greychins
NWI Chinchillas
Just wondering people's thoughts on this and what other vendors do regarding out of country items. Here's what's been going on:
I can't say I've ever shipped a ton of items out of the country, but I used to ship things with reasonable frequency to Canada... and the postage would be more than to the U.S., but not a ton more. For example, it used to be, if it would cost $12 to the U.S., maybe it'd be $15 to Canada.
Boy has that changed since USPS has upped their prices earlier this year. Just recently I've had a few people from Canada ask about shipping things. First, I had someone ask about me shipping a cage with wooden shelves. I just recently shipped one out in the U.S. for $19, though usually it runs about $25 for farther U.S. destinations - I checked on Canada for this same item -- $85!!! Holy heck. So, I thought, well, it weighs ~25 pounds, and it's a big box, that could be why. But then I had someone ask about two hidey houses, so, we're talking a significantly smaller box, not even 8 pounds.... and shipping would be $45.
Needless to say, I'm sure I won't be having either of these people purchase these items for me, as the shipping would be considerably more than the cost of their items.
Just for kicks, I thought I'd check out how much it would cost me to ship a regular hidey house ~3-4 pounds, <12" box on all sides, and I came up with $27.35. Went back, adjusted a few things, and I learned, I can ship anything under a pound (<12" box) for ~$11. If I can get it under half a pound, it's "only" $9.15. If I could somehow manage to get a package that weighed 1 ounce to Canada, it would be ~$6.55. I can't even express how ridiculous I find this, considering last year shipping was only slightly higher.
So, anyway, sorry for the book -- here's my questions -- with the increased shipping prices, do you ("you" being other vendors selling items) no longer ship to other countries?
Is there a cheaper way to do it that I'm missing? I've checked with UPS and FedEx and their rates are even higher than USPS for these two packages that I've checked, so I don't know if I'm missing something, or if I should just be telling people that it's not realistic to ship anything out of country. Even a DVD flat rate box (which has to be tiny tiny) to Canada is $19.95.
Just wondering what other vendors have done in light of the changes in price that have come up with the new year.
I can't say I've ever shipped a ton of items out of the country, but I used to ship things with reasonable frequency to Canada... and the postage would be more than to the U.S., but not a ton more. For example, it used to be, if it would cost $12 to the U.S., maybe it'd be $15 to Canada.
Boy has that changed since USPS has upped their prices earlier this year. Just recently I've had a few people from Canada ask about shipping things. First, I had someone ask about me shipping a cage with wooden shelves. I just recently shipped one out in the U.S. for $19, though usually it runs about $25 for farther U.S. destinations - I checked on Canada for this same item -- $85!!! Holy heck. So, I thought, well, it weighs ~25 pounds, and it's a big box, that could be why. But then I had someone ask about two hidey houses, so, we're talking a significantly smaller box, not even 8 pounds.... and shipping would be $45.
Needless to say, I'm sure I won't be having either of these people purchase these items for me, as the shipping would be considerably more than the cost of their items.
Just for kicks, I thought I'd check out how much it would cost me to ship a regular hidey house ~3-4 pounds, <12" box on all sides, and I came up with $27.35. Went back, adjusted a few things, and I learned, I can ship anything under a pound (<12" box) for ~$11. If I can get it under half a pound, it's "only" $9.15. If I could somehow manage to get a package that weighed 1 ounce to Canada, it would be ~$6.55. I can't even express how ridiculous I find this, considering last year shipping was only slightly higher.
So, anyway, sorry for the book -- here's my questions -- with the increased shipping prices, do you ("you" being other vendors selling items) no longer ship to other countries?
Is there a cheaper way to do it that I'm missing? I've checked with UPS and FedEx and their rates are even higher than USPS for these two packages that I've checked, so I don't know if I'm missing something, or if I should just be telling people that it's not realistic to ship anything out of country. Even a DVD flat rate box (which has to be tiny tiny) to Canada is $19.95.
Just wondering what other vendors have done in light of the changes in price that have come up with the new year.