, efforts at youth retention and attraction to smaller communities is ever more challenging due to lack of employment, and any efforts to create a digital based startup that relies on shipping products is severely hampered by higher shipping costs. These two issues are more closely related than one might think (add in there differential rates for hydro delivery as well). Not everyone can or even should move to the urban areas. 

[FossilDAWG]

US postal rates are high, at least in large part, because 1) costs have to be recouped in full from postal charges as (by law) the service is not subsidized at all from the US treasury, and 2) the post office must pre-pay all their pension obligations, also by law.  What the latter means is that as each employee accumulates time on the job, and so is entitled to pension benefits when they retire, the post office must set aside enough money right now to cover the employee's earned pension benefits.  See this link for more details.  This is very different from private businesses, which are allowed to assume they will be able to pay pensions from revenues collected in the future, at the time the employee is actually drawing their pension.  Of course this means that when the employee retire, the company may not have the revenue to pay the pension, or the company could go bankrupt in which case the employee's pension disappears.

 

In contrast, in most other countries the post office is considered to be a basic service the government is obligated to provide, and so the cost is subsidized from tax revenues.

 

Don

[Max-fossils]

Don, that's some very valuable and enlightening info! I'm pretty sure that PostNL (which I think is the only postal company of the Netherlands) is "sponsored" by the state. Which is what allows them to then have lower shipping prices, according to what you just explained. 

[Wrangellian]

11 hours ago, Kane said:

Absolutely! That's one of the points I've been trying to flesh out in a policy paper I've been tinkering with in light of recent census data. Higher rates for more remote (i.e., rural) areas actually may exacerbate the rural-urban divide. Simply put, efforts at youth retention and attraction to smaller communities is ever more challenging due to lack of employment, and any efforts to create a digital based startup that relies on shipping products is severely hampered by higher shipping costs. These two issues are more closely related than one might think (add in there differential rates for hydro delivery as well). Not everyone can or even should move to the urban areas. 

Agreed, 100%, having watched most of the people I knew in my age group move away to one city or the other, to be replaced by retirees. Godspeed on the policy paper!

 

[Adam86cucv]

I just saw that USPS rates are going to go up roughly 5%.