posted on April 13, 2005 01:15:23 PM new
Lately, most of my auction winner seem to be foreign bidders - Canada, Australia, England, Spain, Norway(?!?), as well as questions for seller from Germany and the Netherlands (how much is shipping to XXX? when worldwide shipping is stated in auction...). And I still have a couple hundred items from the Austrailian FLD that will end today. I guess I'll be standing in line at the post office for hours filling out that stupid green custom form...
posted on April 13, 2005 01:49:34 PM new
LOL they'll give you a stack to take home!
But then...I use Endicia - do you want all my old green forms?
Q: How do I print postage for an International address?
A: Follow these directions:
The International address MUST have the country ALONE on the last address line.
The country must be typed correctly with no commas, periods, or other extraneous marks.
NOTEazzle has no way to verify an International address, so the program only checks the last address line to see if there is a valid COUNTRY listed.
When the address appears on the 'Design' screen the mail should change to 'Intl Mail $0.00'.
Click 'Print'
On the 'Print' screen click the 'International Rates' button. This connects to the USPS server and pulls in the USPS rates data for that Country.
Select the 'Postage Type' and 'Weight' from the drop down windows. This will reconnect to the USPS server and display the appropriate postage options for the selections you made.
Click on the postage option you wish to use and click 'OK'.
Back at the 'Print' screen the postage amount should display.
On the 'postage' tab on the 'Print' screen you can add insurance if needed. Next to 'Insurance' pick the carrier you want. For 'USPS Insurance' the Insurance fee will be charged at printing time. You will need to get a USPS insurance form at the post office to attach to the package.
NOTE: If you do NOT see 'USPS Insurance' in the 'Insurance' window, this means it is not available for that particular combination of mail class and country.
If you wish to print the customs forms also click the 'Customs Information' tab on the 'print' screen. Fill out all the required fields.
NOTE: You MUST have a 'Premium' account with Endicia to print customs forms for International mail.
NOTE: The 'Description' field MUST be at least 5 characters long.
The (CN22) short form is for items under $400 in declared value. The (CP72) form is for items over $400 in value.
Click 'Print'.
The customs form will print to paper. You will be asked to select the printer.
posted on April 13, 2005 04:50:20 PM new
fenix, you and I have something in common. can you believe that,but sometimes I think we are on a different page.
_________________
posted on April 13, 2005 05:21:25 PM new
Taking the forms home is a good idea.
Sometimes it is fun to annoy the post worker by making them wait for the form to be filled out, and asking them is a really annoying voice "do I reallllllllllllly have to fill the form out???????? the item only sold for 1 cent...."
posted on April 14, 2005 12:43:48 AM new
How big are the items you are shipping and how anal are your postal clerks? Most of the items I ship gi out in 000 envelopes and I don't bother with customs. I only attach cusoms forms to Global Priority packages.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on April 14, 2005 08:42:41 AM new
I have been using the free return address labels on the green forms forever. I refer to those labels you get in the mail from charities. Seem to have a lifetime supply.
You can also cut and paste the buyer address from your computer onto the green form.
posted on April 14, 2005 10:54:28 AM new
I got one of those address label stamps so I could stamp my name & address info. onto the green labels, cutting my "filling out" time in half.
I also use Endicia, and now fill out my customs forms there, so mine & the customers address is plugged in automatically. All I have to do is type the name of the item in the box.
LITTLE KNOWN USPS VERY VALUABLE SECRET (they really don't want you to know this): You can hand your international packages to your postal carrier! You DO NOT have to take them to the post office counter to get them stamped, like they tell you. The only drawback to this is that you don't get your customs receipt (they won't bring it back to you, in most cases), however, if you use Endicia, you've got all the customs info. logged in your account, so you can print out a record if you ever need to.
I had many phone conversations with the post office where they denied that they would pick up international packages at my door, but I noticed that when I went on-line to schedule a pick-up, there was a place to fill in the number of international packages to be picked up. So...I held my breath and just put them outside my door one day, and low and behold, my mailman picked them up! No problems! I've been doing this for months, and all my packages have reached their destinations, no problems. I haven't handing insured packages to my postal carrier...I still take those to get stamped (just in case).
If you have a good relationship with your postal carrier, you don't even have to call in your pick-ups...I never do.
posted on April 14, 2005 11:41:04 AM new
Amanda - you don't get the customs recipt when you go to the post office either. The tear off sections stays on file with your local post office.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on April 14, 2005 01:15:28 PM new
An update:
Yesterday I sold items to buyers in the following countries: Australia( multiple), New Zealand, Canada (multiple), Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Germany(multiple), Italy, and Israel. Bids from United States bidders seemed lacking.
Most items were listed during the Australian FLD, so maybe that is why so many foreign bidder.
posted on April 14, 2005 01:34:40 PM new
Hey fenix03, I was referring to the receipts you get with the "over 4lbs" customs forms. They stamp the last page at the counter and give it to you for your records. You're right, you don't get to keep anything with the smaller, green forms.
At the risk of sounding completely ignorant, I must ask...What is the Australian FLD?
azzle has no way to verify an International address, so the program only checks the last address line to see if there is a valid COUNTRY listed.
can you believe that,but sometimes I think we are on a different page.