| University
of Texas at Austin
International
Office
UT Family
and Community Programs
|
|
Mailing
and Shipping
Mailing
Regular
Mail
Post Office (U.S. Postal Service)
www.usps.com
This web site contains full information on rates and services.
Letter-post items weighing less than16 ounces do not require Customs declarations.
Express Mail – U.S. and Overseas
The countries of service and the prices vary with each company. All these
services provide online tracking of deliveries.
U.S. Postal Service
www.usps.com
Next day delivery to many destinations in the U.S. by 12 noon
Home pick-up only in your mailbox, with proper postage attached.
Other Companies
You can pay by check or credit card if you go to one of their service
centers with your package; otherwise, you need an account number (either
your own or the recipient’s) for payment. These companies will pick
up packages at your home or office. Many of the private mailing stores
in strip malls (such as Mail Boxes Etc., Pakmail, Pack & Mail of Austin,
Mail Center USA and Mail Depot) offer UPS and Federal Express services.
You can find a complete listing under "Mailbox-Rental and Receiving"
in the Yellow Pages of the phone book.
Federal Express
www.fedex.com
United Parcel Service
www.ups.com
DHL
www.dhl.com
Shipping
If you need
to send things home, the best way to do it (for small packages) is to
go to your local postal office. Check their web site at http://www.usps.com.
It will give you a good idea of how much you will pay for the different
services.
The postal clerks will usually ask you if you want to buy insurance for
your package. This is totally optional.
You will have to fill out a Customs form for all packages going out of
the United States. It asks for the content and the value of the package.
The postal clerk can help you with this. If you mark the little "gift"
square on the custom form, the person receiving the package will not have
to pay the taxes for the amount declared on the form.
Remember that if you can fit what you are sending home in an envelope
it will cost you less.
There are other options for shipping besides the U.S Postal Service, especially
if you need to send home items that you have accumulated while you were
here. For those heavy boxes, take a look at these web sites:
www.shippinginternational.com
www.shipping-worldwide.com
www.ups.com |