USPS nixing international flats as a shipping method for anything but documents

[gtr2]

All my "drop boxes" go to the local post offices that won't accept my "flats".  Drop and pray isn't really a viable way to run a business.

At this point, I've exhausted all my options and contacts.  There is conflicting information and at this point, I can only offer the international package rates.  I apologize to my international friends, it hurts me as much as it hurts you...

On the plus side my international packages have been arriving much faster to there destinations than the previous international flat.

[aion]

Some were shipped as early as the 22nd, no updates yet.   

2 out of 16 for me have left the country, but there are some going back to the 22nd that still haven't been relabeled. A few have been acknowledged as received by the facility, but others haven't yet.

I just sent an email to ShipStation to see what the deal is. If this new program adds 8-10 days to the shipping time then I don't know if it's worth the $3 that it saves on shipping.

[BuGG]

What sort of packaging are you guys using for your normal First-Class International Package shipments?

My understanding is that a normal padded bubble envelope isn't thick enough to be shipped as a "package"?

[gtr2]

#2 8.5" x 10", they lay flat and are under the 3/4" requirement, but....if they contain something that doesn't bend or feel like anything but a document they are considered a package as flats are only for documents.  So domestic flats are out and as a result the global processing center.
I am a regular at the post and they already know I ship merch for years so passing a flat is impossible.

[BuGG]

Dang man that's bad, Stamps.com (or someone higher up the chain at USPS) needs to address this issue.   The service is clearly being marketed to be used in this way.

I can't pass a flat off at the counter (ever), but I drop them in the drop box right outside the door at the same post office and have never had a problem.

However if this doesn't work out I'm just going to have to start shipping everything as a package.   I don't like it, but what else can you do?

[Haberdasher]

So...I wonder why they didn't make it to where we could mail it to the GP facility as a non-machinable letter in a pre-specified mailer size, then they could label right over it as an international flat with a customs form from there (since they supposedly can make that end of things work via their "exclusive partnerships").  That might have made more sense, and caused fewer problems.  After all, guys like us do NOT have exclusive partnerships, and we're best off following USPS rules, or else be subject to the mercy of random postal workers.

I'm just working off the assumption a non-machinable letter would be accepted nearly every time, while a domestic flat with a rigid object might not.  Or am I missing something?

[brucer]

On the plus side my international packages have been arriving much faster to there destinations than the previous international flat.

^This is a definite plus.  I'm in Canada and still waiting on an international flat from lectric-fx that left the US on Jan 15.  Canada Post told me it's surface mail, so is placed in a big room on arrival and waits until they have time to process everything in the room.  A pickguard from Terrapin in Oregon sent by surface mail took 8 weeks to reach me.  Haven't lost a package yet, but the plus on international packages is that they keep moving (less than 2 weeks transit for me) ... though it does come at a premium cost.

[aion]

I just got a response from GlobalPost, the company that handles the relays, saying that there was some sort of bug in the system that prevented tracking from getting updated properly, and the fix was deployed today and should be retroactive. I'll check my international tracking tomorrow and see if any of them have been updated.

Being a programmer, I'm a little skeptical when people blame stuff on "a bug"... it usually means that they just don't have their stuff together but it's easier to say it was the computer's fault. But whatever. Happy to have gotten a response anyway.

[EBK]

Being a programmer, I'm a little skeptical when people blame stuff on "a bug"... it usually means that they just don't have their stuff together but it's easier to say it was the computer's fault. But whatever. Happy to have gotten a response anyway.

The problem could be that an idiot proved that the code wasn't idiot-proof.  I think it is fair to call that a bug.   

[BuGG]

As of today my international flats are no longer going to the New Jersey processing center.

Now they're going to California.

[madbean]

It's been over a week since I did my test package to Canada and still not a single update in tracking. I've got two more packages to mail out as a test. So far, I am not impressed. I'm trying to keep positive about this but all the data from this thread seems to indicate there might be no getting around the incredible price increase. I'm still getting international orders but there is a noticeable dip in sales. I feel pretty bad for folks who just want to order a board or two and end up having to pay an equal price in shipping. It's just nonsense. At the same time, a process that is cheaper which results in spotty/no tracking at all is no way to run a business. Rock, meet hard place. This, coupled with the sudden and recent demise of free shipping from my PCB manufacturer is a strong indicator that there are going to be a lot of challenges for MBP going forward.

[alanp]

With the rise of eBay, Alibaba, Amazon, small Bean and JMK shops and the like, I'm surprised that int'l shipping hasn't gotten easier with more packages overall moving around.

Oldschool letters (as in written letters, victorian style) dropping like a lead balloon yes, but packages and flats have increased a great deal, surely?

[somnif]

With the rise of eBay, Alibaba, Amazon, small Bean and JMK shops and the like, I'm surprised that int'l shipping hasn't gotten easier with more packages overall moving around.

Oldschool letters (as in written letters, victorian style) dropping like a lead balloon yes, but packages and flats have increased a great deal, surely?

And that is the problem. The UPU has taken the flood of dirt cheap internationally shipped small "packages" as a threat to domestic interests. They see people buying all their stuff from China/etc and came to the conclusion that "oh hey, that money should all be spent in-state, this is getting quite silly" and have taken steps to rectify the matter. (Particularly because that dirt cheap shipping is payed for in a strangely roundabout way such that the recipient country essentially subsidizes the entire shipping cost... sort of. Its a logistical mess)

And since the UPU only convenes every 2 years to make decisions the ramifications are going to suck in the near term.

As much as I hate this, I would honestly suggest every US small business owner who is affected by this nonsense to contact their congresspeople. Our current administration loves to pretend its giving a damn, and touting a "win" for small businesses by ordering the USPS to screw the UPU's rules would be right up their alley. Easy political currency.

[WormBoy]

... by ordering the USPS to screw the UPU's rules would be right up their alley.

The rest of world seems to be ignoring those rules anyway. It's only the US screwing their own small businesses as far as I can tell.

... I feel pretty bad for folks who just want to order a board or two and end up having to pay an equal price in shipping.

And ordering 4-5 boards is not going to help. Then you hit an import threshold and have to pay VAT, clearing costs, etc. which will double the entire price again.

[Rockhorst]

Wormboy is correct I'm afraid. And you also pay the import tax and VAT over the total amount spent, including shipping! So worst case scenario, you end up with PCBs that triple or quadruple in effective price.