Need Shipping advice

How is everyone shipping their for sale items?
I sent a 3.5lb package via UPS @ Pakmail and it was $16.85. To say the least, that cut into my sale price.
What would I expect to pay if I took it directly to say, a local FedEx terminal or post office?
I know convenience comes at a price, but I don't need it to be that convenient.

I usually ship through the post office, the last thing that I shipped was a large Pelican 1500 case it weighed like 9lbs and including insurance for $100 is was like $11. The only downside to shipping through them is that their online tracking is almost nonexistent.

I have found that using Priority Mail with delivery confirmation is the least expensive and most reliable method available to me. I shipped a light to a fellow CPF'er recently and I didn't use Priority Mail. Big mistake. It didn't arrive so I had to refund the money and a vintage Surefire E1 is somewhere lost in LaLa land. That was my fault for shipping something and not following my own advice. I shipped it in a round tube instead of a box and it didn't go priority mail. I'll never do that again. I go to the postal service website and order free priority mail boxes. I get dozens at a time shipped to my door at no cost. Then when I need to ship something I go into the spare room and pick out whatever size box is appropriate. Then when I ship it I don't have to worry about it getting lost in the mail. I have never.....NEVER shipped a Priority Mail package in a postal service box and had it get lost. It just seems like they watch out for those white and blue/red boxes better than a brown cardboard box. I may be wrong, but thats my experience. Also, postal service has always been cheaper for me than using UPS. I won't even comment on FedEx other than to say I refuse to order from a seller that only ships using FedEx. If FedEx has to deliver it, I don't want it.

UPS/FedEx are usually the most expensive ... especially for international shipments. If you try shipping anything that weighs more than a fraction of an ounce via FedEx to Europe, it's going to be $100+

If you can, stick with USPS

Priority Mail sounds like the way to go, especially when you can get the boxes at no charge. Thanks for the tips.

phenwick said:

Priority Mail sounds like the way to go, especially when you can get the boxes at no charge. Thanks for the tips.

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They are also available at a flat rate.

I shipped a box yesterday and it cost $9.95 vs about $15.00 for first class.

UPS has insurance up to $100.00.
Around here anyway the post office has gotten much better with delivery.

Anotehr thing of note for UPS. If you are within 300 miles or so of the sender it is usually faster to ship ground rather than 2 day. Ground tends to be over night at that distance.
Their 2 day service *will* take two days to get there.

Fed express also has ground rates.

Some B/S/T forums seem to have an expectation that the sale price should include all shipping charges. I really dislike this practice, but have caved on it at times. I work for UPS and have a certain loyalty to the company (although I was receiving excellent service from them long before I worked there), but they and FedEx are more expensive for many items, although you typically get better service, tracking, and insurance.

For most smaller items I've ended up using the post office since people often demand the cheapest option. I've had a couple of things get lost or delayed by weeks this way, but overall it has usually been ok. I typically say that I am not responsible for lost or broken items if the buyer wants the cheapest option for shipping.

For larger, more expensive items, I use UPS exclusively, and if including the cost of shipping in the selling price, I get UPS shipping quotes from several different zip codes in different corners of the country to get a fair estimate of what actual shipping charges will be.

4lbs and up, USPS Priority Flat Rate mail is what i use.

International point of view

phenwick said:

How is everyone shipping their for sale items?
I sent a 3.5lb package via UPS @ Pakmail and it was $16.85.

Click to expand...

At the risk of being redundant to other comments, and possibly off-topic (as you probably wanted information about intra-USA shipping), here's a few points from an international buyer point of view.

0) UPS/DHL/FedEx are a no-go most of the time. Way too expensive. USPS is the preferred way in many cases.
1) shipping materials (boxes/envelopes) can be obtained for free from your Post Office
http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/sto...=13356&parent_category_rn=11820&top_category=
2) USPS can also pick up the package from your house for free:
https://carrierpickup.usps.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CarrierPickup.woa
3) postage can be paid online, you can print out all necessary documents (including Customs form) from the web. You even get a discount of 5% (international priority) for the postage!
https://sss-web.usps.com/cns/landing.do
4) International Priority or First-class Mail seem to be the best balance between price and usefulness.
5) You can request Delivery Confirmation to make sure you are covered for "loss" of package.
http://www.usps.com/send/waystosendmail/extraservices/deliveryconfirmationservice.htm
6) often a good way to ship internationally is a prepaid, flat rate envelope for just 11.95$, good up to 1.8kg (4lbs)
http://www.usps.com/international/prioritymailinternational.htm
7) if it's something larger, you can use prepaid, flat rate box (3 sizes available, starting at ~40$)

Hope that helps a bit

I've bought many things from US. The highest I remember paying was around 55$ for a heavy package (~10lbs box), with tracking and extra insurance. Small purchases of flashlight accessories (reflector/adapter/lens) were as low as 3.8$ (4oz packet, International First Class with delivery confirmation).