What US shipping service would you recommend for small items?

[goatparty.livejournal.com]

Hi there! I've recently made the jump to selling small polymer clay items on Etsy, but so far I've had to shell out $5.75 per box for flat rate priority mail shipping (I picked it because it comes with insurance and tracking). Since my items are only $10, I feel like raising shipping to flat-rate price would deter customers.

My questions to folks who sell similar items are:

1. What service do you use, and what does it cost?

2. Are both insurance and tracking an option for it?

In the meantime I'll be researching this myself, but I wanted to get more experienced artists' opinions on this as well.

Thanks!

Edit: Thank you for the replies!

Comments

[kazeno-taka.livejournal.com]

If you're shipping art, I assume you're shipping it with some sort of sturdy cardboard backing, which makes it a parcel. Always select 'first class parcel' or 'package', even if it is in an envelope. The general rule is, if it is rigid or more than 1/4 inch thickness, it's a parcel.

[kattotang.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I wonder when USPS.com took away the option to print First Class Parcel postage... I used to use it all the time before, but lately have been using Paypal instead, and now the option is gone? That's crap.

[kazeno-taka.livejournal.com]

It might be back, I'm not sure. It was about a year ago that I tried to use USPS.com to print first class parcel postage and there wasn't an option, but it may be there now.