"in the continental US"

[Malkyr]

I noticed a while ago that in my signature I called out that when I said shipping included I meant "in the continental US". I then realized that didn't really make sense, since Flat Rate postage to Alaska is the same as it is to Ohio. So I edited that bit out and it now says "in the US". Lately though I have noticed several other people say they will only deal in the continental US.

Is this just a holdover from the old days of shipping?
Is there actually any difference between dealing with a mainland city or a US city located elsewhere?
Heck can't you even ship to military bases and stuff cheaper then standard international shipping?

Just kind of curious if this term even means anything anymore.

[MagickalMemories]

Not all of us use only flat rate shipping. In fact, I only ever use Priority if it is the same price (it happens on occasion) or if the buyer paid for shipping and priority is still within the amount they paid. Otherwise, it's Media Mail or First Class/Parcel Post. Shipping to Alaska and Hawaii via those methods are FAR more expensive under those circumstances.

Also, you do NOT want to send to either of those states via Media Mail. It is the lowest priority mail, so the last loaded on the planes. I LITERALLY had a package sit in a CA airport for over 3 months, waiting to get on a place to Hawaii, because I sent it via Media Mail.

Eric

[pretre]

Yeah, agreeing with MM. Flat rate is nice, but I often have to use regular priority and that gets spendy as you get out there. As an aside, I think it's funny that First Class is now basically as expensive as Priority to a lot of locations.

[kturock]

Yeah, agreeing with MM. Flat rate is nice, but I often have to use regular priority and that gets spendy as you get out there. As an aside, I think it's funny that First Class is now basically as expensive as Priority to a lot of locations.

That's because both go by air.