Your shipping tips?
 

What kind of great ideas do you have that could help reduceshipping costs?
When it costs more to ship an item than it's worth, there'sgotta be shortcuts!

I use the priority boxes. The lines at the Phoenix PO are horrible. I pay for the postage online and our mailman picks them up at my door. I have had to just suck it up a couple of times mailing something that was not all that valuable.

Check with Greyhound bus lines. They ship it for you and if it is on their line, it may get there the next day.
Safe too.

Basic shipping costs are based on weight and size of the item.

An ordinary ten pound rock would cost a lot more to ship than a ten carat (uninsured) diamond.

Ya, I would use priority boxes too, last time I went to the post office they were able to help me so that it would cut the cost down as much as I could to ship my donation items.

didn't know they shipped things...only problem is the nearest terminal is about 50 miles from me...

If the item is large but light in weight, you might want to think about buying a space bag so that you can reduce the size of the folded quilt and therefore the box. Many people don't realize there is a calculation for "dimensional weight" to figure shipping costs - for items that are large but don't weigh much. Also, sometimes, Fed Ex ground rates can be cheaper than the post office.

I shipped a queen size quilt, extra fabric & a few other small items in the largest priority flat rate box (12" x 12" x 5-1/2") the post office has. Flat rate is around $17.90 (under 70 pounds). Add extra insurance & it'll cost a little more. Comes with free tracking. I folded my quilt long ways, down to about 12 inches. Then accordian folded it to fit in the space bag & box. Those space bags can really give you added space. Wal-Mart carries a couple brands of space bags. I bought the cheaper ones. I went to USPS website & printed out my label. When you take it to the post office you get a reciept with a tracking number. Give them your e-mail address & you get auto notices for tracking.

wow, everybody says the rates between Fed Ex & post office are about the same..i'll have to remember to check Fed Ex...will have to google space bags, too...

never noticed space bags before, but it sounds like it works, thanks!

I use my seal a meal to reduce the size/bulk of fabric I'm shipping. They work like the space bags. You will be surprised at the amount of fabric you can ship in one of the boxes or envelopes you get from the post office. Also, it's cheaper to ship in a box or envelope from the post office than other types of boxes or envelopes.

there is an advantage to using the priority boxes/envelopes & that is that they come with 50$ of free insurance and a tracking #...it's also a lot cheaper this way if i ship something west of the Mississippi River -- otherwise it is very costly!
[i am in PA]

I used a regular trash bag and sucked the air out with the sweeper hose and twisted it and it worked. Took a quilt on the plane and fluffed it in the dryer when I arrived. Worked great. Vi

Shipping is cheaper than driving it or going to pick up yourself...and quicker. We pay for services.
sandy

I ship using USPS priority boxes using Pay Pal. You get the same discount as on USPS. The advantage is when you ship an item less than 13 ounces that can go first class package rates. You get a tracking info for 19 cents and discount rates that the USPS doesn't offer. Free pickup is the bonus!

I send a lot of items by priority. You can buy extra large Ziploc bags and squeeze all the air out. Cheaper than space bags and send priority also. They come in 4 packs for about $5-6.

Have done this also. Works great for extra packing insulation so things don't break.

If you have your dimensions and weight you can also price compare on-line with the different shipping companies to see who might have the best deal for what/where you are shipping.

If one does a lot of mailing/shipping, a scale that weighs in fractions of ounces is worth buying. Some are also known as diet or kitchen scales.

If you're shipping donations, take to the group you are making them for. They might have a lot of stuff going to the same place, and yours could go too. Just a thought.

What about international shipping? I have some swap blocks to Europe.

Go to Office Depot, or Staple, to mail packages. They offer all options - USPS, Fed Ex, and UPS so you can compare all three in one trip.

You don't need a space bag! I take a big black garbage bag and my vacuum hose and suck the air out then tie it with a sip tie,it works great. I sent my son a queen size quilt this way.He said it arrived fine but had a little air.he took it out and as soon as he took it out of the box and opened it up it really grew. So much cheaper than space bags.

If you buy postage online is usually less than buying at the PO. Sometimes it can be several dollars less.

I work for a company (In Canada) that regularly ships boxes weighing just over 5 pounds. Within Canada it is most economical to use Canada Post.

But if I am shipping 40 pounds, it is more economical to ship via a regional courier, not one of the big national/international ones.

OP you said you do not have a Greyhound office close by, do you have another bus line that services your area? For one of our customers who lives in a fairly remote community, serviced by a local bus line, I can still send via Greyhound. There is an agreement between the bus lines to carry each other's parcels.

Sometimes you need to think outside the box, no pun intended. Who is making deliveries to the places you need to send things?

I work in an industrial area, several of the truckers make trips to Vancouver a couple times a week. They have been known to bring back passengers once in a while.

The company I work for has delivery trucks for our own products. The odd time the drivers carry something extra. It is not an every day occurrence and is dependent on there being room on the truck.

Many companies have internal mail services, sometimes you can piggy back on that too. Once again my company will use the credit unions internal mail service instead of us paying the cost of shipping to another credit union location.

I see a lot of responses about using Priority Mail boxes from the Post Office. Make sure they are also PRIORITY FLAT RATE boxes, that way you will know how much it will cost and can give you a basis to compare prices. Also ground rate would be about the same as 3rd class mail, so check those prices if you do not have to hurry. It does pay to invest in a scale when comparing prices.

You can also use a garbage bag-if it's thin use 2. Way cheaper and for me it was easier to seal then the zip. I taped the bag opening to the vac hose and I made a loop with string and once the air was out I twisted the bag and tightened the loop. I used this method when I was moving cross country for all my fabrics - quilts- linens and clothing. I saved a lot of space in the rental truck

Some of the mailing services add a LOT to the actual shipping charge.

A friend of mine used one of those services, and it cost her a lot more than if she had gone to the post office and used USPS flat rate priority mail.

I have had a shipping business for almost 30 years. I rarely send anything of any size or value thru the post office. It is not that they don't deliver, it is that if there is a problem, it can take you 6 months (if at all) to get a resolution. The reason most people find UPS and FedX ground more expensive is that they go to a chain store that increases the actual charge - this is perfectly ok, this is how they stay in business. The old Mail Boxes Etc doubled their shipping cost. You need to make your package as small as possible (it does go dimensional vs. actual weight). Included in cost is $100 insurance, a tracking # and a set delivery day. Either go online and create a label or go to a smaller independent shipping store. If you have an online purchased label, you can drop your box off at ANY place that does UPS - no fee.
Also, you can use (or reuse) any box to ship UPS or Fed x, as long as it has a legible label. I often ship customers packages in priority mail boxes. I also like to put a plastic bag in the bottom of the box to act as a moisture barrier and a note in the top with the to/from address. I can send a 10 lb, 12" cube box from coast to coast with $100 insurance, a tracking number and let the recipient know the guaranteed delivery date for $20. And know that if there is a problem, I can locate the package or submit a claim with resolution within days. UPS and Fed X can not ship to a P.O. Box (post office won't sign for it) but they can send to a RR#. Hope this helps.

unfortunately, there is no longer any inexpensive way to ship to Europe. Just keep your parcel as small an light as possible. At least Europe is less expensive than sending throughout the Pacific Rim.