How are you shipping postcards internationally with the new USPS requirements?

This topic has 9 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 2 months ago by imjosh.

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- 01/30/2018 at 10:40 am #31636
  almasty
  Participant
  Location:
  @alamasty
  I just went to ship a postcard with the new USPS regulations, and an error came up on my screen that I could not ship documents with a “value” attributed to them. I used to use USPS First Class Mail International, Large Envelopes to ship them. If you click “documents” as opposed to “merchandise,” it states that you cannot ship documents with an assigned value to them.
  
  Any clue on how we are supposed to ship thin, small paper items oversea nows? The only other option I could see was First Class International Package rate for $12. I only charged $3.50 to ship this postcard. 🙁
  - This topic was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by almasty.
- 01/30/2018 at 2:44 pm #31649
  Jay
  Keymaster
  Location: Virginia
  @jay
  I thought that was a bug that was fixed? Is there a link to this new shipping change?
  - 01/30/2018 at 2:57 pm #31654
    almasty
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @alamasty
    Yeah, found it on stamps.com
    
    http://blog.stamps.com/2017/12/26/important-usps-making-changes-first-class-mail-international-flats/
    
    This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by almasty.
    - 01/30/2018 at 3:06 pm #31657
      Jay
      Keymaster
      
      Location: Virginia
      @jay
      
      Huh, there you go. How much more is it to send a postcard now?
      - 01/30/2018 at 3:29 pm #31659
        
        almasty
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @alamasty
        
        From what I can tell, $12.50 via package rate. I wouldn’t want to risk sending it as a document at a lower rate.
        
        I was hoping Ebay sould have some sort of special shipping rate like that stamp.com “Global Ambassador” program.
- 01/30/2018 at 2:50 pm #31651
  Ryanne
  Keymaster
  Location: Virginia
  @ryanne
  i hate to ask, did you call ebay?
- 01/30/2018 at 2:55 pm #31653
  almasty
  Participant
  Location:
  @alamasty
  I don’t use Ebay shipping. I was actually hoping there was a workaround through Ebay shipping for this problem.
  
  I use Endicia, and from what I can tell there is no way to ship this way anymore through their program.
- 01/31/2018 at 10:52 am #31697
  almasty
  Participant
  Location:
  @alamasty
  Just tried to use Ebay shipping for the first time ever. This is the rate they offered me to ship a flat via the package rate:
  
  Postage cost: $13.75
  Your eBay Discount (5%): -$0.69
  Total:$13.06
  
  Looks like I’ll have to refund the customer and take off the international shipping option for smalls like postcards.
- 01/31/2018 at 10:57 am #31698
  almasty
  Participant
  Location:
  @alamasty
  Just went in and bulk edited all of my smalls that used to ship internationally for $3.50 to no international shipping. Luckily, they only accounted for 550 out of nearly 9,000 listings. The rest can still ship via First Class International Package rate for at least $12.50 Customers are willing to pay that for larger items. Postcards? No. 🙁
- 02/01/2018 at 1:17 pm #31856
  imjosh
  Participant
  Location: Virginia
  @imjosh
  It’s not a bug and not specific to eBay. It was a recent USPS rule change to comply with the international postal union rules. International mail (letters and flats/large envelopes) can no longer be used to ship merchandise, or anything else, other than valueless documents. The minimum cost for FCI package is around $11, so that is a bummer for people selling low-cost, smaller, flatter items that could have been shipped FCI large envelope for a couple bucks.
  
  eBay did have a related problem when they tried to implement that rule because their back-end system had no way to distinguish from international first class mail vs packages.
  
  Stamps.com has a new program, I think it’s basically like GSP where they forward the item for you, that somehow will get you much better rates on international flats. It may be worth looking into if a lot of your business is international sales of things like postcards.
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