US postage costs

[airfireman1]

Can someone tell me if the US Postal service is trying to clear Americas national debt in the shortest time possible or is it just companies using rediculous postage quotes?. An example is posting 2 DeLorean bell cranks to Western Australia along with some copper washers and a window felt strip. From a reputable DeLorean Retailer. Parts cost is around $85.00 shipping cost quoted at $132.00.
That's just ripping people off. The parcel would be quite small and not weigh much at all.
Rant finished.

[Michael]

Overseas shipping is absolutely outrageous with USPS. A small 7oz (auto trans filter) is almost 20 bucks to ship internationally (and it can easily go higher but it's still the cheapest way to go). Many years ago I used to piggyback on my employer's account which was much cheaper but these days I'm out in the cold.

What really will get you is here you have an organization whose property, buildings, vehicles, and staff costs are all subsidized for them and they still have a hard time staying in the black, yet UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. have to cover all their costs upfront and they are doing just fine.

[airfireman1]

Yes I agree, I can get Delorean parts delivered to Australia from the UK for a third the price and DeloreanGO deliver for free on orders over $150 Au. its just a pity they don't stock all the parts I want.
Postage costs have priced me out of buying parts from America unless i can get a better deal.

[mluder]

Not so fast... the USPS gets about 1% of its annual budget from the government and most of that contribution goes to health benefits for employees. The cost of postage and stamps completely fund its operations. And while its fees for out of country shipping are higher than UPS or FedEX they are way less expensive inside the US.

Cheers
Steven

[DeLoreanGo Arran]

and DeloreanGO ...... its just a pity they don't stock all the parts I want.

We have about 600 items/part numbers (at the moment) that aren't currently listed - the site is an ever-changing work-in-progress. It will get better over the summer as time allows. If there is ever anything you can't find, just press the contact button and email a list and I will list it up, or send an apologetic email saying we don't have it :)

[Jonathan]

Yes I agree, I can get Delorean parts delivered to Australia from the UK for a third the price and DeloreanGO deliver for free on orders over $150 Au. its just a pity they don't stock all the parts I want.
Postage costs have priced me out of buying parts from America unless i can get a better deal.

Between that and the exchange rate on the dollar, I'm afraid it's the same getting parts shipped to Canada. +1 on the free shipping with DeLoreanGO on orders over $150 CAD.

I've also noticed how much better the rates are between States when not shipping out of country. Those "if it fits, it ships" flat rate boxes would be 5x the cost if trying to send it across the border.

[Chris 16409]

Can someone tell me if the US Postal service is trying to clear Americas national debt in the shortest time possible or is it just companies using rediculous postage quotes?. An example is posting 2 DeLorean bell cranks to Western Australia along with some copper washers and a window felt strip. From a reputable DeLorean Retailer. Parts cost is around $85.00 shipping cost quoted at $132.00.
That's just ripping people off. The parcel would be quite small and not weigh much at all.
Rant finished.

Have you checked with Ed Uding at DMC Europe. His shipping prices are fair. He pretty much has everything. I've been using him lately. I get my order in about 3-4 days all the way from the Netherlands! He really is good with order fulfillment.

[David T]

Have you checked with Ed Uding at DMC Europe. His shipping prices are fair. He pretty much has everything. I've been using him lately. I get my order in about 3-4 days all the way from the Netherlands! He really is good with order fulfillment.

Another way to reduce shipping costs is to buy from a vendor that brings in larger quantities and can spread the shipping costs among them resulting in lower costs. Get some prices from PJ Grady, he gets a lot of parts from the UK.

[Dangermouse]

AF - try and get it requoted without the window felt. Any box over 12" seems to get charged an extra fee for "oversize" and the window felt is perhaps in a large box to stop it creasing.

[cdrusn]

I feel your pain. Shipping to Hawaii using anything but USPS flat rate is outrageous. I wanted to order several small parts from DMC Texas, probably a large envelope worth and because they only ship UPS the ground rate for the $53 worth of parts would be $37! Why can't the shipping department also ship USPS, they provide the box and also pickup. :race:

[Chris 16409]

I feel your pain. Shipping to Hawaii using anything but USPS flat rate is outrageous. I wanted to order several small parts from DMC Texas, probably a large envelope worth and because they only ship UPS the ground rate for the $53 worth of parts would be $37! Why can't the shipping department also ship USPS, they provide the box and also pickup. :race:

All you have to do is phone in your order and ask them to ship USPS. They can mail it first class mail if the parts are light enough. The website generates shipping charges automatically and generally doesn't make sense for small less expensive items.

[Nicholas R]

There are also major differences when you hit different weight thresholds. I believe 4lbs is one of the big ones. When I was living in China, a care package of one size that weighed 3lbs 15oz would cost about $16 to ship to me, where the same box weighing 4lbs 1oz cost roughly 60$ to ship to me. We learned pretty quickly that it was far cheaper to split up packages to ensure no package broke the 4lb limit.

[Bitsyncmaster]

For you guys over the boarder, shipping USPS first class mail to the lower 48 states cost me $2.65 for an RPM relay. Shipping that same package over the boarder cost me $9 to $13 first class mail. We are limited on package weight first class mail in the US to 13 oz. The weight limit goes up to 3 lbs for first class mail over the boarder (for some reason).

Priority mail over the boarder cost about 2 to 3 times the cost and maybe arrives one day earlier than first class mail.

Express mail really bumps the cost but does speed up shipping.