[Elecraft] OT: USPS mailing

[Mark Goldberg]

Actually, there are issues with USPS Priority Mail if you use Paypal and
sell to someone you don't know and hope to use the Seller Protections. If
you read the fine print, Paypal does not accept the proof of delivery
unless a specific signature is obtained, which is not available with
Priority Mail. I still use it, but there is a risk the buyer can claim they
did not receive the product and ask for a charge back from Paypal. I have
never had anything lost or any customer claim it was not received.

Once, a UK customer was not home and did not pay the Customs fee in time.
The box was dutifully sent back to me. I received it two months later and
reshipped it to the customer. About three months after the order, they
finally got it! Now I make sure they have the tracking number and remind
them when it gets to their country so they are looking for it.

Another time a clearly marked package to a foreign country got mistakenly
sent to a US post office because the automatic reader picked up part of the
address that looked like a zip code. I tracked that down with the help of a
small town postmaster and it finally made it to the destination.

So, I have had some "incidents" but eventually every package got to it's
destination.

On a big order I did not want to risk, I shipped via DHL. It was way more
expensive and they had some issues with customs too, but it finally arrived.

73,

Mark
W7MLG


On Wed, Jan 2, 2019 at 12:03 PM Victor Rosenthal 4X6GP <k2vco.vic at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 1. In the US, USPS priority mail is great. If you are sending something
> outside of the country it is out of USPS' control at the foreign
> airport. This is where the fun begins. In Israel, our postal service
> adds at least 2 weeks to get a package through customs, and you don't
> know where it is or what's going on for most of that time. Sometimes
> things get lost, and sometimes there are complications with customs. UPS
> does it in half a day without problems, but the cost can be
> astronomical. I bought a big Johnson Matchbox from a guy in MN. UPS
> charged more than $450 to ship it.
>
> 2. There is no good reason for Americans to not sell things to
> foreigners if the foreigner agrees to pay the actual shipping in advance
> by Paypal or bank transfer. All the risk is on the buyer. The only thing
> the American has to do is fill out a customs form when he sends it.
>
> 73,
> Victor, 4X6GP
> Rehovot, Israel
> Formerly K2VCO
> CWops no. 5
> http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
> On 02/01/2019 19:40, Rose wrote:
> > I've been making Elecraft cases and covers for eleven years.  All
> > of the hundreds I've made have been sent via USPS Priority Mail.
> > To date, not a single one has gone astray … a remarkable record.
> > I live "in the country" and have no mail delivery, so all of my USPS
> > business is transacted in town at the Post Office.
> >
> > I purchase task-specific sizes of cartons from U-Line. usually 50
> > at a time.  Cover orders are sent in padded envelopes, again
> > purchased specifically from U-Line for the task.
> >
> > The Post Office provides a delivery date on each Priority Mail
> > receipt, and these … so far … have proved highly accurate.  Priority
> > mail will reach anywhere in the US within a maximum of three days.
> > An exception … an order to Turkey took -five- days! (:-)
> >
> > I will -not- use any other service.  Fed-Ex is an awful organization,
> IMO.
> >
> > 88 !
> > Rose - N7HKW
> > ElecraftCovers at gmail.com
> > 1-406-560-3738
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