How do you guys ship?

[ky0u]

Does anyone have any tips and tricks they can share regarding shipping items? How do you get the lowest shipping cost?

[nickmcc92]

I usually ship by mail

[mr.vang]

USPS is the cheapest

[jaywood]

What are you trying to ship?

I ship out using USPS but we ship big stuff Fed ex at work.

[NoSnowJustIce]

Create free accounts for UPS and FedEx. Saves tons. I prefer FedEx cause the location is closest to me and for free Saturday delivery.

[george graves]

Don't pay for boxes. If you hunt around (industrial areas are good - so is the back of big box stores) you can have your pick of all the boxes you want.

Save all that bubble wrap, chunks of Styrofoam, and packing peanuts from the stuff you receive. It adds up fast. And no need for it to go straight to the land fill.

Ship diffs in large plastic containers from walmart.

USPS for small things. UPS and FedEx for larger/heavy things. Except odd shaped things - USPS seems more forgiving.

If you need to ship something bulky like seats - you can use GreyHound.

Lean how to chop boxes down to a smaller size. You basically create a smaller box from an old one. Will save you tons.

If you're not sure about the price to ship something...Tell the buyer "I'll charge you actual shipping - so, if you don't mind, pay me for the item, then I'll go get a quote, and let you know what it is - then pay me for the shipping and I'll ship it - if the shipping is too much, I'll refund you" - Can't tell you how many times I had estimated the shipping wrong(on something like a back seat), and when to ship it - and the shipping was 2-3 times more than I expected.

Insure anything that you remotely care about.

Insure anything that the buyer might remotely care about.

[ky0u]

What are you trying to ship?

I ship out using USPS but we ship big stuff Fed ex at work.

Nothing in particular, Just wondering in general. Like I know usps has some flat rate boxes which are great for standard items but what if you have to ship something that doesn't quite fit in those boxes? What if I wanted to ship tail lights or a jacket or something. A while back I got quoted by UPS $250 to ship a computer tower( without any internals)

Don't pay for boxes. If you hunt around (industrial areas are good - so is the back of box box stores) you can have your pic of all the boxes you want.

Save all that bubble wrap, chunks of Styrofoam, and packing peanuts from the stuff you receive. It add up fast. And no need for it to go straight to the land fill.

Ship diffs in large plastic containers from walmart.

USPS for small things. UPS and FedEx for larger/heavy things. Except odd shaped things - USPS seems more forgiving.

If you need to ship something bulky like seats - you can use GreyHound.

Lean how to chop boxes down to a smaller size. You basically create a smaller box from an old one. Will save you tons.

If you're not sure about the price to ship something...Tell the buyer "I'll charge you actual shipping - so, if you don't mind, pay me for the item, then I'll go get a quote, and let you know what it is - then pay me for the shipping and I'll ship it - if the shipping is too much, I'll refund you" - Can't tell you how many times I had estimated the shipping wrong(on something like a back seat), and when to ship it - and the shipping was 2-3 times more than I expected.

Insure anything that you remotely care about.

Insure anything that the buyer might remotely care about.

Great info here, thanks! I always end up spending more than I intend because of boxes. How about the actual postage cost? Do you have any advice?

[mr.vang]

Ups and FedEx always want 2x more than what USPS want. Ups and FedEx want $300 to ship a set of wheels so I went to USPS, $150 shipped.

[george graves]

Great info here, thanks! I always end up spending more than I intend because of boxes. How about the actual postage cost? Do you have any advice?

Buy a shipping scale if you're serious(I think you can get on on ebay for like $15). A bathroom scale won't really work for light things in my experience) Next, measure the box, then hit up the USPS, FedEx, and UPS web sites. They have cost calculators. You'll need to know "shipping to" and "shipping from" zip code. The "shipping to" zip you might not know - so put in something furthest away. Like New York - it's easy to remember - 10001. Or LA - just use 90210.

You'll quickly get a feel for the difference between USPS and the other two(UPS/FedEx are usually with in a few bucks of each other)

Priority mail small flat rate boxes are about $5.50 - you won't be fitting too many car parts in them. And since small parts don't cost as much, if often doesn't make sense to use them.

Here's a few pro tips:

Most likely you'll have a few different post offices in your town. Pick the smallest one - even if it's 5 mins out of the way. You save yourself from waiting in line.

Get to know the USPS employees. You really want them to be your friend. They will watch out for you and your packages like it was their own children. And ask a ton of questions. Most of those guys/gals know their stuff and can be a huge help. Another reason to go to a smaller post office, is they are usually more friendly.

