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Shipping Methods?

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bl1tzk1213g

Member
Just as the topic says, what are the different kind of shipping methods you guys use here when selling/trading? How do you keep the shipping costs low?
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Where do you guys guy? postal annex? UPS store? Where you get supplies? boxes?

Never sold anything online YET, but I've done local deals. How does it work if you wanna sell cheap and small items? How will it fair? For example if somebody wanted to buy a used 120mm fan for $7 and the only shipping I know for sure is the USPS priority flat rate which is $5 (the smallest size). Also if somebody wanted to buy a stick of ram which you don't have to box, what can you use?

Sorry for asking too much questions
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I just want to get rid some of my stuff here so I can sort of upgrade
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Any information would help!
 
Method depends on item/cost. You aren't going to spend $5 shipping a $7 fan. You would use USPS parcel post which might cost $2 for that fan.

For me nothing beats FedEx Ground shipped via my Employer. Real tracking, insurance built in, and we get a hell of a discount.
 
recycled box.

say you bought something online... they sent you the package with cool box that could be recycled, you can put something in and send.
 
USPS Priority is often times cheaper and faster than similar services from UPS or Fedex. It's 2-3 days to anywhere in the continental US and USPS delivers on Saturdays without extra charge. If I sell something online I'll use Priority 95% of time, the other times parcel post or 1st class.
 
Farmer said:
USPS Priority is often times cheaper and faster than similar services from UPS or Fedex. It's 2-3 days to anywhere in the continental US and USPS delivers on Saturdays without extra charge. If I sell something online I'll use Priority 95% of time, the other times parcel post or 1st class.
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Yeah that's what's great about USPS. I just want to learn which services from those companies (usps, fedex, ups) will be practice to use depending on the items being sent. Like what TwiceOver said, I can use the parcel post for the fan and yet I never knew about it. I only knew about the flat rate shipping

TwiceOver said:
Method depends on item/cost. You aren't going to spend $5 shipping a $7 fan. You would use USPS parcel post which might cost $2 for that fan.

For me nothing beats FedEx Ground shipped via my Employer. Real tracking, insurance built in, and we get a hell of a discount.
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Parcel Post? What the difference between that and regular flat rate shipping? I thought their flat rate shipping was the cheapest?

NiceCold said:
recycled box.

say you bought something online... they sent you the package with cool box that could be recycled, you can put something in and send.
Click to expand...

Recycles boxes get thrown away here like it carries a disease. Where can I get boxes of various sizes?
 
bl1tzk1213g said:
Parcel Post? What the difference between that and regular flat rate shipping? I thought their flat rate shipping was the cheapest?
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Parcel Post is dirt cheap, but takes a while. Flat rate is actually "Flat Rate Priority" I believe. Basically their 3 day service, whatever you can fit in the box. Parcel post would be like UPS Ground, maybe a little slower.

Also don't forget "Delivery Confirmation" is NOT tracking. It is confirmation of delivery. Consider yourself lucky if it updates along the way.
 
bl1tzk1213g said:
Parcel Post? What the difference between that and regular flat rate shipping? I thought their flat rate shipping was the cheapest?
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Parcel Post is a ground shipping method that's slow. It's often more expensive than Priority as well. I live in Florida so shipping anything east of the Mississippi that weighs 3 pounds or less is cheaper by Priority than Parcel Post.

Recycles boxes get thrown away here like it carries a disease. Where can I get boxes of various sizes?
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You can order tham from places like U-Line but they rape you on the shipping charges. Google for a local place that sells shipping supplies and pick them up yourself. Avoid Staples, Office Depot, etc too for boxes, tape, and the rest. Their prices are terrible.
 
I run a business out of home and I can tell you from what minimal experience I've had so far that for < 8lbs or so, USPS is the best deal hands down.

The heavier you get, the more I lean towards UPS. Fedex is generally more of a hassle if the shipment is missed in my experience. However if its received on first attempt, I don't see why one is better than the other.

For the record, USPS deals a LOT with Fedex, and UPS deals somewhat with USPS. I'm sure there are more marriages in there, but those those are the ones I've seen.

EDIT:

The over 8lbs rule is for items that wont fit in flat rate boxes.
 
Okay, here's a question: With the postal strike currently happening in Canada (and the total lockdown right now), what are my reasonably priced alternate means of getting items weighing 10lbs shipped to me from Hong Kong?
 
Depends on what it is.

small-medium + heavy = USPS Priority Flat Rate
small-medium + light = USPS Priority

High-value items go FedEx or UPS with tracking.
 
xanis said:
Depends on what it is.

small-medium + heavy = USPS Priority Flat Rate
small-medium + light = USPS Priority

High-value items go FedEx or UPS with tracking.
Click to expand...

The problem with using USPS is that after it goes through customs, it's handled by Canada Post from that point on, so that's no good for me if this strike goes on into July.

A quick quote from UPS pegged the cheaper of two options to about $200 for something worth $281. I could see this getting rather expensive...
 
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