UPS or USPS

I am doing a very large SASE of plants right now and not sure which way to send it because of it's weight. It's a large box, approx 10-12 lbs. and I am shipping it to New York from Calif.
Has anyone here ever shipped that large of an item Priority mail or Ups 2-3 day delivery. It looks like it's going to be over $20 plus to ship.

Any info or help would be appreciated.
Donna

In my HUMBLEST opinion, UPS has become expensive for individuals to use. (It seems like it used to be a lot less to use UPS over USPS, but any more USPS is as cheap or cheaper.

Whatever you do, don't take it to one of those Mail Boxes etc. or Mail Suite -type places to have them ship it; they tack on a hefty surcharge over and above what UPS charges (I call it adding insult to injury :)

check with fed-x it might be cheaper. i have never shipped plants with them. i have always used the post office and my plants have always arrived safely.

I think Ups is cheaper for heavy items when you are able to use the ground service... not really an option for plants. If they're tender plants you might want to wait before shipping. It's been pretty darn cold on the North East... not to mention the storms that are delaying everything.

USPS Priority is a bit more expensive than UPS ground, but is probably the safest route. Recommend you ship on a Monday though, to give them the best chance of making it to it's destination prior to a weekend. It doesn't always happen, but it give you better odds.

SoCal, the prices will also depend on the size of the box. You said it was heavy, but the weight is only one factor. The girth also needs to be accounted for. One box I shipped was pretty large, not terribly heavy though, and they gave me a 3x price because it was so big! Check on that aspect, also.

UPS is expensive 'cause they gotta pay me big bucks....LOL

seriously,UPS is much more expensive to ship plants thru.

I had 2 identical boxes,same weight and everything.Shipped one USPS priority,the other UPS 3 day select.There was a 6 dollar differnce in price,UPS being the high one.UPS did get there in 3 days,the USPS took 5.Would I pay the extra 6 bucks?As a rule-NO.If it was bulky and I could ship it ground ,Yes.

I did this because I was being harrased at work for shipping thru the PO,I do look silly in my UPS uniform mailing priority boxes but,HEY,I'm budget minded.....

Thank you all for the great info.

I have just emailed the trader and told her my dilema about the price of shipping this large amount of plants. I am sending her lots of lirope, 60-70 4 inch. size plants. She wants to line 2 large beds with them. The price will be approx. $26.00 for priority mail. Do you think that is worth it? It would cost her alot more than that to actually buy that many plants. I also have 4 White Spider Lily bulbs that she wanted, but they weigh 2 lbs. apiece, so don't know if she still wants those too.

I'll let you all know what she says.

Thanks for the help,
Donna

Donna, people buy 50+ lirope plants on eBay all the time, so it must be worth it to pay the shipping (you're a doll to send it for postage only!)

I was thinking of you yesterday when I viewed my really (REALLY) sad-looking Agapanthus you sent me two years ago. I didn't expect them to bloom the first summer, but last winter I put them in my GH and babied them all winter, re-planted them out in the spring and they still didn't bloom. So this fall, I left them outside thinking maybe they were big enough to not need to be dug up again (they're in large sunken pots.)

I have no idea if they're still alive, the poor things. After the snow and cold we've had...well, I've got my fingers crossed!

Terry, I've always wondered how everyones agapantha were doing. That was my first large giveaway for postage and boy did I have a lot of traders for them. I shipped out close to 25 boxes of them. You should ask Trish how hers are doing, cause I sent her a large box also and you live in the same zone.

I emailed my trader today and she came back with the best attitude about the whole thing. She figured that each plant would come to about 50 cents apiece and couldn't buy them for that price anywhere. She also has a small business out of her home and has a Fedex account, so that's how we are going to do this now. It will be cheaper for her in the long run, as she gets a discount being that she has an Account #.

Donna

Well, see - here's the problem. Trish and I live in the same state, but not the same zone. Apparently the middle section of Tennessee is subject to colder temps than the eastern third (or the western third, down around Memphis.) It's a rather strange phenomenon, but we're zone 6b, while Memphis is probably 7b or 8a, and Knoxville is 7a/7b. Not to mention Melody lives 100 miles NORTH of me in Kentucky, and swears she's 7a, too. Wahhhhhhhh!

For the record (sniffle, sob), Dave's and Trish's bloomed the first year. They said they crammed theirs into pots, and I'd bet that crowding them made the difference. I placed mine pretty close, but not overly crowded in their pots, so I'm guessing mine decided to put energy into root production. Let's hope that pays off in the spring.

Sigh.....

Vols, Agapanthus will only bloom when they are root bound. Even in the ground they will form huge root masses before they bloom.

As for their surviving the cold...I have seen them come back after a freeze here but that was So. California and a "hard freeze" here is 29-30 degrees for one night.

FedEx has ground delivery available, too - something we don't always think about.

You can get fairly accurate rates for the various couriers at

UPS: http://wwwapps.ups.com/QCCWebApp/request?iso_language=en&iso_country=US
FedEX:http://www.fedex.com/ratefinder/home?cc=US&language=en
USPS: http://www.usps.com/tools/calculatepostage/welcome.htm?from=global&page=0061calculatepostage

You guys are just too helpful around here!!!!!!! Thanks GW for the links, I will keep them for future use.

The package went out yesterday morning through Fedex 5 day ground. The lady at Fedex recommended that over the 3 day Express because the airports back east are so backlogged that the ground shipment would make it faster than the express. lol

The package is now out of my hands, phew...that was a tough trade, but I was glad to share them with her.

Thanks to all for the great help and info,
Donna

Update on sent package: My trader received her package this morning and said it came in great condition. I was also glad that after seeing the plants that I had sent, she noticed all the time and hard work I did on the plants.

I hope they do well for her.

Donna

Poppysue is correct.
USPS is much cheaper for lighter items.
UPS is cheaper when the weight gets up into the 20lb range.
USPS priority is a good buy for the speedy delivery.

I didn't know until a couple of weeks ago that Mailboxes Etc, is owned by UPS. Thats adding insult to injury when they add an surcharge to ship UPS. In fact they are changing their name to UPS something or other soon.

Paul