USPS International Money Orders (Was: Ordering Kits from Overseas), FAQ?
Keith
best way for someone in the USA to order a kit from overseas. Everyone
agreed that using a credit card IS the best and quickest method.
But there are some vendors overseas out there who do not process credit card
orders, and they will accept payment only by a check or bank draft drawn in
their own foreign currency, or an international money order (IMO) from the
United States Postal Service (USPS). Depending on your post office, IMO's
can be quick and easy to get, so you can get your kit from overseas
relatively quickly for less cost than it takes to get a bank draft ($10-15).
There was confusion about IMO's that are issued by the USPS, however. Some
posts stated that they are only issued in the foreign currency denomination,
and the last time I purchased one it was issued in American $ denomination.
Who was right? Who was wrong? It turns out that nobody was wrong, but to
find out why I had to dig into the USPS website and I spoke with several
USPS employees to find out more.
It turns out that there are THREE different types of money orders used for
International Postal Money Order Service; and depending on WHERE you send
your order, the IMO that you get will be different!
The following IMO service descriptions are taken verbatim from a USPS
bulletin, which went into effect December 1, 1995. If anyone has updated
information, please comment.
I will list ALL countries that accept IMO's as stated on the USPS form (just
in case there really is a cool hobby shop in Vatican City that sells the
Popemobile replete with a photo etch incense burner!); but will list the
most prominent countries at the beginning of their own respective lists.
______________________________________________________
The former Trust Territories of the United States are the only countries
accepting the domestic postal money order from the United States. The fee
for this form is $0.85.
The Federated States of Micronesia (Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap)
The Republic of the Marshall Islands (Majuro, Ebeye)
The Republic of Palau (Koror)
The following countries accept international postal money orders from the
United States using the International Postal Money Order form MP1. The fee
for this form is $3.
Canada
Japan
Mexico
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, British
Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mali, Montserrat, Nigeria, Peru, St.
Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago
The following countries accept international postal money orders from the
United States using the Authorization to Issue an International Money Order
form set. The fee for this form set is $7.50.
Austria
Belgium
China (and presumably Hong Kong)
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Poland
Slovak Republic
Sweden
Switzerland
Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina
Faso, Chile, Colombia, Corsica, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Croatia,
Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, French
Guiana, French Polynesia, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia,
Ireland, Israel, Korea, Republic of; Latvia, Lesotho, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Martinique, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique,
Namibia, New Caledonia, Norway, Paraguay, Philippines, Reunion, St.
Bartholomew, St. Martin (French), St. Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino,
Senegal, Slovak Republic (Slovakia), South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname,
Swaziland, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uruguay, Vatican City,
Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
____________________________________________________________________
I can only assume that countries that are not listed do not have a
reciprocal exchange with the USPS; and you probably don't want to do a lot
of model shopping from Mongolia or North Korea anyway.
Now for some examples.
If you wanted to send an IMO to Japan, you would look up in the list and
find that Japan accepts the 'form MP1' type of IMO, which costs $3. This
form is orange-pink in color, and is just like a regular money order in
format. It is issued in US$ DENOMINATIONS! So you have to know how much
your order is in US$, because the FOREIGN post office does the currency
conversion. I have recently used the MP1 IMO to order a kit from Atelier
Noix in Japan (he only accepts IMO's), and the exchange went smoothly, I got
the kit within two weeks. To account for any currency fluctuations between
the time when you get the order and the time it is redeemed, be sure to err
on the generous side of the currency fluctuation to make sure things go
smoothly (1-2% of final order including shipping).
If you wanted to send an IMO to England or France, you would use the
'Authorization to Issue an International Money Order form set' which costs
$7.50 (let's call it IMO-2). This IMO-2 is ISSUED IN THE FOREIGN CURRENCY
of the recipient's home country. It has been about ten years since I have
last used one, but I believe that the process goes like this. You tell the
USPS employee how much the IMO-2 should be in the foreign currency. The
USPS calculates the exchange rate of the currency. You pay the employee,
and fill out a form instructing where the IMO shall be sent. That
information is sent to a processing center where the IMO is issued in the
foreign denomination and then mailed to it's destination.
If the process still works like that, then I would assume that it is still
slow, since the IMO-2 has to be processed at a central facility. At least
the IMO-2 is issued in the foreign currency so that you don't have to worry
about any currency fluctuations whilst in transit.
Hope this clears things up. Please if you have any comments (especially
experiences pertaining to the 'Authorization to Issue an International Money
Order form set') please post them. Hopefully this information can be posted
to the FAQ file eventually.
Finally here is the link for the Universal Currency Translator just in case
you want to know how much that kit costs where ever you are:
Keith Walker
John Beaderstadt
>
> Hell, we'll even take 'merican coins at par up here!
That's better than you do for Canadian money. :-)
--
"I tried to imagine the easiest way God could have done it."
--Albert Einstein
Dan Wildhirt
form set" to purchase a kit from Thailand, and it took about 4 weeks for the
m.o. to arrive at the recipient's local post office. But it DID arrive.
--
Dan Wildhirt
(Remove "x" from reply-to)
Mark
Just to let you know - I sure appreciate the time & effort you took to research
and post the following.
Thanks!
