This is not a nastygram towards Amazon.com or the USPS. Not at all. It’s is a realization. Only big business can afford to mail stuff, so buy from them.

I just spent $20 to send a package across the U.S. via Priority Mail. The contents are a gift which I hope the recipients will enjoy greatly.

However, if I wanted to have it tracked, that would be extra cash. The cardboard box itself was an extra cost. Insurance would have been even more.

For business, the ultimate lure is no mailing costs and only big business can afford to do that. The rest of us just pay cash or give up.

Frankly, it would have been much cheaper to find it on Amazon, and send it.

I run into this every time I send something larger than a letter, or send a package abroad. Why bother mailing things abroad when I can go to Amazon.com in that country, and just order it up?

The answer to the latter is that sometimes you want to give something that’s unusual. Something not off-the-rack. Something that will be perfect for that birthday boy or girl selected from a small business. In which case,  be prepared to spend as much mailing via UPSP, FedX, UPS (choose your poison) as you would buying that gift.

In the old days (when dinosaurs roamed) there was USPS sea mail. You sent it months ahead of time, and it arrived in time at a reasonable rate. That doesn’t seem to exist any longer.

I wish there was a solution. Why bother thinking ahead to a present that matters if you have to budget in twice the cost?