Kermit - Options for Shipping Outside the USA

There are two options for shipping Kermit software, manuals, or other materials within the USA. The standard method is UPS Blue, which usually takes several business days. The other is Federal Express, which costs more but delivers faster. These options are listed on our order forms.

For shipments outside the USA, the situation is more complicated and less satisfying.

Columbia University has a contract with a bulk mailing service for shipments outside the USA. The Kermit Project, as part of Columbia University, is obligated to use this service for non-expedited shipments in most cases. The advantages of this service include:

  1. It is relatively cheap for small shipments; a flat rate of $5.00 US per pound (approximately 0.45kg) to anywhere in the world.

  2. Because of the flat rate, shipping costs are known in advance.

  3. The bulk mailing service takes care of all international regulations, procedures, customs forms, and the like.
The disadvantages of this service are:
  1. It can be quite slow, sometimes taking as much 7 weeks to deliver a package.

  2. Shipments are difficult to track.

  3. Very large (heavy) shipments can be quite expensive to ship this way.
We can also use Federal Express if you agree. But in this case there is not a fixed price. The table below shows sample Federal Express rates to various parts of the world. Weights are in pounds (approximately 0.45kg). The Kermit 95 package weighs about 4 (four) pounds. Each Kermit book weighs about 2 (two) pounds.

In most cases, we will use Federal Express automatically if it costs less. For example, a shipment to Zone A is cheaper with Federal Express if the weight is more than 8 pounds.

Federal Express Rates from the USA as of 1 January 1998 
Weight Zone A  Zone B  Zone C  Zone D  Zone E  Zone F  Zone G
1-3     $31     $37     $43     $38     $42     $36     $62
 4      $32     $37     $43     $38     $42     $49     $62
 5      $34     $40     $43     $38     $42     $55     $66
 6      $37     $42     $45     $40     $44     $60     $71
 7      $39     $43     $47     $42     $47     $65     $75
 8      $41     $45     $50     $44     $50     $70     $80
 9      $43     $47     $52     $46     $52     $75     $85
10      $45     $49     $54     $48     $55     $80     $89
11      $46     $50     $56     $50     $57     $85     $94
12      $47     $52     $57     $51     $60     $89     $98
13      $49     $53     $59     $53     $62     $93     $103
14      $50     $55     $61     $55     $64     $97     $107
15      $51     $56     $62     $56     $66     $101    $112
16      $52     $57     $64     $58     $68     $106    $116
17      $53     $59     $66     $60     $70     $110    $121
18      $54     $60     $67     $61     $73     $114    $125
19      $55     $62     $69     $63     $75     $118    $130
20      $56     $63     $70     $64     $77     $122    $134

Federal Express Zones (approximately) 
Zone A: Canada and Mexico.
Zone B: UK, Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong, 
        Singapore, Japan, Taiwan
Zone C: Scandinavia, Austria, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland
Zone D: West Indies, Haiti, Dominican Republic
Zone E: Australia, NZ, China, Middle East, Indonesia, S.Korea, 
        Maylasia, The Phillipines, Thailand, Turkey
Zone F: South America, Bangladesh, India, South Pacific, Sri Lanka
Zone G: Africa, Former USSR, Eastern Europe, Iceland

The rate table should give you a rough idea of the cost, but not a perfectly precise idea. If you want your package shipped by Federal express you can either (a) notify us in advance that you will accept the charges, or (b) request a quotation before you place your order. The advantage of (a) is (obviously) that it's faster.

Kermit Shipping / Columbia University / kermit@columbia.edu / January 1998