shipping costs?

[Chryco69]

I am starting to sell a lot of small stuff on eBay. I have been using a local place in my city to package and ship the items, but they are very expensive it seems compared to what I see others charge.

Where do you ship your stuff? I was told the post office would be my cheapest bet. I checked with UPS and they are just as ridiculous as the place I go to now.

 

[super-bee_ski]

I have a Business account with FED EX
They come right to my door for pick-up.
(The closest Fed Ex location for me is 45 miles...YES...I DO live in a remote part of the Mojave Desert)

BUT: The USPS has a FLAT RATE on their Priority shipping...
Check them out...

 

[5.7 hemi]

If it fit's, it ship's, flate rate boxes at the post office. They have small, medium, and large and the boxes are free and you can stuff them (no weight limit) and they get to their destination in 2-3 days.

 

[Gpuller]

Flat rate boxes at the post office. They give you the box size you need, take it home and pack, bring it back and mail it out. Think you can even arrange it to have it picked up at your house.
Works great for small stuff.

https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail-flat.htm

 

[Cranky]

The flat rate boxes are only good for light weight items but if you tape the snot out of it, you can put heavier objects in them. Had a guy ship a set of gears in one and they barely made it. Someone at the post office saw them breaking through the box and repackaged them using shrink wrap and placed a new label on them. Heavy stuff goes through UPS. I also have an account and print my own labels but anytime you have someone else package and ship your parts, you're going to pay for that labor. I box all of my own parts and then 'drop off' at the UPS store prepaid or catch a driver. I live on a dead end street so it's not too hard to catch one on the way out but you can stop any UPS driver if you have a prepaid item for them. I'm sure FedX is the same but their store is kinda far for drop off and they don't come down my street very often.

 

[Rick@Laysons]

For smaller parts that weigh less than 13 ounces packaged up, First Class Mail processed on your computer thru a third-party online postal processing system is by far cheaper than even the flat rate boxes. Mailman picks up packages at your door. For packages between 13 oz and two pounds packaged up, Priority mail processed on your computer thru third party is the cheapest...again cheaper than the flat rate boxes.

If weight is anything over two pounds, the flat rate boxes are fine as long as the parts fit in the boxes the post office provides.

Be sure to use "Delivery Confirmation" for all packages, it's just like a tracking number that can be traced if need be.....And it's a good idea to insure EVERY package, irregardless of value, whether or not the buyer requests it. It's not that much more cost...and it covers yourself if something does happen to it during transit.

 

[Chryco69]

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Budnicks]

Flat rate boxes at the post office. They give you the box size you need, take it home and pack, bring it back and mail it out. Think you can even arrange it to have it picked up at your house.
Works great for small stuff.

https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail-flat.htm

I've had great luck with the U.S.P.S. too, flat rate/if it fits it ships, is great for allot of the smaller stiff, bigger stuff you stuck with the mainstream UPS Fed-Ex etc. shippers... or large stuff our member Hemi-Itis, turned me on to these guys Fastenall Truck Sipping-Third party Logistics {Google it for your area}, they ship heavy nuts, washers & bolts, they have extra room on the trucks/trailers & will give a great rate to ship crated parts, the quotes I got were about 1/2 of what normal truck shipping was... these guys are really reasonable they require you to bring it, packaged &/or crated, to a local Fastenal outlet shipping hub/center, retail store etc.... I've use UPS Fed-EX most the time, but the U.S.P.S. flat rate is better depending on size & weight of course, most trucking companies are really expensive & going thru a broker has been a really bad experience with me, time frame & cost changes... good luck what ever you decide