Quoted from vid1900:I think what companies are saying is that domestic parcels are picked up daily right at your home or business.
International parcels have to be taken to the PO, customs papers have to be filled out, and no matter which customs form you fill out ahead of time, when you get to the PO, the woman will tell you it's the incorrect form (or you can't use clear packing tape for that country, or you need a "commercial goods code" or.........)
I haven't filled out a customs form by hand in a few years now. If you have a postage count with Endicia, or something similar, it has integrated customs forms and all that jazz. I just have to type in a bit more info on a different tab, and that's it. Though it does help quite a lot with customs if you have an invoice in an external pocket. Then I can just drop it in the mailbox like the rest of my mail. And it's not like I'm a big company .... this is all from my home. I ship to Canada and Australia all the time, a fair amount to the UK, Germany and France .... heck, I've got an order here right now that's going to Sweden once I get a few parts in stock to finish it up.
The trick with overseas for me is maintaining compliance with all the legal nonsense these days, particularly anything going into the EU. RoHS compliance is a serious pain in the ass.
-Hans
