shipping options?

[JI]

I have recently acquired a wholesale acct out of state. I am planning on shipping them approx 15 or so lbs of product - . I recently opened a business acct at ups. Is this the best option? Or should I go usps? With ups, they advertised free packaging supplies. I assume i will have to go to a ups shipping facility vs. for profit ups mailing facility. Any advice? Thanks.

Edited December 25, 2012 by JI

[Guest OldGlory]

I suggest UPS or Fedex. They are accountable for their deliveries. If you know someone who runs a retail operation and ships UPS frequently, maybe he/she would allow you to ship thru them. They are charged lower rates and you could just pay the business.

About a year ago I shipped 2 small packages of very low monetary value. One shipped to the midwest, one shipped to Connecticut. I shipped from Knoxville, TN. The package going to the midwest arrived in about 1 week. The other package (same weight and contents) took 21 days to arrive. My post office branch was no help in my attempt to find out what happened to the package.

I recently ordered soap from someone who was having issues with the post office. Seems she shipped an order of 60 bars of soap to a brand new wholesale account. The wholesale account (in the same state) did not receive the package after about 2 weeks, so the soapmaker had to make a few more batches of soap in a hurry and ship them out. (For those of you who do not make soap, soap has to cure for a while, so shipping newly made soap is not optimal.) Meanwhile, she called and called and CALLED the post office trying to track the package and they avoided her calls and were no help at all. After more than a month she got the original package back.

To me, the post office isn't very accountable for their service. I wouldn't put my business in their hands. Just one woman's opinion! LOL

[kandlekrazy]

You will save using UPS or Fedex especially if you are shipping to a business and can drop your boxes at a mail store (business to business rate). I personally have had way better luck with

things arriving unbroken from Fedex and Fedex seems to pay claims much easier...but I'm sure there are peeps out there that have had the reverse happen and prefer UPS. You can

set up an acct for both and check rates before actually shipping. Both are insured for up to $100. automatically and anything over you pay for insurance.

These new priority A B C boxes are coming in even cheaper for me. They are not insured and you must print your own postage/label to use these boxes. They are intended for

business use.

Edited December 26, 2012 by kandlekrazy

[David Fields]

My take... We ship a lot with both USPS, UPS and freight. USPS - small pkgs weighing no more than 13 ounces. If the pkg weighs more than 13 ounces, it goes priority mail, and the price jumps a lot. We contact the customer for their shipping preference, USPS or UPS, if the destination is past the one-day delivery time for the Post Office, and ask if we can ship UPS. For Texas they deliver overnight to most destinations. We, BTW, only ship USPS Delivery Confirmation and UPS Ground. We don't insure with the Post Office but double pack. Never had any problems. If a pkg weighs more than five pounds and is past the PO one-day delivery area, we ask the customer to send UPS. It is automatic to send UPS for our wholesale customers. UPS is higher, and they are going up. Having a business account with UPS does not gain anything until your weekly shipping goes over some limit (don't know what that is); then, you get a discounted rate that drops the more you ship with them. I wouldn't worry much about the rate. We ship UPS because it is faster and safer for longer destinations. We use freight for areas outside the UPS one-day area when the weight is over 100 pounds. We have found that freight is only slightly below UPS rates, but we save by not having to box everything so well. Hope this helps. It is not as confusing as it seems and becomes automatic after a while.

[JI]

What do you mean by abc boxes?

Good to know about usps. I would be so stressed out shipping product that took two weeks to arrive.

Also regarding insurance.

Say I ship product worth $300. Say shipping cost me $50. Just doing easy numbers here. Say the package with ups disappears. Is it sufficient to only have $300 worth of insurance - based on value client has paid for product. Or should I also insure shippng cost? Bc if package went missing I would submit claim yet have to spend an additional $350 (incl shipping). Sorry I know it is a weird question.

Is a business acct with ups the same as a shippers acct?

[ksranch]

What do you mean by abc boxes?

Good to know about usps. I would be so stressed out shipping product that took two weeks to arrive.

Also regarding insurance.

Say I ship product worth $300. Say shipping cost me $50. Just doing easy numbers here. Say the package with ups disappears. Is it sufficient to only have $300 worth of insurance - based on value client has paid for product. Or should I also insure shippng cost? Bc if package went missing I would submit claim yet have to spend an additional $350 (incl shipping). Sorry I know it is a weird question.

ABC Boxes are Priority Regional Rate boxes. They are a flat rate based on your zip to where you are sending. USPS will bring you the boxes free. I send out about 90% of my online orders using these. The weight limits on them are high enough I can get a lot of product in one. You print the label yourself and delivery confirmation is free. I've not had a problem shipping priority - only when using parcel post. When I do have to go parcel I insure for the amount including shipping - otherwise you won't get reimbursed for it (at least in my experience). hth

[TexasBrat]

What do you mean by abc boxes?

Good to know about usps. I would be so stressed out shipping product that took two weeks to arrive.

Also regarding insurance.

Say I ship product worth $300. Say shipping cost me $50. Just doing easy numbers here. Say the package with ups disappears. Is it sufficient to only have $300 worth of insurance - based on value client has paid for product. Or should I also insure shippng cost? Bc if package went missing I would submit claim yet have to spend an additional $350 (incl shipping). Sorry I know it is a weird question.

Is a business acct with ups the same as a shippers acct?

I'm not sure whether there is a difference as a shipper vs business account other than your rates.

As for shipping loss/damage you will be refunded half the amout b/c UPS assumes you made a profit and the real cost is less. If UPS decideds it was there fault and they refund you for the loss they will refund your shipping and the cost for new shipping sending items out again.

I recommend taking pictures of the contents of your pkgs if they are high claim items for proof you packed things well. It can be difficult getting them to approve your claim. They have outsourced their claims dept and you don't deal with UPS directly for claims.

USPS is almost impossible to get a refund, could take months.

Be aware that if your customers give you a wrong address and it comes back to you it will cost $11.00 out of your pocket.

I recommend FedEx over all companies as I have shipped and dealt with all three for the past three years.

Edited December 27, 2012 by TexasBrat

[ksranch]

I've only had to file two claims with USPS, but I got them both within 30 days without issue.

[JI]

Thanks for all this good info. I will also look into fedex when I get back into town.

[JI]

I opened a fedex acct and ups. I put in an imaginary package to both shippers. Same weight, size, destination etc. Both were for ground shipping. Ups was $13 plus change. Fedex was $7 plus change!! Did not expect such a big difference!

Edited January 3, 2013 by JI

[ksranch]

I for one wish more suppliers offered FedEx... they get here at a decent hour - reliably... UPS.. not so much

[kandlekrazy]

I have found the same thing to be true...fedex usually much cheaper (when you print your own labels). I'm so happy that Ebay has fedex now as an option!