Odd, isn't it...

[ffutures]

...that when I sell a fairly heavy camera lens on eBay I can get it to the USA in a week, with insurance and tracking, for £17.....

...but if I want to buy a fairly light bit of software from a US vendor on eBay (a disk plus manual in a plastic bag) they quote me up to $50 depending on delivery speed, with delivery at that price still taking up to a week.

Are the US postal options really that crap, or do US vendors just not want to do business with British buyers?

Comments

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Weird - when I was selling my camera gear and some other stuff a couple of weeks ago I sent two international insured packages and four recorded delivery inland in about five minutes, and I thought that was taking longer than usual. The stuff I send internationally on a day-to-day basis, like the Forgotten Futures CD-ROM, just goes in a jiffy bag with a label showing its value and weight and my address, rubber stamps to show that it's "Airmail" and "Small Packet", and a few stamps, I drop it in any post box. As far as I know you can post anything that way provided it'll fit through the post box slot and you don't want insurance etc., I don't think weight comes into it.