> > Another reluctance may be that it's much more a pain in the butt to 
> > send something outside the country than domestic.
> 
> I am truely amazed how difficult this is for US residents. 
> Can't you just drop a letter to overeseas in a mailbox? In my 
> country a mailbox will accept 'letters' up to 30 mm, so the 
> majority of my packages can be posted this way. Even when I 
> have a package that does not fit I can put on the stamps and 
> drop it off at the postoffice, without standing in line. 
> There are some exceptions, like postman-payed, conformation 
> of receipt, etc, but I can do almost all packages I sent 
> (~2000 last year) without standing in line. I can even order 
> new stamps over internet :)

I wasn't going to reply on this thread but, I just can't keep shut about
this.

YES! The USPS /SUCKS/ when it comes to shipping outside the USA. PayPal has
now made it /somewhat/ easy to ship things by printing the triplicate copies
of the customs forms for you along with the postage / address / etc... 

However, that only works for global air, priority or express service. In a
perfect world, that would be just fine, but this isn't. I can't being to
tell you the number of shipments that have been "lost" either at the
receiving end or in customs. I firmly believe that the customs services of
some countries are crooked as a dogs hind leg. Or they are being used as an
excuse to rip me of, but I don't believe that so many different buyers could
be crooked; it's the customs service or local postal people.

The only way I have found to reliably get a package to a person outside the
USA is to send it via registered mail. That way, the customs agent at the
other end has to sign for the package from the US postal service and if it
is lost, the resulting investigation has a target for the finger to point
at, so to speak. I've NEVER had a registered mail package "lost" or
contested in any way.

The problem with registered is that the US postal service takes it so
seriously that they require I hand it to them. I can't just drop it in the
mail. So there I am, standing in line...

What I need is a shipping system where a specific person on the other end
has to sign for it when it leaves the USA, but where I can just drop off the
package here.

I've tried the PayPal / Global Priority mail system recently for low dollar
value shipments and sure enough, I have a "lost" package to a guy in Brazil.
And he is emailing every day, wanting to know where his stuff is... I'm
going to refund him and loose the item rather than resend it, which will not
make him happy, but I just can't send good product after bad, and PayPal
will be satisfied.

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