Registered or Certified Mail

Hello, since last week the Peruvian Postal Service has announced that it will no longer accept shipments of merchandise via certified mail; only documents can be sent.

They also indicate that small packages cannot be sent via certified mail, giving us the option of using regular mail or the EMS service, which is 300% more expensive. They state that all these changes are due to an agreement with the Universal Postal Union. If that's the case, all postal services should follow suit.
Friends in Croatia and the Netherlands have told me they have the same problem, but they have been able to send small packages via certified mail at a slightly higher rate than they were previously paying, about 20% more expensive. Could you tell me if the postal services in your country have made any changes regarding certified mail?

Germany did the same a few years back. The explanation for this change is simple, machines sort mail at fast speeds and with rollers, etc (as Mail is predominantly paper and regular sizes) they read the postal address as the letters pass upright, packages are sorted by machine that read barcodes and travel on conveyor belts (due to variations in size and weight) - these machines cost millions and are a big investment for postal companies / governments. When an envelope full of goods (poorly packaged) travellers through mail sorting machines (as apposed to parcel machines) the speed and irregular shapes causes the envelope to rip open and deposit coins, nuts or other goods into the machines. Mail companies are getting fed up of having their machines shut down, broken or having to repair them at great cost.

So, mail is for documentation. Packages are for goods. Some postal services have introduced inbetween services (like you mentioned in your post, 20% extra cost) and in Germany there is warenpost, but this is mainly for companies sending goods out, but you can send using this also. The postal services make the rules, and if you send anything that isn’t documentation even via recorded mail, they can now not pay the compensation if you ask for it when you have sent coins, for example. If you lie and say it was documentation and they have your mangled letter and coins that broke their machine, you are liable for action against you for damages to these machines.

This is the real reason for not allowing goods in ordinary mail. This includes recorded signed mail, you now have to pay more and the companies are happy to take your money as for far too long idiots have been putting small metal objects in envelopes thinking someone sorts it by hand!

One thing I have learnt in Germany is that you can still send coins in the post (ignoring the rules), as long as you are accepting that the compensation is all but irrelevant and you cannot claim it if the letter is lost, and that you package the coins between layers of cardboard in little cut outs (so that they cannot slide free, and will not cause the envelope to rip open when passing through the sorting machines at high speed), you also have to trust and take a risk that it will not be stolen (because postal workers will know that you should not have sent such items in the post at cheaper rates) and are likely to spot such letters.

From banners post I would say that Peru has recently experienced machine damage from little metal objects in their nice new sorting machines!

King

for far too long idiots have been putting small metal objects in envelopes thinking someone sorts it by hand!

The US has Non-machinable charges.  So if I add in that postage, they shouldn't be putting it in the machine.  If letters are over 3.5oz they don't get machined anyways so that's nice.  This isn't certified mail though.

Re machine sorting speeding the process - it seems Israel Post employs blind for that job. Once a package lands here, you can expect anything between 1-3 months to have it delivered to your address. If at all. 

As for the fees - in addition to sky-high ones for even a simple letter, we have to pay additional 8 NIS (2.5 US$) for anything that needs attention of postal clerk. As a girl in my post office told me not long ago - “8 shekels for my smile”. 

Slipstreamed

King

for far too long idiots have been putting small metal objects in envelopes thinking someone sorts it by hand!

The US has Non-machinable charges.  So if I add in that postage, they shouldn't be putting it in the machine.  If letters are over 3.5oz they don't get machined anyways so that's nice.  This isn't certified mail though.

That sounds super logical, but I bet there are still people who don’t want to pay the extra charges and risk it 😂 however at least with the charge it makes people aware that there is a difference with how their post can be sorted. That I think is a good solution, as apposed to just banning things in certain mail, making people pay more and not communicating a good reason. It makes people just think they are getting ripped off for no reason.

Yeah for sure!

I bought some trading cards a few years ago and they were shipped in top-loaders (very rigid sleeves for cards) and the seller didn't want to pay that $0.40 extra so they got jammed in the machinery.  They were half melted and had scorch marks from clearly being wedged in one of the spinning wheels.

I got my money back at least, hopefully they learned a lesson.