Shipping from the US Is Painful

Ugh, whenever I find something that I need, I hope that I can get it in Europe. Sometimes I can't and that means dealing with shipping from the US. Its always painful and its only made worse when you try to go with a cheap shipper. The US Postal Service is one of the worst for any international shipping. I have never received anything shipped by them anywhere close to on time. Usually take the estimate, multiply times three, and hope for the best.

To make things worse, if you ship with USPS, the receiver WILL have to pay duties for the package coming in. Usually (not always) when shipping with FedEx, UPS, and other similar companies, the shipping is quick, and the duties aren't required.

My most recent example was shipped on August 1. I finally received it today. The cost of the item was 79 USD (54 Euros). The customs duties I had to pay for that was 33 USD (23 Euros). Its always painful. Ugh.