I know we were chatting in the June sign up thread about this but I thought it deserved it's own thread that we might can refer back to. Since I lived in the UK and ended up shipping 9 boxes of personal/home goods back and forth, I feel comfortable shipping to the UK. But recently one of my pocket page envelopes was returned. It was in limbo in the postal system a long while too. I feel bad b/c I try to get my international ones out earlier in the month. I've been mailing mine in a standard size envelope folded down. The reason being is that my post office said that you can eliminate the need for a customs form that way. While you can't track it, and it can take longer, it is less likely to be tagged for customs fees, and if the proper size or smaller, it needs no form and costs around 2-5 dollars generally for the postage. Randomly one came back and they can only speculate as to why. It was a tad thicker than my usual and the UK requested a customs form. It added 10 dollars to the cost (which isn't a big deal or a problem for me) and a customs form. I have an excellent USPS office with two VERY NICE employees who know their stuff. I've been so impressed. She told me she thought it was SO ODD they sent this one back. So I thought maybe the others who chimed in could mention their tips on how to send pocket pages internationally. My tips would be to keep your papers on the thinner side and fold them into a standard envelope so they pass as a letter. Check what the regulations are for the country you are sending to... For example, I love to send a tea package in mine, but it may not be allowed. Visit your local post office or mailing center in person to discuss the best ways to mail. You may get different suggestions from different people. If you can, find a place to mail that has the same person on a regular basis. It helps to "make friends" and let them know or even show them the art you are sending.
One of the first pocket letter swaps I did here, I was paired with someone from the UK and I had no idea how to even put the correct address lines on there. I did ask the lady at the post office to check and make sure it was a valid address, but I was still so nervous it wouldn't arrive. Thankfully it did make it to it's destination, but I never did receive a letter from her back, which she did send, so I fear it got lost in the mail somewhere along the way. It's so confusing when I'm used to only mailing stuff in my own country.
I send (mostly) cards to two of my scrapping friends in The Netherlands, who are sisters. One sister got her Christmas card (2018) and the other did not. Same size - normal sized cards - I finally got it back. When I found out that one of the sisters didn't get her card, I quickly sent her a second one, which she got. I sent one to Cynthia this past Christmas as well and she got hers in record time. I have to agree with Kat, shipping to the UK seems to be without problems. I think it's boxes that get lost. I sent a fairly large package to another scrapping friend in Singapore, who had twin girls, and she never did get it. It cost a pretty penny to send that one, too. It finally floated back to me about 6 months later. I've been on international design teams for years (in the past) and we did lots of exchanges. Some were without problem and some weren't. We used to go to the Post Office, and had to fill out many duplicate forms. Then we started going to our neighborhood mail station. They do everything for us (forms, etc.) but I still got that one card back last Christmas. One of the sisters in The Netherlands frequently sends my grandson Asher cards + gift packages and we always get them. I'm wondering if things coming into the US have better luck getting to their destination than things going out? Just a guess.
My dad sends us Christmas cards from Germany to South Africa, even paying extra for express. We have gotten them as late as March. Stuff gets stolen here though so I wouldn't recommend sending to Africa.
That's so sad, but I know it's true. My sister was Director of Child Placement for Horizon International. Anything they sent got at least "gone through" and usually stolen. They started waiting until a Mission Group went and sent letters, etc. with them to carry in person. We weren't allowed to personally send anything to our sponsored children because they most likely would never get it.
