Shipping What're the main differences between UPS and EMS?

EMS is the international Post Office connection. That is, you send anything from your post office to another country and it goes EMS. So yes, if you miss your delivery, you can go to the Post Office to pick it up, or you can wait for re-delivery. This is the connection among GOVERNMENT operated Postal Services, so however good or bad your (or their) postal service is, that is what you get.

UPS is United Parcel Service. UPS is a single PRIVATE company that operates all over the world. If you miss a delivery, you have the option of (a) waiting for redelivery (b) going to the depot to pick it up or (c) having the package redirected to a UPS store near you where you can pick it up. The delivery end of the service seems to very much vary on how good your local delivery person is, but the tracking within the company is excellent.

 

WOW!

Domo arigato for answering that! I always wondered what the difference was as well!

Ryuichi

 

Actually, this is a little off. ^^;;;

EMS is Express Mail Service. It can be used within the US or Internationally. (I've sent packages within the US via EMS. It usually only takes 1 day vs the 2-3 for Priority Mail and is guaranteed.) Not all international packages are sent EMS, it is a costly, partially insured tracking method. I believe you get $300 of insurance for free for domestic packages and $100 for International? You can pay for additional insurance though.

Depending on where you live will depend on where your EMS package can be picked up or you can have it redelivered. The little orange card the mail person leaves will have the location of the PO with your box and/or what you need to do to have it redelivered.

At least where I live, EMS is delivered separately from my regular mail.

Some people have bad post offices others do not, mine is quite good so I like having packages sent EMS. EMS delivers on week ends and use to deliver on holidays, I'm not sure they still deliver on holidays. I also tend to always get my EMS packages mornings between 8-9 am so I don't feel like I have to wait around.

UPS has several different types of shipping. There is ground, 2nd day air and I think over night. My UPS has lately gotten better since they no longer just leave expensive packages (like dolls from VolksUSA) outside regardless of whether someone is home or not. However for items that need to be signed for, like dolls, they don't come at any consistent time and I spent a full day waiting for them last week to get a doll. UPS refuses to give a time they will definitely come and the nearest UPS store near me has no parking and dolls are generally too heavy to carry home.

I've never mailed anything UPS international, I've heard their shipping rates are quite high, higher than the US postal service, and items shipped via UPS and FedEX are more likely to get caught in customs and have fees attached to them.

If you're sending something abroad, depending on size and how fast the person needs it by, generally the cheapest method with tracking is US airmail registered.

US Airmail is the cheapest method to send something abroad though there is no tracking.

US Seamail is no longer available and use to take 8+ weeks. Some countries still offer seamail service and one does have the option to buy insurance on the box.

Hope this helps!

 

Actually domestic mail is EM, not EMS. It's confusing because the USPS refers to its domestic overnight service as "Express Mail" (EM), but it's a different service from EMS (Express Mail Service) which, for whatever crazy reason, the USPS calls "Express Mail International." Express Mail = Not EMS; Express Mail International = EMS.

Wikipedia has it correct when they say "The United States Postal Service (USPS) offers EMS but calls this service Express Mail International, previously called Global Express Mail. This is often confused with their service called Express Mail, which is a specific classification of mail for domestic accelerated postal delivery within the U.S."

Express Mail is controlled entirely by the USPS because it's only domestic; the standards for EMS are set by the Universal Postal Union (UPU), which is an international organization that coordinates postal policies between member nations. According to the UPU's EMS page, EMS is only an international service; the fact that the USPS calls its domestic service "Express Mail" does not mean it's actually EMS.

Essentially, EMS mail is handled through your local government-run post office, wherever you may be. In some locales, EMS will be delivered by the same person who delivers your normal mail; in other places, there is a separate delivery-person for EMS packages. Not all international packages go EMS; there is also Airmail (which the USPS calls "Priority Mail International"), Letter Post (which the USPS calls "First Class Mail International"), Surface-Air-Lifted (SAL, which the USPS does not offer), and surface mail (also called sea-mail, which the USPS does not offer either).

UPS is a private, non-government postal service. They regulate themselves, and handle packages however they feel like it. The only thing that oversees UPS is UPS.

Domestically, it depends on what I'm shipping, how heavy it is, and where I'm shipping it to. For large, heavy, or expensive packages, I like to send UPS. For small, light, or inexpensive packages, I like to send with USPS Priority Mail. With UPS, you can require a signature release, so they won't leave a package unless someone has signed for it.

