How to ship from US to Australia right now...?

[Dee*Jay]

This morning I tried to ship an order to Australia... and was informed by the Etsy system that international mail has been suspended. Ack. What is the next best way to get something there from the US? Fed Ex is crazy (CRAZY!) expensive and if I'm understanding DHL right I have to use their boxes, none of which work from a size perspective. I think UPS is also suspended, unless I'm misreading something. Specifically the package is going to O'Sullivan Beach SA 5166 Australia if that info is useful.

Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Karl_K]

Don't have an answer.
It normally flies in as freight on commercial flights.
Since there are few commercial flights it has to go charter which costs 10x+ more.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Ugh! The USPS price would normally be about $84, but the Fed Ex price is $244 -- and that's with the Etsy discount. Double ugh.

 

[April20]

How heavy is the item you're shipping? If the package is under 4lbs, you can ship via PirateShip's Simple Export rate. An account with Pirate Ship is free and you'll need to request their Simple Export rate via the chat function. The rates are less than First Class but arrive in about the same amount of time. The package will ship via USPS to a US hub and then Asendia will take the package from the US to Australia. I've been sending this way for months with no issues.

They also offer discounted rates via UPS if your package is over 4lbs. Be careful if you use UPS, however. I shipped a 12 lb package to Australia last week and the estimated cost was $100. It ended up being $142 because there was an upcharge since the person lived in a more remote area.

 

[Dee*Jay]

April20, thank you for this info! I ended up using Pirateship and going through UPS because the package was 4 lbs 5 oz. The rate was about $10 more than USPS would have been, but at that point I didn't care! Now of course I'm biting my nails over a surcharge... !!! I just looked at the chart and the area/post code is not listed as a surcharge location so hopefully it will be OK. Boy, this shipping has turned out to be an *adventure*! Just when you think you've figured stuff out a new monkey wrench gets thrown into the mix!

 

[Bron357]

Unfortunately yes, USPS has suspended services to Australia (amongst other places) due to Covid (lack of flights / reduced workforce). It’s been this way for a few months now.
I think that the only service USPS offers (ceheck) is their International Express Priority (without express guarantee) or it’s FedEx or DHL. We have a similar problem sending from Australia to the USA as Australia Post here teams with USPS.
Thats why I haven’t listed anything on Loupe Troop.

 

[Beaders Secret]

I am based in Melbourne Australia, and my experiences in past weeks/months has been little changed.

Both in and outgoing mail between US and Australia has been “ normal” - with one slight exception being an address in Hawaii where the parcel sat in Los Angeles for a couple of weeks before it moved on to Hawaii.

Ausposts “Standard” service - which has tracking and updates sent routinely, has been going through without issues.

The bigger issue currently is domestic shipping - I’ve had a parcel from Paris arrive quicker than it takes a parcel to cross Australia (Perth Melbourne) - under 5 days no joke -and this was basic postage not a premium service.

It might be worthwhile to go directly to the post office, over the counter you may have more options than are interfaced with Etsy

 

[GliderPoss]

I also purchased something from Etsy and the US vendor said he could not ship at the moment. It wasn’t worth going the alternative route as too expensive. I’ve asked him to simply put my stone aside until shipping to Oz resumes. I’d rather wait than risk it being lost.

Domestic post is also completely bollocks as I’ve been waiting on something since SEPTEMBER

 

[April20]

April20, thank you for this info! I ended up using Pirateship and going through UPS because the package was 4 lbs 5 oz. The rate was about $10 more than USPS would have been, but at that point I didn't care! Now of course I'm biting my nails over a surcharge... !!! I just looked at the chart and the area/post code is not listed as a surcharge location so hopefully it will be OK. Boy, this shipping has turned out to be an *adventure*! Just when you think you've figured stuff out a new monkey wrench gets thrown into the mix!

UPS got the order to my customer quick! I shipped it right before pickup on Friday, 11/19. It was delivered in Australia on the 26th!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Bron, it never even occurred to me when the order came through that there was a service issue, especially since Etsy let the buyer pick USPS delivery. I swear, there is some new thing every day that covid disrupts that takes me surprise!

Beaders, great minds think alike -- when I went to the post office with other packages yesterday I asked the lady at the counter, hoping for some in person magic. But alas, no luck. Fortunately I did find an alternative, but to this point I've had good success with international shipping through USPS so I hope this gets resolved quickly.

Glider, I was able to use UPS in lieu of USPS for about a $10 difference (so $94 instead of $84) by going through Pirate Ship. Is it possible for the vendor to look into that for you?

April, WOW, a WEEK? That's amazing! I'm not counting on any fast shipping at this point, let alone out of the country, but I'd love it if it happened!