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I handle the shipping for my company, so in UPS's defense, I'll share my opinions.
In our experience, UPS is much more reliable than USPS or Fedex. In two years of shipping, with UPS as our primary shipper, I have seen two cases of mistakes: an overnight package that took 2 days and a 3-day that took 4. Fedex, even though we use them less, has lost multiple packages, as has the USPS. USPS packages going international almost never make it anywhere close to on-time.
Speed: Fedex and UPS are comparable: you pick your speed. Ground packages depend on how far they're going. USPS Priority is 2-3 days anywhere in the country, but not guaranteed. So, going coast-to-coast, USPS will usually come out ahead, but if a customer expects delivery by a certain date, you can't count on it. And for regional delivery, 2 days in UPS or Fedex ground transit will get you pretty far.
Cost: if you can take advantage of a special rate for a certain package size with USPS, you come out ahead that way. Otherwise, their prices aren't much different.
Tracking: there's much more accountability with UPS or Fedex's tracking systems.
International: From the shipper's perspective, Fedex is a royal PITA. I've never had to fill out so many forms, and we rarely use Fedex for international anymore. DHL is our preferred international carrier, because they are the easiest. Don't know what they charge the customer relative to the others, but not having to spend hours on paperwork allows us to keep our own costs down, which we can pass along to the customer.
I agree that the charges you outline are pretty silly, but I'd be surprised if the other carriers are much different. If customs lets something slip through, that's one thing...but once it gets held up, someone's getting money for it.
BTW, all international shipments must have a declared value, or customs will reject them. If the part is a direct replacement for a faulty one that was returned, it should be marked as such, and no duties should be assessed. However, a part that you buy from eEuroparts to replace something that failed on your car does not fall into that category.
Matt
'99 9³
posted by 65.106.18...
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