USA international postage costs

[Unicorn26]

Hey, can anyone who is in USA give me some info here?

My SO sent a valentines card to me (which still hasn't arrived) and he said it costs $35 to send. Is that right??? Surely it cannot cost that much just to mail a card to the UK? It's just a card, not a parcel, I think the woman at the post office is ripping him off! It costs less than £5 to send a card from UK to USA, surely there has been some mistake here? He said it has to go priority so that's why it costs so much, but when my sister lived in New York she would write to me all the time and I'm sure it didn't cost anywhere near that to send a card or letter otherwise she wouldn't have sent do many letters etc

Thanks in advance!

[80anthea]

I think he's being ripped off. It doesn't cost my SO anywhere near that much to send things from US-UK. I'm sure it's only a few dollars for a card/letter.

[JaneEmily]

Are you sure he's not sending more than just a card, rather than a gift with the card as a surprise hence why it might be so expensive? No way does it send that much, my friends who are in LDRs have sent me cards from Canada for less than $10

[Unicorn26]

It's defo just a card. I told him not to send anything other than a card because I want him to save his money for his trip. We had a really long talk about that and I'm sure he wouldn't have sent anything other than a card. He's annoyed because he sent it over a week ago and despite it costing so much it's still not here.

There has to be some kind of mess up here???

[Unicorn26]

I think he's being ripped off. It doesn't cost my SO anywhere near that much to send things from US-UK. I'm sure it's only a few dollars for a card/letter.

Whereabouts in USA is he? Does postage vary from state to state? My SO is in Illinois...

This cannot be right. People send birthday cards across the pond all the time. They surely cannot cost this much???

[MissButterfly]

Whereabouts in USA is he? Does postage vary from state to state? My SO is in Illinois...

This cannot be right. People send birthday cards across the pond all the time. They surely cannot cost this much???

It shouldn't vary. Even priority does not cost that much, unless he sent a card with insurance or track and trace or something silly like that (which does cost quite a bit extra). My ex has sent me a small package for about $8 before, a letter/card really shouldn't cost anything more than $5.

Edit: apparently there's different understandings of 'priority', if I read R&Rs post. Here it's just an extra sticker that's attached to any international stamp, so that it gets treated faster than regular mail. But we don't pay that much for it, a stamp including priority sticker is less than 2 euros! If he actually chose priority in the way that R&R said, that'd explain why it's so expensive.

[R&R]

Whereabouts in USA is he? Does postage vary from state to state? My SO is in Illinois...

This cannot be right. People send birthday cards across the pond all the time. They surely cannot cost this much???

It doesn't vary from state to state. It's set by the US Postal Service and is the same across the country.

When I send postcards for our monthly pen-pal group, it's cost me $1.20. The only way it could have possibly cost him that much is if he sent it Priority Mail instead of regular. I just did a quick calculation on their website.

https://ircalc.usps.com/MailServices...ok=XX&dvi=5.00

[Unicorn26]

It doesn't vary from state to state. It's set by the US Postal Service and is the same across the country.

When I send postcards for our monthly pen-pal group, it's cost me $1.20. The only way it could have possibly cost him that much is if he sent it Priority Mail instead of regular. I just did a quick calculation on their website.

https://ircalc.usps.com/MailServices...ok=XX&dvi=5.00

I just looked at that too, it came out at $5.30...

He said the post office worker told him it can only go priority not regular. I'm thinking there is a mistake here.

When you send your postcards, do you put them in an envelope or just send them as they are?

[R&R]

Priority mail to England was almost $33.00

"Priority Mail International® Options Expected Delivery Date Retail Click-N-Ship®
Priority Mail International® Flat Rate Envelope**More info about Priority Mail International® Flat Rate Envelope
Value of contents can not exceed $400.00
USPS-Produced Envelope: 12-1/2" x 9-1/2"
Maximum weight 4 pounds.
6 - 10 business days to many major markets1,2
$32.95
$32.95"

I send the postcards as is - no envelope.

[Unicorn26]

Priority mail to England was almost $33.00

"Priority Mail International® Options Expected Delivery Date Retail Click-N-Ship®
Priority Mail International® Flat Rate Envelope**More info about Priority Mail International® Flat Rate Envelope
Value of contents can not exceed $400.00
USPS-Produced Envelope: 12-1/2" x 9-1/2"
Maximum weight 4 pounds.
6 - 10 business days to many major markets1,2
$32.95
$32.95"

I send the postcards as is - no envelope.

Thank you for your reply!!

I looked at first class international and it came out at $5.30 for the size envelope described above. He has sent it priority because she worker said there was no other option but that cannot be right. How can it cost $1.20 to send a postcard but $33.00 to send a card? It doesn't make sense. There has to be something in between.

[R&R]

First class is different than priority. There is standard, priority and express mail. Express mail would have cost him $53! If he had sent it standard mail, it would have cost him only a few dollars.

I just send the postcards standard mail with no special expediting, so it's not as expensive. If I sent a post card within the US, I would only need one stamp instead of the three I use when mailing outside of the US.

[kittyxuchiha11]

omg dont even get me started on the the stupid postage rules with cards. I learned that if you're going to send a card never ever say it's a card as they add stupid money onto it, always say it's just some letters on the customs forum. even from the UK it can literally be £1 to send a letter internationally but it goes up by like £2/3 if it's card which is stupid. My SO sent me literally a card which is smaller than my hand and a little teddy bear key chain because it was a card in the package and priority shipping it cost her over $20 >.<

[80anthea]

omg dont even get me started on the the stupid postage rules with cards. I learned that if you're going to send a card never ever say it's a card as they add stupid money onto it, always say it's just some letters on the customs forum. even from the UK it can literally be £1 to send a letter internationally but it goes up by like £2/3 if it's card which is stupid. My SO sent me literally a card which is smaller than my hand and a little teddy bear key chain because it was a card in the package and priority shipping it cost her over $20 >.<

Is Scotland different to the rest of the UK? When I go to the post office it is just dependent on weight and size of envelope, it doesn't make a difference if it's a card or letter in there.

[Unicorn26]

Is Scotland different to the rest of the UK? When I go to the post office it is just dependent on weight and size of envelope, it doesn't make a difference if it's a card or letter in there.

Yeah same here, just depends on size and weight?

[kittyxuchiha11]

Yeah same here, just depends on size and weight?

The last time i sent a card and said there was a card with with the letter i was sending i was charged extra for the card and ever since then i've just stated it's only letters. This could have been the post office trying to rip me off i guess but it happened twice, the first time i wasn't really sure why i was charged more then the second time the woman explained to me it was because there was a card and that adds value to the package or something? i'm not quite sure, maybe that post office just wanted more money or something, or it was one of those things they bring in for a few months to try it out and scrap it. Scotland seems to be the place they try out things like that, after all we've been getting charged for plastic bags for a year and a half longer than England because they wanted to try it out here lol. Or it could just be if you send the card with anything else it adds value or something.