Mark
Remove the x in seiranx to reply
Charles Metz
--snip--
> There was confusion about IMO's that are issued by the USPS,
> however. Some posts stated that they are only issued in the
> foreign currency denomination, and the last time I purchased
> one it was issued in American $ denomination. Who was right?
> Who was wrong? It turns out that nobody was wrong, but to
> find out why I had to dig into the USPS website and I spoke
> with several USPS employees to find out more.
An *excellent* post that everyone should archive. Thanks, Keith.
Charles Metz
Keith
Please attach comments to this post so I can read them. Thanks!
About a month ago, a message was posted requesting information about the
best way for someone in the USA to order a kit from overseas. Everyone
agreed that using a credit card was the best and quickest method.
But there are some vendors overseas out there who do not process credit card
orders, and they will accept payment only by a check or bank draft drawn in
their own foreign currency, or an international money order (IMO) from the
United States Postal Service (USPS). Depending on your post office, IMO's
can be quick and easy to get, so you can get your kit from overseas
relatively quickly for less cost than it takes to get a bank draft ($10-15).
There was confusion about IMO's that are issued by the USPS, however. Some
posts stated that they are only issued in the foreign currency denomination,
and the last time I purchased one it was issued in American $ denomination.
Who was right? Who was wrong? It turns out that nobody was wrong, but to
find out why I had to dig into the USPS website and I spoke with several
USPS employees to find out more.
It turns out that there are THREE different types of money orders used for
______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Now for some examples.
your order is in US$, because the foreign post office will do the currency
conversion. I have recently used the MP1 IMO to order a kit from Atelier
Noix in Japan (he only accepts IMO's), and the exchange went smoothly, I got
the kit within two weeks. To account for any currency fluctuations between
the time when you get the order and the time it is redeemed, be sure to err
on the generous side of the fluctuation to make sure things go smoothly
(1-2% of final order including shipping).
If you wanted to send an IMO to England or France, you would use the
'Authorization to Issue an International Money Order form set' which costs
$7.50 (let's call it IMO-2). This IMO-2 is ISSUED IN THE FOREIGN CURRENCY
of the recipient's home country. It has been about ten years since I have
last used one, but I believe that the process goes like this. You tell the
USPS employee how much the IMO-2 should be in the foreign currency. They
calculate the exchange rate of the currency. You pay the employee, and
fill out a form instructing where the IMO shall be sent. That information
is sent to a processing center where the IMO is issued in the foreign
denomination and then mailed to it's destination.
If the process still works like that, then I would assume that it is still
slow, since the IMO-2 has to be processed at a central facility. At least
the IMO-2 is issued in the foreign currency so that you don't have to worry
about any currency fluctuations whilst in transit.
Hope this clears things up! Please if you have any comments (especially
experiences pertaining to the 'Authorization to Issue an International Money
Order form set') please post them. Hopefully this information can be posted
to the FAQ file
Finally here is the link for the Universal Currency Translator just in case
Pawel Zabza
>I've recently used the "Authorization to Issue an International Money
Order
>form set" to purchase a kit from Thailand, and it took about 4 weeks
for the
>m.o. to arrive at the recipient's local post office. But it DID arrive.
I've sent two: one to Poland and one to Switzerland, on 15th and 21st
September respectively. None of them has arrived yet, so I guess you
shouldn't bet your life on it.
Best regards,
Pawel
Doug Jones
<walker...@email.msn.com> wrote:
>About a month ago, a message was posted requesting information about the
>best way for someone in the USA to order a kit from overseas. Everyone
>agreed that using a credit card IS the best and quickest method.
>
>But there are some vendors overseas out there who do not process credit card
>orders, and they will accept payment only by a check or bank draft drawn in
>their own foreign currency, or an international money order (IMO) from the
Thanks for this excellent post and since I sent the original post I
appreciate this. My biggest problem with going through the
postal service was the 4 to 6 week processing that it was
going to take for the money order. Yes, the postal international
money order was 7.50 (for Great Britian) but to speed things along
I 'bit-the-bullet' and paid my local bank $20 for international bank
draft and the whole process took 24 hours. Instead of my postal
money order sitting in one of several post offices for weeks my
bank draft is already in England and my kit is on its way to me.
The only draw-back to the bank draft was the funny look I received
from the bank manager when I answered his question about what I needed
the draft to purchase. (1/32 scale Apollo Lunar Module!)
Cheers!
Doug Jones
Shane Weier
>
>
> I can only assume that countries that are not listed do not have a
> reciprocal exchange with the USPS; and you probably don't want to do a lot
> of model shopping from Mongolia or North Korea anyway.
>
...or Australia either, apparently. I am cut to the quick... :-(
Shane
Keith
try to get some info on this....
>...or Australia either, apparently. I am cut to the quick... :-(
>
>Shane
Shane Weier wrote in message <36410E...@qld.mim.com.au>...
osm...@csc.uvic.ca
The pics of my AMT XB-70 with its drag chutes and chase plane are
now available at my website http://gulf.uvic.ca/~osmith
There is also a description, with picutres, of how I made the drag chutes.
I will be adding a few more notes on the pictures, as well as the pinhole
camera I use to take the pictures, in the next week. I will also soon be
adding my list of XB-70 references for those of you who asked for them,
this should be done by tomorrow.
Considering the success I had with these chutes, I'm considering doing
a diorama of a Herc doing a LAPES drop. I'm sure there are many more
applications for this technique.
Owen.