It used to be that international media mail went by ship, which was the
reason it was so slow, but now all international mail is sent by air, which
raised the minimum rates.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dr. Cheryl Thurber" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 8:21 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] high cost of shipping to USA from rest of world
I am a seller on Amazon, (hfofstuff.) I quite frequently send things
internationally. I generally send CDs and DVDs first class, and books first
class whenever possible. There is now a priority bubble mailer for priority
mail that can be obtained by ordering them online from the post office. It
used to be more reasonable but it is now about $17 flat rate.
When I have international sales I refund any excess shipping charges that
Amazon automatically charges, this is particularly important for orders from
Canada, or Mexico, where the automatic rates are much higher than the actual
costs. I know that for many customers ordering from a seller such as myself
is much cheaper than the direct from Amazon rates.
Many years ago I used to auction 78s, and I too regret that there is no
longer international media rate coming from the US, but remember it was
incredibly slow. Some countries do seem to still have media rates, since I
have ordered things internationally myself, and it is still slow.
Cheryl Thurber
Dr. Cheryl Thurber
email: [log in to unmask]
--- On Mon, 4/16/12, Don Cox <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Don Cox <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] high cost of shipping to USA from rest of world
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Monday, April 16, 2012, 7:25 AM
On 16/04/2012, Thomas Stern wrote:
> The high costs of shipping a SINGLE item (e.g. a record, or video)
> from Europe or Asia to the USA is making it difficult to acquire
> material from outside the US unless multiple items can be purchased at
> the same time.
>
Even more so the other way. I have had to stop buying any second-hand
books from US dealers, because the mailing costs are typically more than
the price of the book itself.
> Has anyone found a way to overcome this problem?
>
> For instance, are there any "freight consolidators" who would be able
> to collect items from different sellers, then ship the accumulated
> material to the USA when a specified threshold has been reached?
>
> Any ideas welcome. Thanks.
> Best wishes, Thomas.
Regards
--
Don Cox
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