I use Chitchats quite a lot for shipments to the US, particularly for smaller items where the cheapest Canada Post counter rate for under 100 grams is about $14.00 with the small business discount card and Chitchats comes in around $5.50 to $6.50. Other examples are a 430 gram box for $9.07 all in vs. about $20 with CP; and a 39 × 16.5 × 32 cm, 3.2 kg, box for $19.76 vs about $39 with CP.
Larger boxes are not as great, but worth taking a look at The deliveries with "Chit Chats U.S. Tracked" have been very quick and efficient. If a Chitchats is pretty handy for you, it is a no brainer to use it for smaller items and possibly larger ones.
One thing I cannot recommend right now is "Chit Chats U.S. Economy Tracked". On Jan. 24th I dropped off 4 parcels, 3 normal Chitchat Tracked, 1 was Economy Tracked. The three normal ones were delivered - Michigan 28th; Illinois 29th; Florida 31. The economy one is not delivered yet, and there is zero tracking. Chitchat tracking indicates it was sent from Burlington, ON to USPS on Jan 27th and the USPS tracking still indicates "Arrived Shipping Partner Facility, USPS Awaiting Item". I am guessing that economy is on a truck to California and USPS will not scan it until it gets there. The cost saving was a whole $1, which for me is not worth it.
Internationally I did send a package (135grams) to Estonia and it was $23.79 for USPS First-Class Package International Service and 8-45 estimated business days. I added insurance for $1.50. The value was only $20 but it was a part they needed. It was dropped off on May 16 and delivered on June 8th, which is not to bad. Other than that there have been a couple of shipments to Peurto Rico, which is a US destination, so no problems at all.
You can set up a link to Ebay so that sales are imported directly into Chitchats, which populates the import item information and address, so no customs for to fill out. You select which ones you want to import. It makes it pretty easy.
On the Chitchats main page is a shipping cost estimater. It is more clumsy than the Canada Post look-up, as it likes to have a full address. I have a couple of dummy addresses I use - USPS depot addresses in a couple of cities.
Bottom line, if a chitchats is handy, it is worth checking it out. There may also be similar services depending on your location that others can let you know about. Just another tool for the kit.
As @recped inidicated, I use flat rate shipping listing on .com, by picking a further destination to give me wiggle room. Delivery with regular tracked has been consistent and reliable enough that I indicate standard US shipping.
