International Shipping and Tracking Numbers
Today, I mailed out my first international tea swap. I had to mail it without a tracking number because I was informed it was going to cost a lot of money for one. My question is, was the post man wrong about this? Should a tracking number have cost something like $35 or $50 to ship with. The post man indicated I could not even get a tracking number if I shipped the package priority mail. Now I know that even cheap shipments from China come with tracking. How is it that I couldn’t get one for the package I was sending?
Depends on the country of origin and the destination. Canada Post lets you get tracking on certain types of parcels to certain countries. It’s not just a fee they add on to the cost, you have to buy a certain type of shipping (xpress vs priority vs small packet vs air vs ground vs teleportation). I think that is similar to USPS and courier companies. Typically you will pay a substantial amount more.
No… I’ve never heard of paying $35 to $50 to ship with a tracking number. I ship a lot of international packages that weigh less than 1 lb., especially to countries in Latin America and Scandinavia. I use USPS International First Class with a tracking number, and I’ve never shipped anything that cost more than $12 total in shipping.
you get a tracing no. here in the Netherlands when you ship via parcel service service, and no way does it cost around 35 USD. That is an ridiculous amount. However, if may have referred to International REGISTERED INT. MAIL, i.e. international signed for, priority mail and insurance.
Shipping does cost a lot more here in the EU than in the US and elsewhere, but no way would it be around 35 USD.
When i sent some packages to Canada the lady said i have to pay $17 for tracking. To ship the package was like $9. obviously i didnt get the tracking and decided to gamble lol. It got there very quickly like 3 days to Quebec
I took a gamble on this package as well, I wasn’t going to pay that kind of money for a tracking number. He basically said I would have to express it to get a tracking number. Maybe it is because it was going to Singapore?
How much did it weigh? I sent a package to Singapore that weighed about 8 oz. in January, and it cost around $12. I had a tracking number. I don’t think that postal worker was right.
Dimensions matter more than weight, but I am surprised you could send to Singapore for $12. Though if the dimensions were small enough, I guess that’s fair. I sent tea to my friend in Korea and in a small box it would have been ~$50. When I got it in a padded envelope I got it down to $17. Same weight, same contents, but slimmer package. No tracking though.
I sold something on Ebay once to someone in a foreign country and really don’t recommend it. I had what I thought was a tracking number, but they told me that it was just a customs number, and may or may not show them status of the shipment.
I have gotten tracking numbers for first class international shipments. However, I use commercial pricing (over etsy and paypal – if you have a paypal account and a printer, shipping labels are commercial rate and cheaper) but most of the time tracking stops once it leaves the US. I’m guessing all hell breaks loose as the package exchanges hands with a new carrier.
Stuff I sent to Canada I can see arrived on tracking, but a Tea Owl I sent to Sweden said it’s still in transit, and I have photo evidence the Tea Owl is in Sweden drinking all the tea over a month ago.
First Class International is the cheapest route and the parcel must be 4 pounds or under in weight. The “number” you get is not a tracking number, it is a number for customs for the record of postal inspection. There are NO tracking services connected to First Class International. If your Postmaster knows you, as mine does, and isn’t busy, he may be able to use the number to check when package left the country. You can buy extra insurance for First Class which then gives you tracking.
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