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Cary Clark / FAQ / Market / usps

What are the advantages of USPS (the US post service)?

From Todd Lehman:

The USPS has good rates for small, light packages. You can expect to spend from $0.50 to $4.00 to mail a typical LEGO® package inside the U.S. The rates vary depending on the location and the speed of service required.

Up to and including 11 ounces, Third Class serivce is the same rate as First Class service. As a rule of thumb figure $0.30 per ounce for small packages. Parcels sent First Class generally arrive in 2 to 3 days. Parcels sent Third Class generally arrive in 5 to 7 days.

Shipping parcels overseas (out of the U.S.) via USPS is expensive. The rates of course depend on the destination, but you can generally figure airmail to Europe is roughly 4 to 8 times as expensive as normal First Class mail inside the U.S. Airmail delivery times are typically one week. Mail to Canada is neither prohibitively expensive nor slow. Always ask your options at the counter.

Surface mail to overseas countries is much less expensive, but can take 8 to 12 weeks, for example to or from Australia.

USPS offers insurance, but you pay extra.

UPS is now on the Web! Here are some relevant links:

Postage Rates		An extensive database of rate information, domestic and foreign.

USPS home page (http://www.usps.gov)		Index to entire USPS web site.

Primary content in this document is © Cary Clark. All other text, images, or trademarks in this document are the intellectual property of their respective owners.