Internationally, I prefer EMS or Registered Airmail (this is "Priority Mail International with Insurance" for USPS). Because EMS and Airmail are sent through the government-run postal service, then tend to move through customs more quickly and with fewer fees. UPS will charge more, plus they charge a fee for a customs agent, plus they're more likely to get hit with customs fees. EMS is the only international service through the USPS that has step-by-step tracking for all destinations; registered airmail has step-by-step tracking for SOME countries, but in other countries there is only delivery confirmation.

If you miss the package, it's the same for both:
(a) wait for redelivery (usually the next day)
(b) request it be delivered somewhere else
(c) go to the local depot (either your post office or the USPS package center) and pick it up

UPS is better about giving refunds for damaged packages. The USPS has always fought with me over refunds; the UPS has always given me a refund with no questions asked. I don't think one is better than the other in terms of handling packages gently -- they both tend to beat them up pretty badly.

 

Hmmmm perhaps then I am just confused since the labels one uses for Express Mail within the US are the same labels one uses for EMS and are marked EMS at the bottom so it seemed like they were a connected service. They also use the same envelopes and packing tape.

At my post office they call things Global Priority for priority mail International and just Air Mail for what you are calling Letter Airmail. I tend to send things just Airmail or Letter Airmail because my post offices are quite good and I live near several large International airports. The few times I've sent things Global Priority they took an incredibly long time to reach their destinations. For me, regular Airmail/Letter AirMail takes about 1 week or less to get to Europe or Japan.

If you're receiving something from overseas it is important to know a lot of foreign countries still have Sea Mail even though it is no longer available in the US. Unless you're receiving something that can not go through air mail or weighs a huge amount, I would recommend not having something sent SeaMail and I would nearly always insure it still.

Again, a lot depends on where you live. My packages sent or received via USPS and UPS tend to arrive in good condition. The only seriously dented boxes I've received were sent Seamail from Japan. (I sent myself some Mr Super Clear, the contents of the box were fine, but one end of the box was badly dented.)

Some things can not go through the USPS, like aersols or something containing alcohol (bottles of wine or perfume even) in which case one needs to use UPS.

 

Essentially, inside the US, Express Mail and EMS packages are treated the same way, so they share labels, packaging, tape, etc. But if you want to be absolutely correct, EMS only describes international packages. The UPU sets the standards for how EMS packages must be treated; the USPS sets the standards for how Express Mail packages must be treated. The USPS just decided that Express Mail should have the same standards as EMS, more or less.

Your post office is just using the old USPS names for the services; they should have changed them in 2007. From Wikipedia:

"Formerly, USPS International services were categorized as Airmail (Letter Post), Economy (Surface) Parcel Post, Airmail Parcel Post, Global Priority, Global Express, and Global Express Guaranteed Mail. In May 2007, USPS restructured international service names to correspond with domestic shipping options. Letter post is now First Class Mail International, Airmail Parcel Post was discontinued and replaced by Priority Mail International. Global Express is now Express Mail International. Global Express Guaranteed is unchanged, and Economy Parcel Post was discontinued for international service."

I think Global Priority was the old name for SAL service (which explains why it was so slow!), which has been discontinued. Economy (Surface) Parcel Post was the old name for sea-mail (also discontinued). Global Express was the old name for EMS. Airmail Parcel Post was the old name Priority Mail International, I think.

Airmail is confusing because there are a lot of different types of mail sent by plane, and some places just call anything and everything sent by plane "airmail."

 

The only thing I want to add is if you're shipping domestically UPS is much less expensive than USPS priority mail for large parcels. Also they provide you with a real tracking number. You can actually watch your package's progress. The so-called tracking numbers from the post office are just delivery confirmation numbers which generally only update when the package is delivered.

UPS insurance is also much cheaper & the first $100 is included.

 

Note that if someone is shipping a doll or doll items from outside the US into the US using UPS (or the other private service, FedEx) the recipient in US may be hit with customs charges. The US law doesn't impose customs on dolls but the private companies tend to just hit everything over a certain size/weight with an "inspection fee" anyway. If you have the items shipped into the US via EMS you will not incur this customs fee. You might want to be careful of that especially if you're getting a very expensive doll from Europe. Best for the shipper to use post office shipping or EMS so you in the US will not get a customs fee.