Clover Zippo and Air Mail
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 9:57 pm
The following information is only for you guys who are not located in the USA and who are interested in any of my lighters.
Until now I have been shipping Zippos with USPS First Class International (Air Mail) with good results. For the first time an international shipment has not arrived after three weeks and is presumed lost. While I will refund the total amount for lighter and shipping to the buyer, I will not anymore ship internationally with essentially untrackable and totally uninsurable Air Mail. The custom form label number allows you to check when an item was mailed and when it has cleared customs at the destination. That is just not sufficient tracking for international mail.
In order to track and insure International Mail, I would have to ship a small package (5 oz/142 g) via
1. Priority Mail International
It takes 6 - 10 days
The cost is $20.
A Certificate of Mailing (sender's proof of mailing -- for some reason the receipt is not sufficient!) cost $1.05 extra
It is unclear what kind of insurance is provided. The information that I find says:
Priority Mail International will likely end up as the only "affordable" Air Mail shipping option. I will let you guys know once I have found out how insurance works and if tracking is sufficient.
2. Global Express Guaranteed
It takes 1-3 days.
Insurance is included.
The cost is $65.75.
3. UPS, FedEx and DHL
Insurance (up to $100 or so) included.
They all charge all around $70 for their "Economy" service.
I am sorry, but these shipping charges are out of this world. I am not going to risk losing another package without having appropriate insurance and tracking available. My advice is that you ask a friend in the USA if he might be willing to ship you the lighter. I have not yet decided what to do about shipping Badge Kits to overseas addresses.
Please check the USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL etc websites yourself to see if you can find better shipping options. I am at the end of my rope.
Cheers,
-Relic Raider
Until now I have been shipping Zippos with USPS First Class International (Air Mail) with good results. For the first time an international shipment has not arrived after three weeks and is presumed lost. While I will refund the total amount for lighter and shipping to the buyer, I will not anymore ship internationally with essentially untrackable and totally uninsurable Air Mail. The custom form label number allows you to check when an item was mailed and when it has cleared customs at the destination. That is just not sufficient tracking for international mail.
In order to track and insure International Mail, I would have to ship a small package (5 oz/142 g) via
1. Priority Mail International
It takes 6 - 10 days
The cost is $20.
A Certificate of Mailing (sender's proof of mailing -- for some reason the receipt is not sufficient!) cost $1.05 extra
It is unclear what kind of insurance is provided. The information that I find says:
I do not find any information beyond that. I will investigate what the actual coverage is.*Based on the weight of your package, $61.28 of automatic indemnity coverage is provided for uninsured parcels. Coverage is limited to the actual value of the contents or $61.28, whichever is less. Automatic indemnity is not provided for certain items. See Priority Mail International for more information.
Priority Mail International will likely end up as the only "affordable" Air Mail shipping option. I will let you guys know once I have found out how insurance works and if tracking is sufficient.
2. Global Express Guaranteed
It takes 1-3 days.
Insurance is included.
The cost is $65.75.
3. UPS, FedEx and DHL
Insurance (up to $100 or so) included.
They all charge all around $70 for their "Economy" service.
I am sorry, but these shipping charges are out of this world. I am not going to risk losing another package without having appropriate insurance and tracking available. My advice is that you ask a friend in the USA if he might be willing to ship you the lighter. I have not yet decided what to do about shipping Badge Kits to overseas addresses.
Please check the USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL etc websites yourself to see if you can find better shipping options. I am at the end of my rope.
Cheers,
-Relic Raider