UPS Postage

[lupi]

Are businesses sucking up a lot of the cost for UPS, or do they just rape the individual customer?

Had a prepaid package and another to drop off, so just went to use them for that one also. Cost me $16 to mail a single video card. I put it in a box used to send a tablet, so size not much of a factor, and it's a video card so not much weight either.

At least now I won't object as much to this month's cable bill.

 

[lxskllr]

I assume they get a break. Those rates are unsustainable for remote commerce.

 

[Ichinisan]

Are businesses sucking up a lot of the cost for UPS, or do they just rape the individual customer?

Had a prepaid package and another to drop off, so just went to use them for that one also. Cost me $16 to mail a single video card. I put it in a box used to send a tablet, so size not much of a factor, and it's a video card so not much weight either.

At least now I won't object as much to this month's cable bill.

Tried to send a Logitech 2.0 speaker set to my sister for her to use with her laptop. Found a way to make them fit in a very small box...about half the size of a shoebox. They were a bit heavy, but the cost quoted by the USPS post office APU machine was $16.57 for "standard post." I probably paid $20/$30 for those speakers in the first place!

Somehow, that box fit into a medium flat rate box with room to spare...and I shipped it Priority Mail for $12.65 -- which is still too much if you ask me.

Clearly, retailers like Amazon aren't spending nearly this much.

 

[purbeast0]

did you go to actual ups or one of those shipping places that uses ups? the latter rapes you in prices

 

[lupi]

it wasn't a UPS shipment center, but one of their retail outlets.

 

[purbeast0]

is it authorized? like will it show up on the ups.com website when searching?

 

[lupi]

yes one of the ones that show as their stores.

 

[Brovane]

Are businesses sucking up a lot of the cost for UPS, or do they just rape the individual customer?

Had a prepaid package and another to drop off, so just went to use them for that one also. Cost me $16 to mail a single video card. I put it in a box used to send a tablet, so size not much of a factor, and it's a video card so not much weight either.

At least now I won't object as much to this month's cable bill.

Large companies have a lot of volume so they can negotiate better deals. They also will do things to optimize the shipment for UPS. IE UPS will drop of a trailer in the morning and the company will fill up the trailer or trailers with items going out. The large companies will also have access into the shipping companies system so the packages are already labeled and scanned before they are even picked up with the shipping companies standard label. A company like UPS might just need to come by and literally pickup a trailer that is already filled and ready and to go. Instead of a UPS guy having to stop his truck, get out and pickup individual packages. The first time that UPS might directly handle the package could be when it is dropped off at the logistics center for sorting. All this makes for reduced cost compared to the person shipping a couple of items through the UPS store.

 

[smackababy]

Large companies have a lot of volume so they can negotiate better deals. They also will do things to optimize the shipment for UPS. IE UPS will drop of a trailer in the morning and the company will fill up the trailer or trailers with items going out. The large companies will also have access into the shipping companies system so the packages are already labeled and scanned before they are even picked up with the shipping companies standard label. A company like UPS might just need to come by and literally pickup a trailer that is already filled and ready and to go. Instead of a UPS guy having to stop his truck, get out and pickup individual packages. The first time that UPS might directly handle the package could be when it is dropped off at the logistics center for sorting. All this makes for reduced cost compared to the person shipping a couple of items through the UPS store.

This. Most businesses that use UPS, FedEx, etc have a dock door where a trailer is simply backed into it and loaded. Once it is closed at the end of the day, it is driven off. The labels are already on the boxes and all UPS has to do is drive to to the processing location.

 

[marvdmartian]

This. Most businesses that use UPS, FedEx, etc have a dock door where a trailer is simply backed into it and loaded. Once it is closed at the end of the day, it is driven off. The labels are already on the boxes and all UPS has to do is drive to to the processing location.

Similar to if you mail a lot of the same size envelope, and have them sorted by zip code, the post office will give you a break on postage, if you have over a minimum number of pieces. Also, much of what businesses send via UPS and FedEx are the type that is carried to your general area by those companies, then transferred to the post office for delivery, which saves the businesses money.

The best idea is to just go online, and compare the costs for USPS, UPS & FedEx, for any large or heavy package you have. As already pointed out, if you can fit it in one of their flat rate boxes, and it's heavy, the USPS is the way to go. In my experience, about 4 pounds is the tipping point, especially if you're shipping overseas (my niece lives in Japan, and any package is expensive to ship....but over 4 pounds, it saves money to ship with a flat rate box).

Finally, UPS and FedEx have a minimum charge for their shipping, which is around $7 or $8. Doesn't matter if it's just a box full of cotton balls (weighing next to nothing), or a box full of paper, if it's within a specific size parameter, and under (I think) 2 pounds, it's going to cost that minimum charge.

 

[slayer202]

is it authorized? like will it show up on the ups.com website when searching?

those places still kill you. if you print postage online you get a break. businesses even more so, much cheaper. even ebay gets you discounts on usps (i think they used to offer ups but not sure anymore). usps online even offers a cheaper rate than the stores

 

[turtile]

A small business will get 20-30% discount and the price will drop after that with volume.

 

[MtnMan]

Still no clue if he is talking about USPS Postage, or UPS shipping.

 

[TheGardener]

Waiting for Uber to set up a drone delivery service.

 

[Mixolydian]

FWIW, The UPS Stores are all franchised and not actually owned or operated by UPS...so you're going to pay more.

Waiting for Uber to set up a drone delivery service.

And have your packages never show up.

 

[lupi]

Still no clue if he is talking about USPS Postage, or UPS shipping.

You can't tell the difference between ups and usps?

 

[cavemanmoron]

You can't tell the difference between ups and usps?

I too am confused;
Your Thread title Is;
UPS Postage

 

[rh71]

USPS Priority Mail box but packaged really well... is cheaper if it doesn't need to be faster than 3 days.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think businesses who have an account get special rates as it's probably charged in bulk. Rather than charge for each individual shipment they probably charge by truckload or something. Truck pulls in to the company's bay they load up the skids, weigh them and charge for that and size. Then it gets split up to different trucks as it reaches different destinations, at least that's my guess. I could be wrong.

Went to pickup something at Purolator which handles UPS packages here and figured I'd send something through them, they even told me I'd be better off going to Canada post but made me a price just to get an idea. Would have been like 60 bucks to send a small box (think it was a hard drive to RMA) to the states. Went to Canada Post and it was only like 15 bucks or something like that. That's more on par with what it would generally cost to have that same item shipped from a retailer.