No USPS First Class International to Australia?

[TECaccessories]

So my customers from Australia are able to place orders, checking out with USPS First Class International shipping thru Shopify. When I try to process the shipping label, I get a generic error. So I try to process thru Stamps.com, and I receive the following error message:

I actually tried Priority, which is way more expensive, and it still won't process the order through Shopify.  If USPS has suspended service, why does Shopify allow the customer to place the order using USPS First Class International shipping? I am having to contact customers and essentially cancel their orders because I cannot ship to them without charging huge fees for using UPS or other carriers. Has anyone else experienced this and possibly come up with a workaround?

[fashionabledeat]

same problem here

[Michiec]

Hi!

Yes I am experiencing this and it is a pain for sure!

I go to my paypal account and put in the customers shipping info and buy a label there in usps first class international and it works that way for now.

I hope shopifu adds it back.

[PamK]

I received this from Stamps.com:

In addition to the recent suspension of First Class Package International for shipments to Australia, USPS will suspend Priority Mail International as well, starting September 17, 2021. All shipments via these services will be returned to sender .

Thanks to Stamps.com's strong partnerships, we've got you covered. If you have a shipment you need to send to Australia during this time, we recommend the following :

• GlobalPost International Standard - GlobalPost uses a network of postal carriers, which provides a similar service to First Class Package International Service , often at lower rates . GlobalPost Standard shipments can easily be tracked via our shipment confirmation email or by visiting www.goglobalpost.com/track or the Stamps.com website. Learn More
• UPS - When shipping UPS through Stamps.com you get discounted rates up to 76% off international shipping , with no peak surcharge. UPS has a variety of options for merchants looking for end-to-end tracking updates for online marketplaces such as Amazon & eBay. Learn More
• USPS Priority Mail Express International - While more expensive than First-Class and Priority Mail , this service is currently still available for USPS delivery to Australia.

[MHawaiianLenses]

Yes, this is BS. Shopify shouldn’t let our customers complete the purchase. We are having to cancel each order and explain to the alienated customer that our platform isn’t up to speed. And I’m getting dinged from PayPal.

[TECaccessories]

Just a quick follow-up, most of you probably know that you can send the package via Global Post, so we have had to manually process these orderes outside of Shopify. We do this through Stamps.com, as they offer Global Post through their interface. I believe this is better than Shopify not allowing a customer to place an order if the Shopify carrier cannot ship to their country (USPS in this case), however it seems that some sort of notification to sellers from Shopify, with a workaround solution would have been appropriate. Having to figure this out on our own is not the best way to handle the situation.

As it is, the customer believes that they are getting the package through USPS, where in fact it is not. Some of my customers claim Global Post is not very reliable, however so far we have not heard of anyone not receiving their package. But we have decided to pay the extra couple of dollars on each shipment and use their Standard International shipping, not the Economy International shipping.

[Anindita]

Hi @TECaccessories @MHawaiianLenses @PamK @Michiec @fashionabledeat,

Though Shopify is integrated with USPS, this issue is from the carrier side. USPS suspended most international mail delivery to Australia from September until further notice due to the combined effects of a lack of transportation and COVID-19 restrictions.

For more details, you can refer to this: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shipping/setting-up-and-managing-your-shipping/enabling-shipping-...

And for the time being, you can use UPS, DHL, or FedEx.

[Michiec]

Thank you! The problem with other carriers is the expense.
I spoke to the post office and they do nit know when they will reinstate
shipping there.
--
Christina
Creative Castings and more

[TECaccessories]

@Anindita I'm sorry, but that is not an acceptable response. We understand USPS is the root cause of the delivery suspension. But if a customer places and order and gets charged about $15 for USPS First Class shipping, you expect us to pay 4X-10X more for DHL or UPS to make sure the customer receives their order? All I am saying is that if Shopify is facilitating their own integration of shipping as a means increase their revenue, they have a responsibility to at LEAST notify their customers (us) when something like this happens. That way be can be proactive about finding a solution and not having our customers getting angry about accepting their order and then telling them we cannot ship it because it is too expensive. Telling us it is a USPS problem is unacceptable and very unrealistic.