combined global shipping and One or more dimensions is below acceptable minimum dimensions

[rogers1949]

Hi everyone, I had an international buyer buy it now and pay for an item on friday night then win an auction on saturday night. as a rule of thumb if they pay separately I will ship separately and I know you aren't supposed to combine shipping for global shipping items but when I went to purchase the shipping label for the first item 4x4x4 box 1 pound 9 ounces USPS priority mail to the global shipping center in KY. it tells me "One or more dimensions is below acceptable minimum dimensions for this service" this is the 3rd or 4th one of these items that I have sold and I have used these dimensions before, has USPS changed the dimension requirements for priority mail? have they combined the shipping through the global shipping center? they haven't paid for the second item yet, could I calculate the remaining total owed combine the shipping for the two items and send a new invoice for the remaining total? will this be ok with customs and the global shipping center or will something be slipping by customs ect. not sure why it won't let me print the shipping label, I have checked the dimensions several times and everything looks ok to me, anybody have any ideas how I should handle this?

[rogers1949]

I don't know, I think the best solution I can think of is to combine the items in a 6x6x6 box, weigh it and estimate the total shipping from the USPS website. then subtract the shipping already paid and add the total still owed. send the combined shipping invoice with the remaining total to the buyer  then after they have paid for the second item purchase the shipping label with the new dimensions and weight for the second item print and pack shipping invoices for both items and manually add the same tracking number to the first item. does anybody have any opinions on this plan?

[rogers1949]

I don't know if this will mess up the international shipping charges and the customs or if it will be ok, I just as soon ship them separate but don't know why it won't let me print the label.

[rogers1949]

I think it will mess everything up because instead of paying for the international shipping of 3 or 4 oz in a 4x4x4 box for the second item they will be paying for a 6x6x6 box almost 2 pounds and paying for the first item again which they already paid for, I think I gotta just figure out why my dimensions won't work.

[rogers1949]

I don't know what the problem is but apparently my 4x4x4 box is to small for the priority mail service after selling and shipping 3 of these items already, I can change the box up to a 6x6x6 and it will let me print the shipping label. problem is they already paid and I'm sure switching the size of the box will mess up the over seas shipping that they already paid for. whatever I do is gonna be wrong.

[disneyshopper]

See if you can get a priority mail box #4 from your post office.  The size is 7 x 7 x 6 .  I use those all the time.  Order them free from USPS.COM.  They come in a pack of 10 or 25, shipped free to your home.  Since most post offices only offer the flat rate priority boxes, your post office might not have any on hand.

[divwido]

I have been told I cannot ship an item in a 4x4x2 box or a four cube.  So I just tell them it's a five cube.  Doesn't raise the price and they let me ship.

[rogers1949]

Thanks! I have ordered lots of boxes from USPS.com but I didn't know they had square boxes, I will check that out.

[rogers1949]

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@divwido wrote:

I have been told I cannot ship an item in a 4x4x2 box or a four cube.  So I just tell them it's a five cube.  Doesn't raise the price and they let me ship.

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Thanks! I might try that and I don't even mind paying extra for the 6x6x6 box  I have because the price was pretty close but I'm afraid if I change the size of the shipping box it might mess up the over seas shipping.

[pjcdn2005 · Accepted solution]

The only time that you can  put more than one purchase in one box when you are using global shipping is if the buyer uses the cart and pays for everything at once.

You can't make your own invoice and combine the 2 purchases.

As far as changing the box, I doubt that will affect the international shipping charges much if at all.   They will be sending it freight so the price they pay is likely based on bulk of all off the packages being shipped at that one time.  If they are shipping 50 packages, a few inches difference on one package isn't going to affect the charge.

[berserkerplanet]

The software interface may have implemented some interpretation of USPS rules on min pkg sizes.

The basic rule is that the pkg must have a face large enough to fit a label, and USPS labels are pretty much 4"x6" by definition (the actual label specs - not what some think they can shrink them down to). That translates into a minimum 4"x6" size.

Assuming the above is what the software may be rejecting, and assuming that GSP adjustments (if there even are any) are going to be based on volume, OP can fudge the pkg dimensions from 4x4x4 to 8x8x1 to satisfy the supposed software rejection of a label face size under 4x6, and it has the same volume and therefore dimensional weight if that is an issue.

(that is all guessing at what criteria are being used by GSP and what the software is doing and complaining about)

[rogers1949]

alright Thanks for the help! I talked to the guy at the post office when I took my other orders in and he said the 4x4x4 box should ship just fine. when I got home I tried to change it to 5x5x5 and it said the dimensions were still less than the minimum, it would only take 6x6x6 so what I'm gonna do is take the 4x4x4 box to the post office and let them print the shipping label and it should make it to the global shipping center just fine without messing up any of the shipping they already paid for on their end.

[rogers1949]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

The only time that you can  put more than one purchase in one box when you are using global shipping is if the buyer uses the cart and pays for everything at once.

You can't make your own invoice and combine the 2 purchases.

As far as changing the box, I doubt that will affect the international shipping charges much if at all.   They will be sending it freight so the price they pay is likely based on bulk of all off the packages being shipped at that one time.  If they are shipping 50 packages, a few inches difference on one package isn't going to affect the charge.

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Thanks! I know I'm not supposed to combine the shipping and it doesn't even provide a link to do so, I just don't know why it wouldn't let me print the label this is the first time this has happened and I have used a 4x4x4 box to ship these items before this is the 3rd or 4th one I have shipped.

[rogers1949]

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@berserkerplanet wrote:
The software interface may have implemented some interpretation of USPS rules on min pkg sizes.

The basic rule is that the pkg must have a face large enough to fit a label, and USPS labels are pretty much 4"x6" by definition (the actual label specs - not what some think they can shrink them down to). That translates into a minimum 4"x6" size.

Assuming the above is what the software may be rejecting, and assuming that GSP adjustments (if there even are any) are going to be based on volume, OP can fudge the pkg dimensions from 4x4x4 to 8x8x1 to satisfy the supposed software rejection of a label face size under 4x6, and it has the same volume and therefore dimensional weight if that is an issue.

(that is all guessing at what criteria are being used by GSP and what the software is doing and complaining about)

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I think it was something along those lines, after accessing the outbound data several times and not being able to get the sending parameters to mingle appropriately  from my desktop I was able to repeat the sending parameters at the main branch and the label printed successfully. I think all is well, Thanks for the help!