Why are postage costs out of the USA so inconsistent and generally expensive compared to England

[vk4eee]

Noticed big differences in postage costs and delivery times out of the USA.  $60.00 USD for a small item (Antenna mount) compared to 11 Pounds Stering for a dual exhausts for a car.  6 days delivery for the item out of England - weeks for delivery out of the USA

Makes no sense but I suspect it is an ebay thing and not a seller thing

[padi*0409 · Accepted solution]

Is the seller using the GSP ? if so that would explain it, the GSP shipping method is notoriously expensive for small goods if the seller doesn't put weight and measurements into the postage calculator.

A lot of sellers are unaware they are opted into the programm as well. 

[zanadoo_56]

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@vk4eee wrote:

Noticed big differences in postage costs and delivery times out of the USA.  $60.00 USD for a small item (Antenna mount) compared to 11 Pounds Stering for a dual exhausts for a car.  6 days delivery for the item out of England - weeks for delivery out of the USA

Makes no sense but I suspect it is an ebay thing and not a seller thing

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Some sellers use the USPS Priority Mail (not the GSP version that looks just like it) and that's very expensive...and ironically slow and from my two experiences with it not trackable.

I've been reading the US boards for a few years now about postage and there were some sellers who make no apologies for factoring in every piece of recycled packaging, sticky tape, old newspaper etc for packing to a ridiculous degree (with the suspicion the cost of petrol to post the thing was also included.....not that it could be proved).  Don't know if that is still the case.  One hopes not.

It's weird but the more expensive the postage is the slower it is (USPS I mean....the GSP is a whole other matter).  It hasn't been easy to convince US sellers sometimes it's better to keep it simple when shipping to Oz, where for small items use USPS First Class International instead of the more expensive and slower options.