the shipping costs are NOT the same! i got a quote at an "office" and knew it was way off. i drove to my usual fedex ship point (distribution center) which is much less convenient and the shipping was 1/2 of the office quote. i was boiling. drove back to the "office" and asked about the dif. clerk had no idea about the added costs and when i asked if there was a surcharge she said "i couldn't tell you about that". as good as "yes there is a surcharge" to me. i hate getting ripped off and i like to be kissed first if i'm going to get f#%ked.

k

.....AFAIK it's the same with the UPS "stores" as well.

Part of the charge may be the equivalent of home/office pick-up charges, which is why I usually go to the UPS or FedEx dist. ctr. offices for mine, & UPS has had better pricing for what we tend to ship on here FWIW.

she also told me my box was "unacceptable", it had some "scratches" and a couple of tiny tears that shipping tape would mend just fine. that 2 inches are "required" on each side of the item. they had one there that was acceptable. of course, i would have to buy it.

k

I tried to return some pedal cores to Bruce Stone (Thank you Bruce for a great product!), at a local UPS Store. I was told they couldn't ship because they were hazardous material (smelled like PB Blaster). I brought to Fed EX and out they went. UPS store was trying to sell me special packaging etc.

I just hate being gouged, especially when I am always running business shipping throught them on the company account.

I have a usps 2 miles away. They give me all the pricing options and no hassles. The employees get paid the same no matter what I ship. I used to ship from the bike shop that I worked at years ago but they dropped ups daily pick up because the costs had gotten out of sight.

2 caliper cores to Shea cost ~15 from the east coast - priority mail. Can't beat it.

i received all the pricing options. it was the fact that it was double for the "office" pricing vs the dst center pricing that had me fuming.

i use USPS flat rate priority boxes when ever i can. not to be confused with 'plain' priority boxes. 112# of calipers in 2 flat rate went to eric for $30ish.

k

I think most of those offices are privately owned. They like to make a profit, so they charge what the market will bear. I avoid them if I can. I own UPS stock though, so avoid the "purple trash haulers" at all cost.

I thought that a lot of the UPS Stores were privately owned, but that the Kinkos/Fed-Ex stores were Corporate. Obviously they have overhead.

However, I have known about the Cost differences for quite a while so I use USPS for small stuff and Fed-Ex (Distribution Centers) for everything else - Greyhound for crazy items

I went with Fed Ex after UPS delivered not 1, not 2 but 3 broken OEM windshields. When the driver opened the door (for the 3rd windshield) it is standing on the end with huge notations on all sides "DO NOT STAND ON END". I looked at the driver and said can any of you MF's read.

I shop on line and go with whoever provides the best value for varying types of shipping requirements.

FedEx typically give me the best rates, but Priority mail is less expensive at times.

USPS 1st class mail rates were the best when I was shipping small to medium-size parts to overseas.


I receive lots of UPS deliveries from purchases, so I guess I help support the shipping industry's 'big-3' across the board

I may suggest that you get your own FedEx / UPS account. I use FedEx ALL the time for shipping bigger / heavy items that won't fit in a USPS Flat rate box. I can't speak of the UPS account, but FedEx is free.

There is no local FedEx center / shop here in Portage so I schedule for pickup at my house. Costs $3 per package to have it picked up at my house. Easy to do, just print the label from the FedEx website, put it on the package you are shipping and leave at your front door or area you choose when you filled out the shipping form on line.
For a few packages it is well worth the $3 pickup charge (above shipping cost) since I don't have to burn the fuel or my time to ship it. I have been doing it this way for 10+ yrs with no issues.

YMMV

I also noticed that USPS have 3 different prices. One for walking in (highest) one for USPS.com and the cheapest using the link from Paypal/ eBay.

One instance , I tried to ship an item using USPS.com it was $37.00, I went thru my Paypal using a link from a transaction that did not need to be shipped and edited the address, I saved $12.00

2nd
I shipped 4 rims that was already boxed using Paypal $18.00 each, I went out and get a boxcar the 5th; same size and I didn't want to go back home to print the label, thinking that it wouldn't make a difference, they wanted $37.00 at the office.
Just went home and print it.
They all charged more for their overheads.

FedEx / Kinkos, UPS stores..... Hardly the same as going to the real shipper. Don't be fooled.... The name might be on the sign, but it ain't the same. It's a retail gig, and it isn't like taking your box to the actual UPS location. Bff. They rip hard. Retailers marking up big time. Most expensive way to ship anything.

Learned the hard way 10+ years ago selling a bumper..... not a good lesson. Best thing is to take it to a direct terminal.

Ok,

Please allow me to put my .02cents in the ring

* Some one mentioned about shipping a pkg with a certain arrow / directions as in UP..I'm sure most of the time this will occur. But one has to expect the unexpected.
If you really really need that service- you need a private carrier that ONLY has your shipment in the truck..I'm sure you can figure out what the charge would be . It's not going to be pretty.

