Shipping rates to go up for international

[moonsugar]

D: No way! Aw, this is terrible news... I live in Australia, so shipping fees are enough of a struggle as it already is.

[CupidStrikes]

CupidStrikes, there's still time! New rates go into effect around the 27th, I believe.

Sadly my friend works two jobs and is currently not well, so I'd rather pay more than badger her about it now I'm used to paying stupid rates of postage when I'm importing (or exporting...international post from here starts at like 6USD even for letters).

Edit: Bless her, she said she'd try to ship them on Saturday anyway Hope our postmen are nice to it; my last two things arrived very battered...

[Linnzy]

Oh dear god!

I better send out those two packages to my friends ASAP! 

[Dragonflitter]

I understand the frustration everyone is feeling, but I will gladly put up with an increase in shipping considering what we get with our country's postal service. The US postal service has routinely been a much better deal for us than those in other countries, more reliable and more affordable and more options for mailing, and I'll put up with a few extra bucks to keep it that way. (Of course I understand it's not perfect and 'reliable' isn't something some people would use to describe it, but compared to some other countries' postal services, it is.) In this age of instant online communication, the post office is not making enough money to stay afloat and keep in operation.

I live in a medium-sized rural town and we used to have two post offices for the area, one on each end of town, and recently they closed one of them and all the postal workers lost their jobs. It was sad, and frustrating for everyone.

For those of you curious, here's a page with a breakdown of the exact increases that will take place on the 27th. Scroll down a bit for the 'international' section.

http://www.stamps.com/usps/postage-rate-increase/

(One interesting thing they are adding is a 'forever stamp' for overseas, so now you can pay $1.10 for a single stamp and send a regular-sized letter anywhere in the world for one price. I think that's neat!)

[ponylady]

I whole-heartedly agree with you DF.

Also I want to point out that these major increases from what I have read are if your package is a 1lb or more.  I am not seeing anywhere about a dramatic increase for anything lower.  I am sure there is but it is not going to cost some outrageous price to ship a 4oz. pony. Those prices in that link are reflecting if your package weighs a 1lb.

[Fräulein_Kim]

Gosh.. that is bad. :<
I'm huge on importing stuff, so that's definitely a huge bummer.. (and reminding me that I'll have to save up for shipping some MH dolls I still want from the US coming out in february. Bleh. )
Then again, US postal rates were always the cheapest (except for china, maybe), so it was probably bound to happen.. still, bummer. And increasing it by 60% in one go is ridiculous.

[NoDivision]

all I know is that international price increases mean I won't be able to be open to international partners in swaps any more. In the past I've spend $30, $40, even over $50 to send packages to my swap partners. I'm sorry but I just cannot afford to spend $80 to ship a swap box.

[Vertefae]

Its not to awful, but EMS is already SO expensive. Oh well.

[Breyer600]

I checked the new rates on the USPS site itself and it looks like shipping a single 4 oz. pony to Europe is going to go from $5.34 to $9.45 

Here's the link to the complete new price lists (you have to open the spreadsheet files to see them): https://www.usps.com/new-prices.htm

(For the Price groups - Canada is 1, Mexico is 2, Europe is in 3 - 5, Australia is in 6 - 9.)

[FantasticFirefly]

Thank you Breyer600! I do like seeing that delivery confirmation will now be available to Canadians on first class package international. Perhaps more ebay sellers will start offering shipping to us. While I don't exactly like paying more (Canada Post is also getting service changes and rate increases as well) it's worth it in the end to keep a reliable service. I'd rather pay extra, then have our systems go broke and start losing mail left and right.

[Fräulein_Kim]

While I understand that they have to increase rates to keep the system up and running (inflation and all) - Why has it to be so much all at once? ;_;
German Postal Service increased their rates too this year, but only by .50-1.50€ and not like.. whopping 60-80%. ;o;

Oh well.. all the whining won't help I guess.. in the end we as internationals will have to stomach it.
If only the current conversion rate would be better, it would be half as bad.. *still swooning over the golden times around 2008/09 when the € was still worth something xD*

[ponylady]

Thanks Breyer!  I was all over USPS's site this morning and couldn't find that.  And I am usually pretty good about digging around. 

I always enjoy shipping to Canada FF so I am glad to hear they will be offering delivery confirmation too. It makes life a little easier.

[HawaiianRain]

Thanks Breyer!  I was all over USPS's site this morning and couldn't find that.  And I am usually pretty good about digging around. 

I always enjoy shipping to Canada FF so I am glad to hear they will be offering delivery confirmation too. It makes life a little easier.

Canada isn't bad for us Packages usually get their pretty fast as it is and shipping is pretty fair as far as being international goes.

[BarbedDragon]

Here's more I found on Etsy since I sell through there:

http://www.etsy.com/blog/news/2013/shipping-rates-update-for-sellers/

I spent most of my day changing shipping since anything else ordered would be shipped out after the price change takes effect. I actually do MORE INTL orders than domestic and I KNOW it's going to affect my sales. *very very sad face*

I am rushing to get my international out before Friday.

[teresat]

Wow. Those some of them are huge increases.

But International Standard Service will have *free* tracking and delivery information. That wasn't available before.

Also looks like International postage will be available for purchase online. And those prices will not increase as much with Commercial Base pricing.