UPS shipping option missing in shop

Hi. The front page of the stuff site says that UPS is the preferred thing for international orders.
Just letting you know that I don’t see UPS as an option. I placed my order to the UK last Tuesday and I was given 3 USPS options, so I went with the most expensive one which was approx $75USD. Don’t know how that compares to the UPS option…

My stuff is just awaiting customs clearance and will be coming to me through Parcelforce (which I hate… they whack on high ‘customs processing fees’ and hold up your items)

Well thanks for the info. The reason I suspended the UPS option is that

For the UK it’s around $52 US. Let me know what Parcelforce charges. I was under the impression it would be handled by Royal Mail.

Parcelforce is part of the Royal Mail group. I’m not sure how they decide whether something is going to be handled by Royal Mail or Parcel Farce. I imagine their fees are the same though. The problem with Royal Mail / Parcel Farce is usually that it adds a delay because they often just deliver you a card to say that customs fees are due, when they could be delivering your item. i.e. they don’t let you pay when the item is on-route. It’s the holding up of stuff that’s a pain, as well as the fees of course but then they all charge those.
Their processing fee is usually £8 - £10, even if the vat and duty due is only pennies.

That’s about 25% of the fee charged by UPS. If I’m hearing you correctly, you think it’s worth it to get faster customs processing. My problem is that I have little control over the way WooCommerce presents shipping costs, so there isn’t a good way to fully disclose to customers the hidden costs of UPS processing fees. As a result, I get some disappointed customers.

Another factor is that in many countries, IoTaWatt slips through customs processing with little or no fees, but UPS is very efficient at applying every conceivable tax and duty. So double whammy. In Canada, they even charged HST of 13% on the processing fee itself.

That’s the processing/handling fee they add on top of the actual import charges (vat and duty). I can’t imagine UPS charge that much more.

Anyway it’s OK - I was really just posting to say that I wasn’t given the UPS option. The front page on the website says there’s a new UPS option for international orders and that it’s way better :wink:

£53 VAT
£12 ‘clearance fee’
total £65
and I received the letter telling me about it today. Any other carrier would have let me pay the fees and I’d have received the goods today instead of next Tuesday.

That’s good information. The system is very opaque. I checked UPS for your package. I can’t go back in time, but if I say I am shipping it next Tuesday, it would be scheduled to arrive on Friday. Shipping cost would be $58.59 USD. Brokerage charges are unknown, although I have a recent shipment to UK that is showing $27.82. So on balance, it appears to be an improvement over Parcelforce in both time and cost. In light of this, I will consider switching it back on. I has a rash of complaints over $50+ brokerage charges and could get no solid information from UPS about the way they determine those charges.

Thanks, and sorry for the delay.

No problem. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the kit!