Post by UnderProtest on Dec 8, 2014 10:36:01 GMT -5
Guess how much it cost me total to mail 65 Christmas cards to the US and 6 Christmas cards to the UK (from the UK)? The person closest gets to cry in my scotch with me.
If I remember correctly, mailing a letter from the to the US is somewhere around 2lbs, right? So, guessing at the exchange rate I'd guess you just spent about $175 (US dollars) on postage.
ETA: and now I feel utterly foolish for typing out 'lbs' for british pounds. I think pounds, and it comes out in typing as lbs... Finding and using the right symbol is a pain in the ass, so I'll stick with it.
Post by hopenotlost on Dec 8, 2014 10:47:52 GMT -5
I'm not sure I want to know...postage is crazy. I'm not sure where you live, but it's too bad you don't find someone on one of the military bases there who could send them out for you!
I'm not sure I want to know...postage is crazy. I'm not sure where you live, but it's too bad you don't find someone on one of the military bases there who could send them out for you!
Unfortunately, this is technically a type of fraud, and could cause the military member to lose their APO/FPO mail benefit. It's unlikely to be noticed with a few letters here or there, but 60+ Christmas cards might get noticed...
If I remember correctly, mailing a letter from the to the US is somewhere around 2lbs, right? So, guessing at the exchange rate I'd guess you just spent about $175 (US dollars) on postage.
ETA: and now I feel utterly foolish for typing out 'lbs' for british pounds. I think pounds, and it comes out in typing as lbs... Finding and using the right symbol is a pain in the ass, so I'll stick with it.
I was wondering how much glitter was on the cards to come in weighing 2lbs each!
audette, I can never find the pound symbol on my keyboard so I end up typing GBP.
Yes, raangoli closest to the amount without going over. You can guess in USD or GBP.
So far, both guesses are more than the actual price. But you guys can guess again.
Hrm. I can't be over by much... It's freaking expensive to mail anything from Europe to the US. Heck, mailing a *postcard* from Germany to the US is over a buck...
I decided to send a friend in Germany a package and oy vey! It cost me more to ship at $33 than it did to buy the stuff in it. Next year she's getting a card.
I'm not sure I want to know...postage is crazy. I'm not sure where you live, but it's too bad you don't find someone on one of the military bases there who could send them out for you!
Unfortunately, this is technically a type of fraud, and could cause the military member to lose their APO/FPO mail benefit. It's unlikely to be noticed with a few letters here or there, but 60+ Christmas cards might get noticed...
Oh crap I had no idea! And I even lived on two military bases for 10 years! I also didn't mail anything (I was 21 years old and younger) so maybe that's why.
Unfortunately, this is technically a type of fraud, and could cause the military member to lose their APO/FPO mail benefit. It's unlikely to be noticed with a few letters here or there, but 60+ Christmas cards might get noticed...
Oh crap I had no idea! And I even lived on two military bases for 10 years! I also didn't mail anything (I was 21 years old and younger) so maybe that's why.
It's something I'm very careful about with work - they only ship me stuff via fedex/ups, instead of regular mail, because it hits some grey areas for my employer using APO mail to mail me stuff. It's _probably_ OK, but I don't want to risk it, and they opted to do things this way. I think work's bigger concern was timeliness - the moment work found out that it could take anywhere from a week to two months to get a regular card delivered at the APO address, they decided paying more for international courier service was a better idea...
I have a love/hate deal with APO shipping. It's great, because I can still order from US sites that don't ship overseas (although some won't ship to APO, or will charge ridiculous handling rates for APO addresses), but it sucks because delivery dates are _so_ unpredictable. We are still waiting on two packages we ordered in mid-November. No clue how much longer they will take.
And yet, I've had some parcels arrive in <9 days. It's weird.
Post by hopenotlost on Dec 8, 2014 13:30:16 GMT -5
audette my dad lives on a base in southern Spain and his address is an FPO address. For the first time in...17 years (wowza!) it took more than a week for a package to get to me. Actually it's been almost a month and I still haven't gotten it. It wasn't because of slow mail though. It got lost, then found, and now it is apparently being delivered by the pony express. We just mailed his Christmas presents this morning, and I am hoping that he gets them within a week like it always has been in the past. When we lived in the Middle East, our FPO mail took about two weeks, but I think it's because it had to go from Bahrain to Germany and then over. In Spain it goes from his base to Madrid and then to NY so it's a faster route.
My dad gets frustrated with some sites that don't offer APO/FPO shipping and only do Fedex/UPS. He always ends up having them shipped to me, and then I ship them to him. Spain has UPS, but it's not reliable, and I wouldn't trust that packages would still be at his house when he gets home at 6 pm. :/
audette my dad lives on a base in southern Spain and his address is an FPO address. For the first time in...17 years (wowza!) it took more than a week for a package to get to me. Actually it's been almost a month and I still haven't gotten it. It wasn't because of slow mail though. It got lost, then found, and now it is apparently being delivered by the pony express. We just mailed his Christmas presents this morning, and I am hoping that he gets them within a week like it always has been in the past. When we lived in the Middle East, our FPO mail took about two weeks, but I think it's because it had to go from Bahrain to Germany and then over. In Spain it goes from his base to Madrid and then to NY so it's a faster route.
My dad gets frustrated with some sites that don't offer APO/FPO shipping and only do Fedex/UPS. He always ends up having them shipped to me, and then I ship them to him. Spain has UPS, but it's not reliable, and I wouldn't trust that packages would still be at his house when he gets home at 6 pm. :/
Oh, now that is depressing... Maybe it's just Korea. A buddy sent me a card. Just a plain, average hallmark card. I was able to read the postal stamp saying it was received on November 12 near her home. Our mailroom on base writes the dates it receives letters and packages. December 3. This was not unusual.
At this point, we are simply hoping the packages of things we ordered in November will make it to us before we move. I have no idea what happens if they don't make it in time.
Hrm. I can't be over by much... It's freaking expensive to mail anything from Europe to the US. Heck, mailing a *postcard* from Germany to the US is over a buck...
I'll lower my guess down to $165...
It's now $1.10 to mail a postcard from the US to any other country too... My postcard hobby is getting expensive
Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. - G. K. Chesterton