thenuthouse Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 All of us who ship records overseas know about the various hassles -- lack of tracking, increased costs, and the dreaded customs form (which you always seem to forget until you get to the post office). It just got a lot more time-consuming, however. Starting this week (yesterday, near as I can tell), all information on the customs claim form has to be entered into a computer. What this means for you is that, rather than just waiting for them to stamp the form and get your receipt, you now have to stand there, the people behind you staring daggers into the back of your head, while the postal clerk punches everything into the computer. I imagine it'll get quicker as folks get used to it, but today it took almost five minutes to ship ONE package. I live in a college town with a pretty good population of students from overseas, so it'll probably get better sooner than for those of you elsewhere. Just a heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoonbill Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 you can fill out the customs form online, print it out and then all of the information will be in the post office clerk's computer when they scan the barcode in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmp Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 you can fill out the customs form online, print it out and then all of the information will be in the post office clerk's computer when they scan the barcode in. this. i always print everything online from work and drop it off at the post office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooks79 Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 You should all still send me records Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac1 Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 The USPS shipping assistant (a download you sign up for) will allow you to fill out all the information and print the international label at your house. But you do still need to bring the package to the post office. At that point the teller will scan your code (all the information is on-line), verify the weight, you pay and the package is gone. I have done this a couple of times and definitely moves the process along quickly. The tellers were actually shocked that it worked.!!! I thought this type of form was only for "registered" (over 4 lbs or priority) and just a simple triplicate CN-22 (sendee and senders address is required) will do for most items. Of course, shipping from home is contingent on having a scale. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoonbill Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 you don't need to download anything. http://webapps.usps.com/customsforms/sender_recipient.jsp shenanigans 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock N Roll Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 All of us who ship records overseas know about the various hassles -- lack of tracking, increased costs, and the dreaded customs form (which you always seem to forget until you get to the post office). It just got a lot more time-consuming, however. Starting this week (yesterday, near as I can tell), all information on the customs claim form has to be entered into a computer. What this means for you is that, rather than just waiting for them to stamp the form and get your receipt, you now have to stand there, the people behind you staring daggers into the back of your head, while the postal clerk punches everything into the computer. I imagine it'll get quicker as folks get used to it, but today it took almost five minutes to ship ONE package. I live in a college town with a pretty good population of students from overseas, so it'll probably get better sooner than for those of you elsewhere. Just a heads up. I work for the USPS and I haven't heard anything about this. If this is a new thing, it hasn't made its way into my office yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shenanigans Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I shipped something internationally on Thursday and used the regular paper form... It this is the case though, thanks for the heads up and to the dude that posted the link +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoonbill Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 it started over a week ago. just fill/print out the online form and it won't take much longer than it used to. saves the hand cramps as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiefwahoo Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 you can fill out the customs form online, print it out and then all of the information will be in the post office clerk's computer when they scan the barcode in. This is awesome news, thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 It's already begung here in the south. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenuthouse Posted June 17, 2012 Author Share Posted June 17, 2012 it started over a week ago. just fill/print out the online form and it won't take much longer than it used to. saves the hand cramps as well. Thanks. The postal folk didn't suggest this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjb2k1 Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 good to know, thank you for the heads up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shenanigans Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 will be finding out tomorrow what the deal is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradedOnACurve Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Sent a record to Quebec City the other day. Postal woman did take a few minutes to enter the information into the system. I guess with the amount of Chinese and Russian packages sent out from over here it didn't bother her... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanbct Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Had to get a stamps.com account because of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natealcatraz Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I noticed this last week also. I was sending a package to Australia and I had 5 minutes of awkward silence from the teller. I didn't realize what was happening until the 3rd minute when he was still typing. It made me feel like an a$$hole. Oh well, I guess I'll have to use my work computer to print everything out now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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