If not already noted, the continental USA (CONUS) does in fact include Alaska. Alaska is not one of the contiguous states however. CONUS 48 is another story. Maybe it excludes Washington DC?? It more usually referred to excluding offshore US possessions or territories. It may be a term that predates AK and HI becoming states in 1959. In this day and age it is silly to exclude AK and HI as well as other US possessions from shipping when it is so easy to determine the shipping costs and relate that info to the buyer. Some years ago (pre world wide web days) it would not be so easy to do but you only had ads in QST to sell things back then. Yup. It could be that people who say "CONUS only" in ads don't place many ads at all and just think since they see it often that it must be the best way to go. It tells me that they may not be all that bright. Even shipping overseas is not that difficult. If you buy and print the postage for overseas online all that horrible paperwork is done right then. If it is an Ebay sale it all gets automatically filled in as I recall. You do have to hand it to the counter person at the post office. Or at least they say you are supposed to.
I ordered a new jacket today. It will be shipped FedEx Standard Ground. The vendor's caveat: Delivery to Alaska or Hawaii can take up to 20 days. Considering the "Gotta have it yesterday" prevalent in online buying, I wonder how many allegations of fraud this would generate.
Large Package, weight 22 lb 0 oz (9.979 kg), mailed on February 3 from RENSSELAER NY 12144 to VOLCANO HI 96785 Priority Mail 3-Day $66.40 Large Package, weight 22 lb 0 oz (9.979 kg), mailed on February 3 from RENSSELAER NY 12144 to CLOVIS CA 93619 ?? Same price?? I am suprised!
It's because CA and HI are in the same rate zone when shipping from your NY location. So is Alaska, Guam and American Samoa. No wonder the USPS is losing money . . .
I don't know if it still applies but there used to be a disproportionate jump going from zone 7 to zone 8. And since nowadays most anything going from coast to coast is zone 8 I imagine the small amount going outside of the 48 is more than covered. Don't think for a second they haven't calculated all this out.
Your QTH is in Zone 7 and that package costs $54.65 to ship from 12144. They charge only $11.75 more to ship it a third of the way around the world to American Samoa. Sure, they've got it all calculated out. The USPS lost $5.6 Billion in fiscal 2016 and $5.1 Billion in 2015. UPS, which was nicely profitable those same years, charges $47.91 to CA, $140.55 to HI, $123.20 to PR, and $755.93 to American Samoa. UPS has certainly calculated all this out, but the USPS obviously hasn't.
The CA price is Ground Shipping Rate, but UPS hasn't found a way to go Ground to the other 3 locations because of those pesky oceans being in the way.
Oh crap! Here we go again. Not a deal on the zed or a ham site but again with ebay. Wanted to buy one of those extension grabbers as I have a problem standing or reaching now. Bought one. Was rejected. Searched the ads. Found another. Same model. Searched the ad closely. Shipping states: Shipping to: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, Korea, South, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russian Federation, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Republic of, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, French Guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macau, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion Was rejected as we don't ship to Alaska! Really!!! Reunion Island! 500 miles west of Africa in the Indian Ocean but not Alaska! My blood is boiling! BTW: This is a company out of Texas. One of those piddly little states down south. I hope the state gets covered up to 20ft in tumbleweed.