Don't bother with Endicia or stamps.com until you really need it - and if you're starting out - you don't.

Thats' all I can think of for now.

[AndrewBird]

I've worked several jobs shipping various things from car parts to toys to longboards and accessories.

The number one thing to always do is use enough packing material. Use a box roughly twice as big as the thing you are shipping. Use enough packing material that once packed, the item does not move inside the box when shaken.

Newspaper printers will often give away rolls of un-printed newspaper. This makes great packing. The local newspaper here literally has a pallet of 6" diameter rolls of paper each day (rolls are the width of a newspaper page). These rolls start out about 10 feet in diameter and when they get close to the end of the roll, they swap them out before they run out.

If you are hand writing address labels or printing them on an ink jet printer, cover the label with clear tape after you stick it on. This keeps water from smearing the ink and making the box un-deliverable.

I don't recommend using styrofoam chunks as filler. Sheets, if used correctly, are fine, but chunks just tend to disintegrate and make a big mess. And once they are in tiny little pieces, they no longer work well as padding. Packing peanuts work ok, but once again, use enough to keep the item from moving. If the item can move, it can be damaged.

I like to check behind grocery stores for boxes. Lots of different sizes. I do use USPS a lot though as they have free boxes, as long as you ship Priority Mail.

Tyvek envelopes work great for not-breakable items. I use them to ship t-shirts all the time. They are nearly indestructible and are extremely hard to tear. They are also light weight, so you save on shipping.

One trick we used to use at a place I worked was to put small boxes inside flat rate envelopes. Most of the items we shipped were small, but could either fall out of an envelope or be broken. So we would put them first into a small box with padding, then stuff the box in the envelope. USPS policy is that if you can close the envelope using only their adhesive and without the use of additional tape, they will ship it.

I also find it a LOT easier to print labels online. If you have a PayPal account, you can use their Multi-order Shipping to create labels, even if you didn't get paid through PayPal. They offer discounted rates this way as well. Then all you have to do is drop the box off or put it out with your mail for the mail carrier to pick up.

[markt51]

Everything George has said is exactly what i do and is very good advice.

Save boxes, cut down boxes, ship big heavy items in rubbermaid totes, use usps for small stuff, fedex or greyhound for big stuff etc. Ship usps flat rate when possible, and i use USPS almost all the time except for the big heavy stuff

I shipped a completes 5 speed swap kit in a big rubbermaid container, lined it with carboard and other padding for like $130 via fedex. Weight was like 140lbs and tote cost me like $20

[AndrewBird]

A lot of good ideas in this thread:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=280301&highlight=shipping

[george graves]

I don't recommend using styrofoam chunks as filler.

I was speaking more to the kinda of styrofoam "corners" that a TV or a desktop PC comes in. Those X-Y-Z 90 degree corners and be used in all sorts of things - you just have to be creative. Like when shipping a m20 head, - blocks of foam come in real handy to give space to the valves for shipping. Shipping a diff - go ahead and pad it with chunks of foam. It won't add to the weight. But I like the spirit of your post.

Basically....At the end of the day - don't be a d-bag shipper. Don't throw two calipers in a box and assume they will be ok. Yes, they are huge and indestructible chunks of metal - or so you think - but, when they arrive, the bleed nipples will be broke off - and someone will have to dill them out and tap them. That's a crappy shipper. Don't do that.

Also - don't get into the car part out game unless you enjoy shipping. Or you''ll hate life. If that's the OP's goal. With an cordless impact - you can strip a car in a long weekend. It will take you another 80-100 hours to clean, photograph, advertise, sell, pack and ship. So just cause you got an e30 for $500 - you'll still have to work for it.

Another pro tip: CLEAN YOUR PARTS. I got an oil filer housing off of a member here, and when he shipped it, it was as clean as can be. I'll buy parts off that guy all day long. (slammin_e28 IIRC)

Take amazing pictures. A clean and painted 250k mile diff will sell for twice what a road grime covered 80K LSD will. Sad, but true.

And if you really want to go pro.....well I was about to put up a blog post on that.

[mulletman]

I ship via FedEx, due to large work-related discounts.

[MR 325]

Some great info here from Andrew and George.

I love using USPS Priority Mail! Boxes are free and they'll even deliver the boxes to YOU if you want.

Otherwise I highly recommend UPS over FedEx. Now of course neither of these companies is perfect but in my many many years of buying and shipping parts I've realized one very important thing. FedEx will basically never pay out on insurance claims. UPS on the other hand has been great about paying out on damaged shipments with little to no issue.