How we send your mail to you:

It's all pretty simple, actually.  You just get your mail coming to your new address here and we hold on to it until you ask for it (or have us put you on a schedule, if you're in one place for a while).  You don't really need to read the rest of the following detailed information.  It's just here for those that are curious about the specifics of our mail forwarding services and want to know some typical postage costs.  All you really have to worry about is getting your mail coming to your new address here. We will take care of the rest.

When you are in the States:

We use First Class or Priority Mail , based on weight, and United Parcel Service (UPS) ground for most shipments. PM takes 2-5 days, usually, no matter what they promise in their ads. UPS ground usually only takes one or two days in south Florida, so when you are in FL, that's what we try to use. It is about the same cost as PM for a couple of pounds, and much cheaper in the higher weights.

For faster delivery when needed, we use UPS 3-day, second-day, and next-day air, and FedEx two-day and overnight. We rarely use USPS Express mail, as its tracking is far less effective than  either  UPS  or FedEx.

Overseas:

Remember that Puerto Rico and the U.S.V.I. have regular mail prices, same as on the mainland US, and it's much cheaper than any other option throughout the Caribbean.

US Air Mail,  works well to some countries, poorly to others, keeping in mind , international air mail depends on the receiving nation for final delivery, which varies greatly.  We don't have good luck using US Air Mail to most of Central & South America, Antigua, and Mexico, to name a few. We have had things lost and never seen again, other things came back to us months and months later. It takes about 1-3 weeks to most places we send it.

If you have visitors, tell us to forward your mail to them before departure. We can send them a package, to arrive the day before they leave, with all your treasured correspondence. They can be your pack mules!

PLEASE tell your friends and family not to send little dutiable packages to you when you are overseas. That $10 CD or tee-shirt might cost you $30 extra to get if it means we can't use the letter rates for express service, and we can't store the stuff indefinitely -- we will have to send it to you or return it, we don't have unlimited storage.  Not to mention that your package will probably be delayed in customs and be subject to import duties.

If you go around the world, try to cull all junk mail and train your relatives before you go through the canal. :-) We have sent to Tahiti, Singapore, New Zealand and many other countries, via UPS and FedEx, and South Africa and Djibouti via DHL, and all we can say is it's expensive! But worth it, it seems, after you've made it through the Mozambique channel, to look through your mail and magazines from home.

Take care with the magazines, as well, once you are overseas. When we went, I had the Economist, Sports Illustrated, Cruising World, and Practical Sailor. I added the SSCA bulletin and dropped SI enroute. I paid for my enjoyment. If I did it again, I would send CW and PS to my sister, to keep for me to collect on a visit home. I would have the others sent. I really liked having a weekly newsmagazine to keep me in touch with the world out there. After I read them, we gave them away to other news hungry boaters. But very few of our customers have a weekly magazine, less than 10%. You end up getting five at once sometimes. SSCA is light, as is PS, and most get them.

If you want to know more detailed (and also boring) information about costs and services offered, continue reading.

Domestic shipments (within the US):

U.S.P.S. (United States Postal Service):

You are probably already aware of the most common types of service offered by the U.S.P.S.... It may be slow, but it's cheap.

First class mail:

This is usually the best way to go with something small and light. Delivery time? As you know, it gets there when it gets there.

Priority mail:

Many people think that this is a guaranteed two day service. Wrong! They promise to try to get it there in two to three days. Our experience has been that it seems to travel at about the same speed as first class.

FEDEX
UPS (United Parcel Service):

A little more reliable, in our opinion and automatically covered up to a declared value of $100. They have four domestic services: GROUND; 3 DAY ; SECOND DAY AIR; and NEXT DAY AIR.

A special note concerning UPS pickup and delivery days: Ground & 3 day select packages are picked up/Delivered Monday through Friday. Don't count Saturday/Sunday as transit days (i.e. a 3 day package sent on Wednesday will be delivered on Monday) UPS Second day air packages can be shipped on Saturday (the cut off time is noon) for Tuesday delivery, but Saturday delivery is not available (it is for fedex). Next day air packages can be delivered on Saturday, to many locations, for an additional $15.00 fee.

Before we can explain the faster air shipments, you need to understand DIMENSIONAL WEIGHT (or, beware of lampshades):

AIR (3 day select and faster) shipments will be charged at the actual weight or the dimensional weight, whichever is greater.

Dim weight is calculated as follows: multiply the width x length x height. Now divide that number by 194 (166 for international shipments). The result, rounded up, is the dimensional weight.  You are charged for the higher of actual verses dimensional weight. Packages containing only a stack of mail are rarely affected by dimensional weight. A 2 pound lampshade in a 18" X 18" X20" box might be billed at 40 pounds dimensional weight.

3 DAY :

This option can work well when you need that package to arrive by a certain date. We have found that tracked packages arrive on time (or early) 99% of the time. It is the slowest service available that offers a money back guarantee that it will arrive on time.

Packages are scheduled to arrive by the end of the third business day. You might want to use 3 Day Select, for example, when you need something to arrive in New York on Tuesday for someone catching a flight on Wednesday. This can also be a good option when you are on the west coast and something needs to arrive a little sooner than the regular six business days.

SECOND DAY AIR:

Need it to arrive in two business days? Second Day Air is the way to go and the prices aren't as high as you might think. There is also a special rate for letters and a free envelope is provided.

NEXT DAY AIR (you must be really interested to have gotten this far):

If you need to have it by the next business day, anywhere in the 50 states, Next Day Air is the way to go. We have until about 2:00 P.M. to get shipments out for next morning delivery. 

In general, major cities have a door to door 10:30 AM delivery deadline, and usually offer Saturday delivery for an extra $15 fee. Smaller cities usually have a noon commitment and rural areas might expect delivery by the end of the day. Just ask us or call 1 800 PICK UPS or 1 800 GO FEDEX or 1 800 AIRBORNE or 1800 CALL DHL if you need to know the commitment time for your area.