Sending letters/package

[Elzah]

Hi everyone !

I am sorry if I'm posting this thread in the wrong section (I felt a bit confused about where this thread would belong, so I just posted it here)

I sent a letter to my special someone living in South Africa (I'm from France) on 23 January, using the regular national postal system, and he still didn't receive it (so it's been over 6 weeks now) and I don't know if he will ever do, as the postal system in his country is even less reliable than here.
Thus, I was wondering what not-too-expensive private postal system do you guys use to send letters/package to your loved ones and if you had any advices about that to share ?

Thank you, and have a nice day

[Littlewhiteflower]

I usually send letter/post card through the national post. It can take a huge amount of time though and it is annoying. I sent a very small package from Canada to Australia through national post the other day and it took about 2 months and a half to get there. When i send letters within my own country, it can take about 2 weeks for my SO to receive it. During Christmas time, it took a month.

I'm not sure what private postal service are available for you, but I wouldn't necessarily use that for letters. I mean, it's nice to receive/send letters, but since we have so many forms of communication these days, i feel like it doesn't really matter if the letter takes a longer amount of time to get to my SO. If it's really important, I'll pay the national post to get it posted in accelerate (so, it travels by plane instead of by boat or truck). It's more expensive but it's a good option when it's something important.

[Lio]

I use the normal post usually. Once I used Chronopost in order to send a document to my SO - it costed me about 50 euros, so never again >< but even for a little present, I use the normal post. Then it takes its time to arrive at her place. At least two weeks, when not more.

[autumn1790]

I used to use the national post service, and it usually got there. He used DHL to send stuff to me; the price for him was reasonable, but the same service here from DHL was outrageous. Most services have a price calculator online that's pretty dandy!

[Elzah]

Yes, I looked up the price of private services like DHL and it costs a fortune to send only a letter from France to S.A, it's insane. I guess I'll wait to see if the letter finally reaches him before to invest in any of those services.
Thanks for you replies

[snow]

Yes, I looked up the price of private services like DHL and it costs a fortune to send only a letter from France to S.A, it's insane. I guess I'll wait to see if the letter finally reaches him before to invest in any of those services.
Thanks for you replies

Unfortunately, in countries where the postal service is unreliable, there really isn't much you can do. I wanted to ship some of my stuff through DHL or FedEx and pfffff so expensive it was insane. Private companies are not a way to go unfortunately.