"Shipping from the UK to the US" Topic

I'm a little behind the times here, but is buying stuff from the UK going to be cost prohibitive come July 1st?

Sucks, because most of the good terrain makers are from the UK

It looks like Royal Mail are putting up postal charges on most things up by around 50% in response to the U.S. putting up the 'Last Mile' charge, postal costs are bad enough already.

Yes. I heard that the postage costs are going up 40%-50%.

Well, US only for me!

It'll depend on which UK companies you're buying from and whether they're going to increase their shipping prices?

We've got no plans to adjust our shipping rates at the moment, so the USPS changes won't make any difference to our customers.

Yes, Royal mail costs are increasing dramatically.

BUT if you have it shipped DHL or FedEx that won't apply.

@Leon:

So you'll just eat the increase?

Looks like this is right. The U.S is will be classed as world zone 3 and the U.S is the only one in it. It seems that a 2kg parcel price will increase from around £21.00 GBP GBP to £29.00 GBP I think this will have a big impact on buyer and seller.

Sucks…most of the better terrain seems to be built in the UK

Extra Crispy, that could work. For parcels over 2kgs I use a company that buys space on transport aircraft and deal with various carriers. It works out cheaper than parcelforce whos prices can be jaw dropping. The cheapest way is surface mail if your not in a hurry.

BUT if you have it shipped DHL or FedEx that won't apply.

In the US both those services are multiple times more expensive on international parcels than USPS, especially if you ship using flat rate.

Damn, i was thinking of ordering the special ops team from Studio Miniatures. Already comes to $37.00 USD usd for 7 minis! No one in the US seems t9 carry them.

While I don't think this will be the long term norm, this does make me glad I went 15mm over 10mm (seems most 10mm items are overseas)

I feel for the UK folks who do this for a living. I hope this doesn't hurt their sales that much.

@Extra Crispy:

Currently yes, but we're looking at some other options. DHL will ship a 2kg parcel to the US for about £22.00 GBP, compared to the new Royal Mail rate of £29.00 GBP, so we'll start putting more packages through them for the timebeing.

If the increase remains in place for the longer-term then we'll see what happens I supposed.

Is this where I gloat for doing mostly microscale and 2mm these days? Mostly imports from the UK, but postage is seldom a major factor.

The increase only affects Small Parcel, not large letter so if figures can be sent in a larger flatter box it won't increase…

Mike

The increase only affects Small Parcel, not large letter so if figures can be sent in a larger flatter box it won't increase…

Unfortunately they will now be restricting large letter contents, no longer allowing commercial products, although I haven't been able to determine whether this is Royal Mail or USPS making that call. Probably the latter as it falls in line with what USPS allows.

I'm pretty sure I read from multiple sources that the increase does not affect surface shipping. So maybe we go back to getting figures by slow boat until the situation is (hopefully) rectified.

Didn't know surface mail was still an option?

AFAIK there is no surface mail option FROM the US to destinations overseas?

@FrontLine Tim: True within the US. But packages from Europe to the US, the courier is often cheaper, over a certain weight (2kg seems to be pretty common).

Does anyone know what the USPS restrictions are on Large letter. I hadn't noted any new restrictions when I checked out the new rates on the Royal Mail website.

If they don't allow any commercial content in LL then that's me out of sending stuff to the US completely. I don't do much business with the US but most goes LL and if it has to go parcel it will cost far too much.

Crispy:
link

It's how I used to get my books from N&M Press (and some others) years ago. Generally took 4-6 weeks, but it also was the only affordable way to get them.

GildasFacit, the USPS doesn't have a blanket Large Letter category. Simply put, commercial products are not allowed if using First Class letter rate, that's only for cards, letters and documents. Large envelopes and mailers that are rigid are always subject to parcel rates.

From the practical side, an order of flags or transfers mailed in a standard envelope would probably pass unnoticed. Card buildings or 2mm troops in a bubble mailer would likely not.

Thanks EP

There is an international Large Letter rate though & that covers the board backed envelopes I use to send printed products that are over 100g. Surprised that they class rigid (what we'd call Board) envelopes as parcels but they have delivered my stuff for years so maybe they just accept international mail with different rules than domestic.

Finding info on the Royal mail website is bad enough but the USPS website is a nightmare as they refer to things I have never heard of without explaining them. I suppose we just have very different systems with their own terminology and rules which suit their circumstances.

Part of the issue is that you have always shipped in accordance with what the Royal Mail allows and when it comes into possession of the USPS they have delivered it in accordance with UPU agreements. In other words, the receiving country is obliged to deliver it and bear the costs. These would be partially offset by Terminal Dues. I won't go into the politics, but there is a good explanation in the wiki article:
link

So in short, the Royal Mail price rise is a by blow of a trade war with China. The real shame is that often the costs that a receiving country are "subsidizing" are purely theoretical. For example, if you mail several sheets of transfers (equivalent in weight to a letter or greeting card) in a standard envelope, it doesn't actually cost the USPS $3 USD extra dollars to deliver that just because it's a commercial product.

Unfortunately they will now be restricting large letter contents, no longer allowing commercial products, although I haven't been able to determine whether this is Royal Mail or USPS making that call. Probably the latter as it falls in line with what USPS allows.

I've not seen a source confirming this yet- but Royal Mail are woefully poor on customer communications. Do you have a link, please, Enfant? For now I am shipping letters at the old rate, although I've had to put the cost of parcel shipping up. It sounds like I may have to put letters up, too. :-(

..interestingly the Royal Mail price for large letter to the USA, on their price calculator, seems to have increased to £11.50 GBP (for 500g) which would bear out what enfant is saying. I shall have to adjust my letter rates. :(

My US shipping rate for a 100g package has just risen from £3.80 GBP to £9.40 GBP. :( :(

I'll apologise to any US customers now. I'm not charging 3 – 5 times the cost of an item to send it to the US so I'll just have to not accept orders from there.

What about prices to Canada ?

Canada is not affected.

Today the Large letter rates to the USA are back on the Royal Mail "Get a Price" calculator, at their usual (relatively cheap) price. Now I am really confused!

Perhaps sanity has prevailed.

Perhaps sanity has prevailed.

That's not a very 2020 theme! ;-)

My local post office says that it's fine for me to post large letters with commercial contents, so unless/until I hear otherwise, I'll continue to do so. I'm just off to edit my postage rates on large letters, downwards.

I'm really glad to hear that Simon. My reports about the commercial content restrictions came from several UK sellers who had been told that by their local post office manager or Royal Mail Customer Service. Hopefully yours has the correct information!

Hi Enfant, I'll try asking, again, to be on the safe side.

Hi Enfant, I've asked at both the local Post Office and the private equivalent, and they are both unaware of restrictions on posting commercial items. It may be that word hasn't filtered down to them, but I think we are OK. Fingers crossed!

Today I heard from a very reliable US-based manufacturer that there's now a ban on stuff being shipped into the UK from the USA – anyone got any insight on that, as I'm aware there are some inevitable delays but not a complete shutdown of service.

I now see a couple of companies, Timecast & The plastic soldier company, no longer list the US as a shipping option. Guess I'll need to wait on 10mm Cold War stuff.

Good to hear Simon!