United States Postal Service (USPS) is a major firm that provides shipment facilities to the people. In the United States, people mostly prefer this company for their small and large shipments within the country and outside the country. Shipping policies of such companies vary according to the category of products. So, what is the shipping policy of perfumes via USPS? Does it ship perfumes? And what are the conditions of shipment? See about USPS Perfume Shipping.
USPS ship perfumes. But shipment is limited to only the domestic market. USPS does not do the shipping of perfumes in the international market. This is because of the concentration of ethyl alcohol in the perfumes, which comes under the category of hazardous chemicals. Therefore, shipping of perfumes is confined to the USA only by ground routes.
Does USPS ship perfumes?
United States Postal Services ships perfumes in the domestic market only. This is because in almost all types of fragrances ethyl alcohol is a major content. This chemical is hazardous and inflammable. Therefore it is risky to transfer perfumes by air. This involves lots of clearances, permissions, and risks. And ground ways do not reach the international market. Therefore USPS ships perfume only in domestic regions. Whereas safe products are shipped worldwide by USPS.
How does USPS ship perfumes?
- Perfumes are on the list of hazardous chemicals by USPS. Therefore they take extreme care in shipping the products.
- USPS ships most perfumes by ground route because there are various safety measures to ship inflammable substances via air. There are certain packaging methods to adopt for the safe delivery of products. This is the reason why USPS perfume shipping is confined to the domestic market only.
- While most perfumes are shipped by ground route, there are some exceptions. Some perfumes could be shipped via air also for fast delivery. USPS Priority and USPS First Class services ship perfumes via air. To complete your shipment faster your perfumes should fall under a few quality guidelines. The guidelines are-
- The flashpoint of liquid should be between 60º C and 93º C.
- The amount of perfume in one bottle should not be more than 30ml, and the total shipment should not be more than 500ml.
- There must be some cushioning inside the boxes to prevent damage to bottles.
- The shipping box should contain absorbent material.
- The outer packaging should have written warnings of hazardous substances. It should also contain details of material according to the shipment policy.
Packaging Requirements to Ship Perfumes
Safe packaging is the most important part of perfume shipping. Due to the hazardous chemical and inflammable properties, few packaging guidelines are mandatory to follow by USPS Retail Ground. The packaging requirements are-
- Firstly, glass bottles should be packed with several layers of bubble wrapping to prevent cracking
- There should be space between each bottle
- There should be space if 4 inches between all the bottles in the box
- The extra space should also be filled with newspapers or packing peanuts.
- The outer packaging should also be properly done.
- Label the box with the warning to tell that it contains hazardous and flammable chemicals.
After all the procedures, you can drop the box for shipping to the USPS.
Cost of Shipping Perfumes
The cost of shipping with USPS is an affordable one. Therefore it is a preferred shipment option for most people in the USA. The cost of shipment varies according to the size of the item, mode of delivery, and time taken to deliver the product.
Perfumes are mostly sold in glass bottles. Due to the risk of chemicals, it is closed with extra packaging. All this makes its weight around 0.5 to 1 pound. The time taken to deliver is also between 5 to 10 days.
After considering all these factors the cost of shipping is calculated. On average, if the weight of the total product is 2 pounds and 5 to 6 days are needed to make the delivery, then USPS Retail Ground will approximately charge $13 for shipment.
Conclusion
United States Postal Services provide perfume shipping services only in the USA. It does not ship perfumes internationally because of the high concentration of inflammable ethyl alcohol in perfumes. Therefore via air shipping requires extreme care, specialized packaging, and various permissions. In the domestic market also, USPS ship perfumes with safe packaging and clear warning on the box.
FAQs
- Why does USPS not ship perfumes internationally?
Answer: USPS does not ship perfumes internationally because it comes under the hazardous chemical category. Most perfumes have flammable ethyl alcohol. Due to the risk involved, USPS does not prefer to ship perfumes by plane.
- Which courier service could be used to ship perfumes internationally?
Answer: For international shipping of perfumes, specialized packaging is required. DHL and FedEx have that packaging ability. They can get the TSA clearance which is required for the shipment of hazardous substances.
