Mailing over smaller personal items - USPS?

Hi folks,

We would like to ship a few keepsakes over from the US to the UK. Now, previously we've had someone pop things like this in a box (e.g. sentimental Christmas decorations) and post them over, but the shipping for even lightweight-ish parcels is kind of high.

We were wondering if anyone had experience with the "Priority Mail International® Large Flat Rate Box" from the USPS website - they're quoting ~$86 to post over up to 20lb, which seems very reasonable. As we're sort of issuing instructions to faraway family members, is there a foolproof-ish guide to doing this? Can we prepay the box online and get it posted up to them to pack things in, or do they collect it from a USPS branch or something?

Just hoping to tap in on people's experiences with this. Whilst we have a few boxes of stuff that needs posting over, none of it has any "high cash customs" type value - figurines and old letters and items of clothing. We have considered something like the pallet-shipping but it seems like too much of a big ask on relatives to pull things out of storage and pack them up for this, but the odd box is probably OK

Thanks everyone!

What about checking it as extra baggage on the airplane?  It's likely to cost about the same for 50 pounds and will just arrive with you?

Hm, that's a good point and a good option - definitely something we'll explore next time we take a trip over to the US, but that's unlikely to be until the summertime now.

A quick check on Delta's page suggests that would be likely to be around $285/50lb, so not hugely different compared to USPS, in case anyone was wondering (Delta works out around $5.70/lb, USPS $4.31/lb).

Check the dimensions of the flat rate boxes.  They are actually pretty small, so I don't think that comparison is realistic.

I have used them before but only for very dense items, i.e. heavy for their size. For that they are quite good value.

Ah, very good point! I hadn't noted there were two sizes:

USPS-Produced Box: 23-11/16" x 11-3/4" x 3" or 12" x 12" x 5-1/2"

That's a good spot larrabee

I tried some more realistic dimensions and ended up looking at this at $119.50 for 20lb ($5.98/lb):

Priority Mail Express International™: Max. length 36", max. length plus girth 79"

Alright, so it's about the same when it comes down to it. Thanks for all your help everyone

My dad uses the flat rate boxes regularly. He gets then from his local USPS branch, packs it up and brings it back. He only pays when he ships it, so he keeps a few spare boxes at home since they don't cost anything.

Thanks for that TravelingFrog - we'll see if we can't have someone pick a few up