Business

USPS International Priority Air Mail for E-Commerce Businesses

In January, the United States Postal Service (USPS) increased the postal rates available to all online retailers under the 1st Class Package International service level. The changes included offering eDelcon services for 15 countries, but in many cases they doubled the fees in exchange for these additional services. In addition, USPS was able to reassign the international first-class package service from the courier services section (priced by PRC) to the shipping services section (priced not controlled by PRC). Because it is important? Because in the next few years, this category will see its postal rates increase more than the rate of inflation.

What impact does this have on e-retailers? Well, many third-party eBay and Amazon sellers I’ve spoken with throughout the year have mentioned that their international orders have dropped dramatically this year. The main reason cited was the doubling of the postage rate that occurred in January, which made their products less competitive in the global market.

Well, what if I told you there was a way to go back and benefit from the postage rates available last year and not pay the extra money for eDelcon services? Many online retailers that sell lower value products (less than $50) would jump at the opportunity. This opportunity exists with the USPS International Priority Airmail service.

Key features of USPS International Priority Airmail (IPA)

  • Perfect for lightweight, low value items <2 kilos and <$400 in value
  • Shipped as First Class International Parcel Services
  • Transit is 3-7 days worldwide
  • Postal customs clearance (duties and taxes paid by the recipient)
  • Free returns on undeliverable items
  • Reduced postage rates
  • USPS package identification number provided
  • Integrates directly with Endicia.com, Shipstation, Shipworks, Teapplix, etc.

How an e-retailer uses the USPS IPA service

E-retailers would contact a USPS Postal Qualified Wholesaler (PQW) in their area and speak with an international expert to guide them through the service. Selecting the correct PQW is critical to your success in using the USPS IPA service. Select a PQW that has locations in the United States. This becomes extremely important in times of bad weather, airport closures, or natural disasters. A PQW that has locations in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles ensures that your mail arrives no matter what circumstances we face in a particular region. Online retailers will also want to select a PQW that integrates directly with their current labeling system. If you use Endicia.com or Shipstation to generate your labels, select a PQW that integrates directly with your current platform. A qualified PQW will guide you through the onboarding process so you can seamlessly submit the necessary data to the USPS.

Once you’ve completed the onboarding process, you’ll generate your tags as normal. It will generate a postage-free consolidator label and the necessary customs information will be automatically transmitted to the PQW. Pickup is arranged at your location and packages are shipped to one of PQW’s locations.

Make sure that when your packages arrive at the PQW fulfillment center, every package is scanned at your operation. At this point, packages are sorted by destination country, placed in matching bags, and then shipped to the USPS International Service Center (ISC) in your area. Be sure to ask your PQW the following questions.

  • How often do you present mail to the USPS ISC during the week?

Some smaller PQWs do not have enough mail volume to deposit your mail every day. To deposit your mail directly with an ISC, a PQW must have a minimum of £500 per mail deposit.

  • How much mail do you deposit using direct bags?

If your sender does not have a minimum of 3 mail books for each destination country, your mail is place in a mix bag. The mix bags are send to the ISC that serves this region of the world. For example, if you have a package destined for Belize and your sender places this item in a mixed bag. This bag ships to ISC Miami from anywhere in the country you ship from. This could significantly delay your packages.

  • How many packages per week do you ship through IPA each week?

Some companies are very large but do not use IPA on a daily basis. It is essential to know how much they send through the IPA service.

  • Does PQW have recommended terms for their eBay and Amazon shipping policy pages?

If a PQW does not have a recommended vocabulary for their shipping policy page, this indicates their lack of experience in dealing with the e-retail community. What’s the point of saving money if your business valuations are suffering? Be sure to follow PQW’s recommended shipping policy so your customers are fully aware of the service you use to ship their packages.

Once the packages are received at the United States Postal Service (USPS) ISC, the bags are scanned for proof of postage and placed on the next available outbound flight to that destination country. After the arrival of the flight, the packages will be clear through the postal customs clearance mechanism. This ensures that your packages get through the customs clearance process quickly and are not affect by the typical delays incurr in the normal air cargo clearance process. After customs clearance, packages are enter into the destination country’s first-class mail stream for delivery to your customer.

.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button