Signed for Delivery to USA

DanishPastry

Just a quick question about Royal Mail International Signed for, on the RM website it says that signature is not available and it is only tracked until it leaves the UK. If this is true then what is the point of the service?

I sell on eBay and most of my things go to the US, occasionally the auction price goes over £150 which means I need a signature not just tracked. Will I be able to get a signature from the USPS if it goes to a PayPal undelivered claim? I know you can get cheap couriers and have in the past but as a Uni student who works part time I can't be in one place all day waiting for the courier to come collect the parcel, I've researched prices for dropping off direct to the courier and prices are nearly double than I can get through places like collect my parcel.

Any ideas how I can make sure I'm protected against claims without bankrupting myself on courier costs?

Many thanks,

Rose

Maysie

Have you put the tracking number into the US sites website. I am sure i have done that before found more info.

yeslek

I'd be quite interested to know how this works in reverse

I've purchased something from USA and I have a tracking number, but the USPS site only tracks until it leaves the US and even though the tracking number is in the same format as the Royal Mail ones (indicating possible cross-over tracking being possible) but RM say I need to track it from the USA side

How are us international sellers/buyers supposed to track items if both sides claim 'only until it leaves the UK/USA'?

martindow

Sometimes the delivery country's postal service shows the tracking info but it is not guaranteed to happen. Carriers are the answer if you want full tracking but they can be very expensive especially for light items.

The alternative if you are sending a lot of items is to use a standard service and self insure covering any losses yourself. Although we hear horror stories of missing items here, many of us have very few losses of 1 or 2 in a 1000.

custardy

yeslek wrote: »

I'd be quite interested to know how this works in reverse

I've purchased something from USA and I have a tracking number, but the USPS site only tracks until it leaves the US and even though the tracking number is in the same format as the Royal Mail ones (indicating possible cross-over tracking being possible) but RM say I need to track it from the USA side

How are us international sellers/buyers supposed to track items if both sides claim 'only until it leaves the UK/USA'?

if an international item has a tracking number in the correct format (13 digits with 2 letters at the start and the country code at the end) then the RM system shoud show it on the system
you will however get certain codes that wont scan even in the correct format.
some of those will have a new code added on coming into the country but then it makes no sense since the seller wont have it

yeslek

custardy wrote: »

if an international item has a tracking number in the correct format (13 digits with 2 letters at the start and the country code at the end) then the RM system shoud show it on the system
you will however get certain codes that wont scan even in the correct format.
some of those will have a new code added on coming into the country but then it makes no sense since the seller wont have it

its in the correct format ie AA 000 000 000 AA
I'm just concerned as parcelforce and RM have no records yets USPS state its left the US over 2 weeks ago :think:

thanks for your response

theonlywayisup

If you book via transglobalexpress, you get a choice of courier and prices. Then, if you wish you can drop the parcel at the appropriate depot. I have done this numerous times. Make sure you tell TGX that's what you want to do once you have booked.

ISF numbers are AA 0000 0000 0GB and imho rarely track to the US (some parts are better than others).

Obviously_the_best

Most couriers will let you drop it off, even if you booked through somewhere like interparcel, if someone wants to do it the best way is to ring the depot the day before or on the day it's meant to be collected, then they'll probably just say OK, but most of them don't like it if you turn up uninvited

texranger

several years ago i used to use a wholesaler in the USA and when i lookied at the delivery costs it was very expensive as i was having them delivered direct from them to the UK. i found a cheaper way and this was when parcel2go would rent USA post boxes, so you would ordered from the USA source and have the item delivered to the parcel2go post box and then parcel2go would inform you that their is sopmething in your box and it would be ££ to deliver, you pay and then they deliver. this worked out approx. 40% cheaper than a direct delivery.
then one day p2g informed me they were selling the boxes to a private company, but they would still be collecting from the boxes. This priovate company upped the box price from £7 a month i was paying p2g to an amazing £29.99 a month. so i declined this service from the private company.

Obviously_the_best

parcel2go boxes are only £19.99 for 12 months https://www.parcel2go.com/Rent-US-Address.aspx
you can also get a company like this https://bongous.com/us-address.php, who charge a one off $5 membership charge the charge per parcel to ship, so like P2G rent US but rent cheaper, parcels a bit more expensive I think

DanishPastry

Thanks for the info, I think I'll try sending one of my packets signed for and see if I can track the info/get hold of a signature and let you know.

Your right that the courier would probably accept me dropping off the parcel if I ring in advance, every time a courier comes to collect they moan about how out of their way it is! I'm happy to have to drive to drop it off as I just can't hang around all day waiting.

I'll keep you updated when I find out if the International Signed for Service has any point at all!