Is it difficult *expensive* to buy curricula for military families overseas?

[5KidzRUs]

Is it difficult *expensive* to buy curricula for military families overseas?

 

Do the book stores and publishers charge more because they have to fill out a customs form for overseas - even though it is to an APO? I am thinking of sites like Rock Solid, GCB, RR ... etc ...

[Mrs Mungo]

Generally speaking, you won't get free shipping but they won't charge you overseas shipping, either. You usually pay normal ground shipping price to New York/California (depending upon where you are stationed).

 

I refused to purchase from companies who tried to charge me for overseas shipping. This is partly because I quickly learned that if they weretryin to charge me for oversea shipping, then they did not understand the process and would inevitably screw up the order.

[Renthead Mommy]

The biggest problem you may have is places that only ship via fed/ex or UPS because they have a contract or something with them. I had that probelm with Staples I think. They couldn't ship USPS. I had to have something sent to my mom and then she had to send it, so I ended up spending double shipping, but it was something I couldn't find elsewhere.

 

You can still get media mail, but going overseas will certainly add time. Your package first has to travel media through the USPS to the Apo processing place. Then it has to travel via the APO system.

[mommytobees]

I've gotten to the point that I only purchase (or have shipped directly to me) companies who understand that I want USPS Priority. Yes, I'll pay more. Yes, you might have to put it into more than one box. But, I want it shipped Priority. I have an FPO address and anything other than Standard, Priority, and "Overnight" takes a slow boat, via China (no, not really) whenever the US Navy feels like doing it.

 

In the very beginning of January, I ordered something on Amazon and didn't really pay attention to _which_ company was filling the order. The shipping was reasonable and I was busy. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. It was shipped by Joann's. Joann's doesn't believe in shipping anything other than Parcel Post. Just shoot me now. It took 8 weeks to get here, and I was lucky!

 

I *Love* companies that will go the little bit extra and get a USPS APO/FPO Priority box, or two! Rainbow Resource is *awesome*! Last year I placed a rather large order and they charged me an arm and a leg for shipping. Still within the acceptable end, but on the *high* end. After everything was placed, I was given a refund of almost 1/3 of the shipping and told they didn't need it all. I was *so* very thrilled!

 

You do have to be watchful at which companies will not even allow you to bill an APO/FPO address. Geomatters (last time I checked last year) wouldn't allow me to even purchase books from them and have them shipped to my mom in AZ. I finally ended up ordering from another source and writing them a nasty email, which was ignored. There are a number of companies that won't even try to allow it. Home Depot was another.

 

Anyway, there ya go!

 

Kris

[TammyinTN]

I just got all of next years stuff and it was all sent priority mail. It arrived in 1to 1 1/2 weeks. It was no more expensive than living in the states.

[stripe]

It was shipped by Joann's. Joann's doesn't believe in shipping anything other than Parcel Post. Just shoot me now. It took 8 weeks to get here, and I was lucky!

 

If it makes you feel any better, I had this happen a few years ago, and I am in the US. It was apparently stuck somewhere with hundreds of other orders. Very odd.

[Mary in NJ]

I did not have any problem ordering my books. Most everything was sent by priority mail. If I purchased a used book from someone and they used media mail, it could take weeks before I got my book. For my used books that I purchased from this board or other places, I had them sent to a friend who checked the book out to make sure it was what I had ordered. She would then package it up and send it on to me. Saved a lot of time and frustration.

 

The misconception is that it costs more to send packages to a military installation overseas. The postage price is the same. The delivery can be a bit lengthy compared to direct US service.

 

If a book company states that it would not send items to an APO address, then I did not give them my business and I still do not, even though I'm back in the states.

