When my family joined a program for sending care packages to people in Eastern Europe, we were warned that some of what we mailed might not get through – in fact, we were advised to send three copies of our first letter to our adopted family. This didn’t bode well for the packages.

Yet, over 15 years later, every single one of our packages has gotten through safely to the people it was meant for. Maybe these new democracies are safer places than we realized here in the West.

Maybe the way I filled out the “detailed list of contents” on the customs form had something to do with it, too.

This is a simple way to protect a package you may be sending to a “less stable” country.

You absolutely should not lie about what’s in your package – but you can almost always find another word for it, a word that makes it sound less enticing to pilferers.

Words that are not commonly used, at least anymore, are good for this. Though many people throughout the world know at least a little English, non-native speakers usually won’t realize that “provisions” are food and “hosiery” means panty hose. “Personal hygiene items”, “stationery”, and “dessert mix” also don’t sound like stuff almost anyone could use – though they are.

Redefining your package contents works in other mailing situations, too. We’ve heard of someone who shipped home-brewed beer as “live yeast samples”. A courier company that wouldn’t handle a souvenir coin because it was “cash” accepted it when it was relabeled a “commemorative medallion”.

It’s not what you send, in other words, it’s how you describe it.

Jane Wangersky is the author of In Small Packages: Gifts You Can Mail at Canada's Lowest Postal Rates. Visit her blog http://eslfreepress.typepad.com/small_packages/ for more ideas on saving money mailing gifts.