First Class Mail to Australia - Trial Run

[ScottS]

Hey Australian folks! I've emailed or talked with some of you on the phone -- I'm Scott, Shipping Lead here at TOM BIHN. And I have some good news: on a trial basis, we are now offering shipping via USPS (United States Postal Service) International First Class Mail to Australia for qualifying small orders (10-14 business day delivery). This will not only save you money, but allow for shipments to deliver directly to your PO Box address. For orders up to $30.00 the shipping cost is $12.00. For orders up to $130.00 the shipping cost is $30.00. Please keep in mind that there are some items which require a larger box size that will not qualify for First-Class Shipping. If you have any specific questions about the shipping guidelines for First-Class Mail to Australia please respond to this thread or send us an email and we will be happy to help you.

The fine print:
Note that orders shipped via International First Class Mail are not trackable. 10-14 days is an estimate, but in some cases, we must allow for orders to take up to four weeks to be delivered. As some of you know, we long ago decided to only ship to Australia via UPS Expedited because USPS International First Class Mail service proved unreliable -- some packages were delivered weeks late and others were lost entirely. We've recently test-shipped a few small shipments to Australia without issue and are willing to again try shipping via USPS International First Class Mail for smaller orders because it is so much more economical and, well, you asked us for this option. If the service again proves itself to be unreliable -- a frustration for us and you guys -- we will discontinue it. The prices that we are offering for USPS International First Class Mail are based on the sizes of our shipping boxes and it is possible that an order will be placed for under $130 that will require a larger size of box. For these larger sized boxes it is actually cost effective to ship via UPS Expedited. Plus, it will ship more quickly and include tracking and insurance. If this occurs we will email you to discuss the change in shipping method. Orders $130 and above must be shipped via UPS Expedited, which is often the same price or even less expensive than USPS International Priority Mail (the next service up from USPS International First Class Mail). We do not have any plans to offer USPS International Priority Mail as an option.

[falconea]

Yay! I have a big order in now alas, so I won't be able to do a test run. Am very pleased though to be able to do a small order for reasonable cost.

Any idea how long the trial run will last for? Can it last to at least the next new colours/new small accessories have been announced?

Audrey

[daisy]

Thanks for this Scott. Love how the people at TB are so receptive to customer input.

I assume that insurance is not possible for USPS FCM? (you mention no tracking but can't see mention of no insurance)

I generally prefer USPS mainly because I'm utterly terrified that UPS will just drop the box on the doorstep and go. I have had this happen with other courier companies, including Australia Post's parcel service. I live in a high traffic area and there's just no way I want my TB goodies sitting on the step waiting for me to come back ... hopefully that day ....

So I have a PO Box - which of course UPS won't deliver to :-)

Having said that, I've found the UPS TB deliveries to be fast and mostly uncrunched. I just have to plan my deliveries to be when I'm not away from home.

[blackfungi]

scott, what about small orders to canada? many a times i have wanted to order just a strap or a pouch or a travel tray.

[gonty]

This is the most fantastic news!

Thanks Scott.

[gonty]

Is a co-pilot by itself small enough for this or would it require UPS?

[falconea]

So I have a PO Box - which of course UPS won't deliver to :-)

This is my problem with deliveries as well - there's a big secure fence at home and no-one at home a lot of the time, so deliveries can't be made to home. I'm not allowed to get personal deliveries at work. So I have a PO box - and UPS and other courier services won't deliver to that!

I get my TB orders delivered to work anyway, and apologise to my boss in advance. Been working so far.

Any other company - if they won't deliver to my PO box they won't get my business.

My husband ordered some optical parts (very fragile) and they were delivered by UPS, who delivered by hurling this package that had "FRAGILE" stickers all over it over a 7 foot high fence onto hard brick paving! Fortunately the items were well packed and survived.

Audrey

[ScottS]

Yay! I have a big order in now alas, so I won't be able to do a test run. Am very pleased though to be able to do a small order for reasonable cost.

Any idea how long the trial run will last for? Can it last to at least the next new colours/new small accessories have been announced?

Audrey

We are going to keep the USPS option running as long as we don't run into any major hang ups in shipping! Hopefully everything will go smoothly and we can offer it long term. But we wanted to try it out and see if the service continues to be reliable.

[ScottS]

Is a co-pilot by itself small enough for this or would it require UPS?

Yes! A Co-Pilot would be able to ship by itself via First Class Mail!

[ScottS]

I assume that insurance is not possible for USPS FCM?

We've never had much luck actually processing insurance claims so we are not going to offer any insurance. It was one of the problems we had run into when we offered USPS service in the past.

[ScottS]

scott, what about small orders to canada? many a times i have wanted to order just a strap or a pouch or a travel tray.

If the trial run to Australia proves to be a successful venture then we would love to offer this service to other countries! I will send out a post if we decide to offer this service to Canada.

[JLE]

This is great (and enabling) news!

[Mare23]

It IS great news! I hope Europe will soon follow.

[kellie16]

Fantastic news!! Off I go to plan some purchases - all in the name of helping with your trial of course!!

[gonty]

As a favour to the Tom Bihn crew I have just placed an order to assist with this trial. It's the least I could do.

Only problem is waiting for the Co-Pilots to be back in stock.

Jonathan