 

Edited to add:

I just noticed your question about custom forms. It only takes a couple of minutes to complete a custom form. No one has ever charged me more because of that. Not to say that some book companies may try to pull that trick. HOWEVER, the post office does not charge extra for the custom form, so the business should not. If you are charged a handling fee, then the completion of that form should be included. (I also stayed away from companies that charged a handling fee)

Edited March 6, 2010 by Mary in NJ

[Jamee]

I've had a lot of success just ordering through Amazon, free shipping and quick delivery. There are companies that want to charge more for mailing priority and I just avoid those when I can--you also don't get the same free-shipping deals a lot of times. I don't understand why they have to charge and arm and a leg when they can just put my order in a flat rate priority box.:confused: You also have to be careful of those who ship media mail. Those boxes can take up to two months to be delivered.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Is it difficult *expensive* to buy curricula for military families overseas?

 

Do the book stores and publishers charge more because they have to fill out a customs form for overseas - even though it is to an APO? I am thinking of sites like Rock Solid, GCB, RR ... etc ...

 

It costs less to send a package to our overseas address (where the zipcode is a CA zip) than it did to send things to us in Hawaii.

 

I've had generally good luck with Amazon. Books and toys arrive within about two weeks. The biggest trick I've learned is to go through the effort of making multiple smaller orders that trigger free shipping rather than one really big order. (I once had a $450 order held for over a month because they were waiting for a $2 coloring book to complete the order.)

 

I dislike companies that charge based on the cost of the order, because that overcharges me when I'm ordering expensive stuff like Latin, math or video curriculum.

 

I tend to hold a bitter impression, so there are companies that I haven't used for years because they wanted so much excess in shipping and others that I keep going back to, time after time.

 

I have also been known to email a company to tell them that I can cut down on an order (getting what I could from Amazon) because of their shipping policies. I know that they get great shipping rates through their UPS/Fedex contracts and that those don't apply to me. But a flat rate priority box just isn't that expensive.

[TravelingChris]

It isn't just books that we have problems with. I can't remember which company I was trying to use (definitely not JC Penny or Nordstrom's since they both had excellent shipping policies), but I remember being so frustrated that I couldn't get a regular trench coat. There was at least one company that had exactly what I wanted but wouldn't ship APO. That is how I remember about Nordstrom's. They would.

 

JC Penney sold socks which was something I couldn't get at our local PX.

[mommytobees]

If it makes you feel any better, I had this happen a few years ago, and I am in the US. It was apparently stuck somewhere with hundreds of other orders. Very odd.

 

LOL! Too true!

 

Kris

[mommytobees]

Edited to add:

I just noticed your question about custom forms. It only takes a couple of minutes to complete a custom form. No one has ever charged me more because of that. Not to say that some book companies may try to pull that trick. HOWEVER, the post office does not charge extra for the custom form, so the business should not. If you are charged a handling fee, then the completion of that form should be included. (I also stayed away from companies that charged a handling fee)

 

This is one place where I'm much more lenient. Specifically for the smaller "family" business I tend to purchase from. It takes time to fill out the forms. Having the form means the person mailing it actually has to go into the USPS office and stand in line (vs having UPS/Fed Ex pick up OR using the USPS I-print-off-the-label-and-drop-it-off method). This takes time, gas, and effort. I want to support the effort and encourage them to continue.

 

Kris

[mommytobees]

It costs less to send a package to our overseas address (where the zipcode is a CA zip) than it did to send things to us in Hawaii.

 

Yes, I've found the same thing! We love flat rate boxes!

 

 

I've had generally good luck with Amazon. Books and toys arrive within about two weeks. The biggest trick I've learned is to go through the effort of making multiple smaller orders that trigger free shipping rather than one really big order. (I once had a $450 order held for over a month because they were waiting for a $2 coloring book to complete the order.)

 

Last year I finally just got Amazon Prime and that made everything *so* very much easier. I usually "make" the cost of Prime just at Christmas.

 

 

I dislike companies that charge based on the cost of the order, because that overcharges me when I'm ordering expensive stuff like Latin, math or video curriculum.

 

This is my current issue with Sonlight!!

 

Kris