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You have lovingly made your squares to help warm and comfort orphaned and vulnerable children. Please follow the guidelines below to post your squares most economically and easily, and so they will not attract duty when the arrive.

In general, the least expensive way to ship is by Surface Mail. It takes longer for parcels to arrive, but since there is a constant flow of packages coming in, this is not a concern. They will soon be in a blanket warming a child.

How to post your squares economically

Before posting, please visit the How to package page for important steps to help make our volunteers’ jobs easier.

Most countries have a ‘small packet rate.’ We have found that generally this is the cheapest way to ship.

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All squares should be securely packaged up and posted to:

Knit-a-square
Private Bag X900
Bryanston 2021
SOUTH AFRICA

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Please check HELPFUL HINTS or post the question in QUESTIONS, ANSWERS AND HELP if you have any questions about mailing squares that are not answered below.

DO:

MARK YOUR PARCEL AS A GIFT and declare a value of 0 or 1 if a nil value is unacceptable to your postmaster.

Send your parcels through the postal service of your country.

Make sure your handwriting is clear.

Tape your parcels well.

Attach the mailing label securely to the outside of your parcel.

DO NOT:

Register, insure or use tracking numbers for your letters, parcels, packages or boxes.

Ship via FedEx, courier, or other mail services because they do not deliver to Box Numbers, as in the KAS address.

Send parcels over 20kg (44 lbs.) from Australia, Canada or the United States or parcels over 30 kg (66 lbs.) from the UK.

Customs Slips

Knit-a-square operates on a shoestring budget. Monthly donations are used to keep the operation running and help to cover the cost of KasVan gas for the distributions, expenses incurred in keeping the office running and other small expenses each month.

One of these expenses is the mandatory handling fee charged by the South African Customs and Excise. All overseas parcels attract this fee and it now costs R51.50 per parcel ($3.74 US). It is imperative that we take great care in filling out the customs slip so that any further unnecessary charges are not incurred.

Post your squares as a gift

All Customs Slips have the option of declaring the parcel as a GIFT. Please be sure to do this.

The slips also have a square for declaring VALUE. Please declare the value as 0 so that no charges will be made on your parcel when it arrives in South Africa. If your postmaster insists on a value, please declare 1.

Below we have included sample copies of customs slips from various countries. The following comments are guidelines only.  Please check with your post office for pricing and the most economical way to send your parcel.

Canada – International Surface Mail

It is wise to save items until you are close to the 2 kg weight to obtain the best rate. Zero is shown both in Declared Value and Total Value; a value of zero is permitted by the Postal Service.

Request: Small Packet Surface Mail Rate

• Maximum size: Length + width + height = 90 cm (Max. length = 60 cm)
• Maximum weight: 2 kg
• Parcels over 2 kg must go International Postage Rate.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?exec…

United States – International Air Mail

The US Postal Service does not offer the option of Surface Mail (South Africa is Zone 7). The USA Postal Service insists on a value being shown; therefore, please use $1.00 only.

First Class Mail International

• Maximum length: 24 inches
• Maximum size: Length x width x height = 36 inches
• Maximum weight: 4 lbs.

Priority Mail International

• Maximum length: 42 inches
• Maximum Length x width x height: 79 inches

Important tip: Do not use Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes. You cannot fit enough in them to make it cost effective. Use regular boxes that fit within the size guidelines.

Best Bang for Your Buck: The more the package weighs for Priority, the lower the cost becomes per pound. However, if the package weighs less than 10 lbs., you will pay more per pound to send one package Priority than if you send smaller packages First Class International.

The Bottom Line: U.S. residents, if you have less than 10 lbs. including the weight of the packaging/container to be shipped, send smaller packages not exceeding 4 lbs. each that meet the size requirements for First Class Mail International. If you mailing weighs 10 lbs. or more (including packaging/container), send one package Priority Mail International.

https://www.usps.com/international/welcome.htm

Australia – International Sea Mail

All parcels up to 2 kg go by air; no economy sea mail is available for this size. The Postal Service insists on a value being shown; therefore, please use $1.00 only.

The following is the least expensive way to ship from Australia: Save your squares until you can make up a parcel over 2 kg.

Request: Economy Sea Mail

• Maximum length: 105 cm
• Maximum girth: 140 cm (width + depth)
• Maximum weight: 20 kg

https://auspost.com.au/parcels-mail/calculate-postage-delivery-time…

UK – International Surface Mail

Please save up items until you are close to the 2 kg weight to obtain the best rate. The Postal Service does NOT require a value to be shown on slip; therefore, please indicate zero in the value square.

Request: Small Packet International Economy Rate

• Maximum size: Length + width + height = 90 cm
• Maximum weight: 2 kg

https://www.royalmail.com/price-finder

France

If a value of 0,00€ is not acceptable, declare the minimum value of 1,30€.

For other countries, please check with your local postal system.