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In case anyone's wondering, I looked some time ago, it's still the case.
With the current state of “international shipping”, no wonder, honestly.
Couple of days ago with a day or two in between, I pulled two Christmas cards from the US out of our mailbox. One was a regular USPS mailed card, stamped 17th of December. The other I suspect came via a ‘print and ship‘ service, as it was only ever really put into the postal system in the Netherlands.
Since about 2019 you can’t use a regular mail envelope/cushion mailer anymore to forward actual goods internationally. So you have at least shipping cost for an untracked/uninsured parcel, which is double of what a “registered cushion mailer” was back in the day. If you want tracking/insurance, it’s even more expensive.
And the timeline, I was honestly shocked to see how long it took for a parcel shipped that way from my local PO, to the Frankfurt Airport PO, how long it was held at the Frankfurt Airport PO before it arrived at an Airport within the Country it was shipped to.
As a private entity, I don’t mind. And if you really need to get something somewhere fast, there is always a courier/ logistics company that is not the postal system. But obviously cost is in accordance with the service.
Something else that has been going on for quite some time, Szczecin in Poland is
becoming maybe the most important logistics/ fulfillment hub in Europe now. Many large manufacturers/companies ship from there. Labor and energy cost are low and they have quick access to land/air/sea. And for competitive pricing on shipping, some of these logistics provider ”copy” the Chinese. For a parcel to Germany, they buy a national/German DHL shipping label, you then get an e-mail that your order has shipped, but it actually hasn’t. They just print a ton of labels, gather all the parcels for one country and bring them across the “border“ to ship them with the local logistics provider.
Long story short, if a small company like Knipex were to offer international shipping, they would need at least 2 full time employees just to do that. Not only the shipping/customs stuff, but for customer support. Imagine, what I described above with my parcel, sitting for days/weeks without moving. How many “where is my stuff” e-mails would they have to answer? People expect the “next day, free shipping, Amazon” experience.
Currently, except our mail guy, delivery drivers fall like flies, err, change regularly. So I haven’t had a worthwhile conversation in a longer period. Our last regular/ everyday DHL guy, before he got transferred to another route, said the following to me once: I can not finish my route, I can not deliver a package and simply re-schedule, but one thing I can’t do, unless I’m dead or med-evaced from my van: Not deliver an Amazon package.
And that is where we are. There is one company that has an insane amount of “sway” over all the logistics providers, and everyone else is 2nd tier, if even at all. Depending on the carrier, they might have another important customer or two who they try to appease/ not disappoint with fast delivery times. But if you’re Joe Average, using regular shipping options that are not guaranteed, good luck.
I notice this all the time. Packages from companies that are considered a “valuable customer” by any given logistics provider come on time, are rushed through the system even though being “regular packages”, not express/guaranteed delivery. And other stuff, even if scheduled for delivery get postponed at will, are not out for delivery on a Saturday, or are simply held back in favor of packages shipped by customers considered “more valuable”.
Being a small company, shipping stuff s*cks b*lls.
And God knows I know the pain of not being able to order stuff, because a lot of companies, in my opinion rightfully, don’t participate in the circus that (international) shipping has become.
Kind regards,
Olli
it´s metric 
