International Tracking-Countries to Avoid

[unusual_retail]

Has anyone seen a list of countries to avoid shipping via USPS? I know a lot of people recommend against Africa as a whole and some South and Central America. A complete list would help.

I just learned a hard lesson of shipping to Peru. I only have partial tracking, but nothing once it left the US. USPS has been sending me in circles...or not even responding. Looks like I'll be filing a claim tomorrow once the last date to be delivered has lapsed.

[a_c_green]

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@unusual_retail wrote:

I just learned a hard lesson of shipping to Peru. I only have partial tracking, but nothing once it left the US. USPS has been sending me in circles...or not even responding. Looks like I'll be filing a claim tomorrow once the last date to be delivered has lapsed.

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I'm confused... a buyer can file an Item Not Received once the last estimated date of delivery has passed, but as the seller, what claim would you file, and with whom? 

First Class Package International shipments can report tracking back from those countries who are members of the e-DELCON network (a list of those can be found here), but unfortunately Peru is not one of them. If you're concerned about tracking or proof of delivery in a country not in that network (such as for a high-value shipment), then escalate your shipment to Priority Mail International instead. It will definitely cost more, but should give you international tracking updates.

If your buyer is complaining, assure him that it's on the way and that you're monitoring the situation (for what that's worth). This is the busy Christmas season, after all. Don't dwell on the fact that you are not likely to get any further updates, but he may stop complaining once his package arrives. 

If your buyer is not complaining, then just sit tight.

[richard1rst]

I ship all over the world. I do not restrict any country. On the other hand, I am not selling electronics or phones or any of the other goodies that seem to be high on the scammers list. In those cases some discretion would seem to be in order.

As far as those that are not e-delcon, it is simple to find the individual countries postal tracking site and check there. Even if they do not report to the USPS you can sometimes find what you need on their site.

On balance I have not had any more problems with lost mail internationally than I have had domestically ('cause sometime even the USPS looses one.)

[unusual_retail]

I'm familiar with E-Delcon, but I really don't want to go through the list at the USPS site and then cross reference with the list of all 200 countries in the world to filter out who makes the cut. Because even that list isn't great. Belize is a country that is relatively safe to ship to, but they don't use 242 or whatever that code is. Belize was a British colony, very westernized for Central America.

And yes I could create a pivot table, filter out the unnecessary data, blah blah blah, and do it kind of quickly. But I would rather someone else do the work. I'm being lazy about it.

I just don't want to deal with a hassle like this in the future, because dealing with USPS and lost packages is a huge pain made even harder when it's international.

[unusual_retail · Accepted solution]

Does anyone ever actually reply with anything helpful? Or is it always people asking more questions that don't matter, or answering a question I didn't ask?

[richard1rst]

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@unusual_retail wrote:

Does anyone ever actually reply with anything helpful? Or is it always people asking more questions that don't matter, or answering a question I didn't ask?

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Well, actually I did answer your question. You asked is there was a list of countries to avoid. I said that I ship worldwide with no more problems than shipping domestically. In other words, no list exists because no list is necessary.

You then go on to say in the precious post:

But I would rather someone else do the work. I'm being lazy about it.

Really? You are upset because you can’t con someone else into doing your work for you? Put on your Big Boy pants and do your own work.

I just don't want to deal with a hassle like this in the future, because dealing with USPS and lost packages is a huge pain made even harder when it's international.

Simple answer. Don’t ship internationally. Problem solved.

[unusual_retail]

Actually you didn't answer the question. I asked if someone knew of a resource. Do you have a link? If not, stop replying.

[a_c_green]

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@unusual_retail wrote:

Actually you didn't answer the question. I asked if someone knew of a resource.

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There is no list of "countries to avoid;" it would be purely subjective at best. There is a list of e-DELCON countries, which specifically includes those countries who can scan a First Class Package from the U.S. and return its tracking data.

The e-DELCON list is only relevant to First Class international shipments. Priority Mail and higher will return tracking data from all countries (with certain exceptions for packaging types; e.g. tracking is not available for Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelopes or Small Flat Rate Boxes).

Ref: https://www.usps.com/international/priority-mail-international.htm (and Disclaimer footnote #4)

[1tuna]

you can look at my list of excluded countries,it is all but the edelcon countries

ACgreen bring up a good point about other services such as priority mail.I consider priority mai inferior now to edelcon shipping.I used to use USPS international priority for years at 40 bucks a pop.I was wasting my money on it but wanted the tracking.I ship good stuff all the time with edelcon,you can  not beay ebays price of $12.19 for up to 8 ounces to all those countries,that is what TRS+ pay for it.

I rely heavily on the edeclon shipping for about 300 packages a year.all of my customers know that I use it and I would not have so many coming back if I made them pay for priority.I have no problems with sending a $1000 item with edelcon,its just a great service.I f I get spooked about someone I upgrade to EMS