* Large package are billed at a dimensional weight basis vs actual - carriers bill the greater of the two...simple example. You rent out a room - a small room, then the person takes your 'master' bedroom for the same price...I think most will get the idea.

* Retail out lets - oh guess who stands around all day to wait on you that ships 'one' package. Try it and see what you would do.

Things are not always what they seem...
ok flame on

Ok, I will flam on. Take it to the source and avoid the HUGE extra fees. Things are indeed what they seem.

Now's the time to sell some of that class A shares..as you can't take it with you

What cracks me up is the "fuel surcharge". A barrel of crude is over such and such a price for 30 straight days blah, blah, blah. This is the world, get control of your costs instead of y'all colluding to raise rates through surcharge. Pay senior management 100 million in bonuses then float a bond for 150million for capital improvements??? You ever notice that when the price of gas goes down the surcharges do not. My fricking garbageman adds fuel surcharge to the bill. I'm waiting for the "stuck in heavy traffic, thunderstorm and other acts of God surcharges" beyond our control.

Make friends with a local retail store with fed ex pick up. The shipping prices at our ski shop are very low and we don't charge our customers extra when we help them with shipping. I send small stuff through my local usps but anything substantial goes through the store. I've never used a ups/fed ex company store but I'm sure there's overhead and profit built into the cost.

So true, and I say that all the time myself. Could I ask a favor? Get you to write a note to my ex-wife, explaining how that works?

Thanks

I only ship FedEx for many reasons and experiences. The main reason is the cost for coast to coast with Ground is under $100 for a transmission. The nearest depot for both UPS and FedEx are far and via traffic laden, construction seized routes. I go to Office Max and the price is either the same as the depot, or very close. They are not thrilled when I come in and heft my 90# box onto their counter top scale, though

mike, is that rate as a biz or what? when was the last time you shipped a trans?

Not as a biz, and last one I shipped was last month.

The Post Office (Flat Rate Priority Mail) is, by far, the least expensive way to ship calipers. You can get 4 or 5 in a large box and pay under 15 bucks. You can set up an account and save a little more, too. They'll even send you bundles of boxes for free. I also set up a UPS account through Paypal, and the rates dropped significantly there, too.

I was once driving behind a business as a UPS driver was unloading a box from the back of his truck.

He literally pulled it off the back and just let it fall to the ground. Then he looked around like "Oh did anyone see that??". He noticed that I saw him and just shrugged and went on about his business.

It also seems that the more "fragile" or "Handle with care" stickers you put on something, the more dents & tears you will have at the destination.

Stu

weird..a 43x15x10 @ 26# ran an incredible $58.61! sounded way high to me. called to confirm and that's what it cost. do you box the trans or just roll it up in plastic?

I box it. There is a sweet spot where the price does jump quite a bit. I noticed this when I used to ship seats. A difference of one inch was $50 ($38 vs $88). Make sure the agent measures correctly.

It gets worse. A few years back I had a crew at one of their main terminal. e.g. behind the scenes. They later said it reminded them of the old Samsonite commercials when the Gorillas or Chimps were throwing the suit cases about, trying to destroy them. In March I received a radiator for my conversion that was shipped UPS. Guess what? BF'g footprint on the box. (ups=useless p s)

Same thing happens at the gas pump. Prices immediately go up with speculation, but it takes months for the prices to drop when crude goes back down.

Buy the postage online and you can drop it off at the UPS Store without paying the store's rates. Just need to be able to weigh it at home and measure the box.

Sign up for a [free] FedEx account

Pack as small as possible, weigh and measure, go on line to get the rates, fill out the form.

Print the label(s) and drop the package(s) off at any local FedEx facility. Cheap and easy.

Ground shipping (excluding 'Home Delivery') is less expensive if you have an account. Also, shipping to a business address is even cheaper. Ask your buyers if they have a business address.

I typically set up the shipping when I buy too. I get the weight and dimensions from the seller, go through the same on line process, but email the shipping label(s) to the seller. The seller drops the package(s) off and walks away .

While I understand the shock when people see the price differences between the depot (the "wholesale" price) and like at the UPS Store (the "retail" price), but jeez, it's how ALL business works. The only difference is the % of mark-up that varies.

FYI: Clothing has SERIOUS mark-ups like 2-300%. Ever looked at Apples mark-ups?? That new car you bought cost you $3.5K-$6K+ OVER it's cost. The food you buy, the house you live in and my personal favorite GASOLINE (BTW the federal and state governments make more than the oil companies, but that's for another discussion)

Shipping is just one of the few items/services that you can buy at wholesale directly from the source. You all have talked about how you have to drive a distance to go to a FedEx or UPS depot to get the better prices and that the other places are more convenient, but more expensive. . . That's what you're paying for; convenience. That building the franchises work out of are not free, so that's factored into the cost they HAVE to charge in order to stay in business. The lights, phones, packaging materials, etc all have to be paid for. I mean really; do you think these places are here as charities??

I would encourage any of you to open up a franchise and show those greedy bastards haw to git-R-done, but I hope you do it with a good plan "B", 'cause you will be out of business by the end of your first week.