Did you know that when the USPS went up on 1st class letter rates from .39 to .41 that they also raised the rate on packages? Instead of charging by weight, they also charge more by size of container and distance to be shipped. I just shipped 6 iris rhizomes first class to Oregon and it cost me over $7! The box was small and very light. This will affect everyone who ships and certainly will make me think twice about who I can afford to trade with.
CLOSED: shocking postal rates
I know it is awful. I can hardly do any trading anymore due to the postage. There doesn't seem to be a real set rule. It seems it is however the person at the PO see it.
I had 4 pkgs. to mail this morning and they were all going for $7 to $8.50. Then I had one and they said it was going to be $20. I asked why and she said it measured 29 in. long and the others were 27 and under. Can you beleive it almost tripled for 2 in. I took the box home and found another box to put it in. I measured and weighted it and printed out my own shipping on the web and it was just a little over $6.
I expect all retailer that ship item via USPS will change to UPS. They might do a lot of hollering too.
I also found these higher rates limit how much I plant trade anymore. The PO clerk has been helpful to me in trying to explain all the pieces that come together to get to a final cost of mailing my packages. I wanted to trade some of my small cornus mas trees on DG. The local florist gave me some of their old tall and thin boxes from their flower suppliers-these boxes were ideal for mailing out my trees out. But to use them, because of the length would be prohibitive. I will take your advice and look into UPS or Fed Ex before placing a post for a trade.
These rates must be affecting the EBAY buyers too.
Yes........way too much, makes the trades not near as much fun....cheaper just to go buy the plants unless you have a lot and can go flatrate..... I noticed one of my larger iris orders is coming to me via UPS......the pros must have it figured out....
I have never used fed ex home delivery......what do I need to know? keeping in mind I am very rural here.
For FedEx Home the label can be printed online; you will then have to either arrange for pickup ($ 4 extra) or take it to one of their drop off points, frequently a pack and ship place or similar. If you are in a rural area I don't think they will pick up, but you should have a drop off point in your nearest town.
When you get an account with FedEx (free, as are all their supplies) you can choose from the various shipping methods; FedEx Home Delivery is the cheapest and in my experience takes 3-4 days.
I have had packages that were large and heavy (20 plumeria plants with roots etc.) shipped halfway across the country for under $ 20. Priority Mail with USPS would have cost triple that.
how do you get an account with fed ex?
Did you know if you set up an account with www.usps.com that shipping is cheaper than taking it to the p.o. for shipping. They cut you a break. true!! I called and talked to them and they told me that there is a cut in price for shipping on line plus you get free delivery confirmation.
Although shipping is higher than it use to be, there are other alternative shipping methods too.
fedex.com ships 3to 4 days home delivery same as priority mail but less prices
and don't forget the new DHL shipping. I'm not sure how fast they deliver plants, if it's as fast as fed ex or priority mail, but their cheaper than fed ex and priority mail.
Something to ponder!!
but you have to have a printer for this right? and a scale? i am talking about usps shipping.
I don't like Fed Ex. They never seem to be able to find my house but UPS has no problems at all. I think one of the problems with Fed Ex is that I never have the same driver so he or she never learns the neighborhoods in their routes. I have lived here for over 30 years now, and had only 3 UPS drivers. They are treated like they are part of the community now, even having lunch with some of us. I guess you can tell I'm in a small town.
Mamajack, I don't use a scale when I do the click and ship with USPS. I just guesstimate, and I haven't had it come back yet that additional shipping needed to be paid. I know I was getting ripped off at the PO. The scales had to be rigged (lol), but they ALWAYS charged me more than flat rate for a flat rate box. I like the usps click and ship, cause I live about 20 minutes from the PO, and don't think it costs too much at all.
You do need a printer.
Not using a scale will come back and bit e you in the booty LOL sooner or later. There is a little more give with the click and ship meaning, "you may get away with something you couldn't at the P.O." but it's a big chance and a big slap on the wrist if you ever get caught, your click and ship priveleges will be revoked . and other fines. They've already taken the feature of f the usps web site that allows you to "get your money back on already Paid postage" you now have to call the technical suppor t team and they investigate the "say you have 2 charges for the same shipments" they make sure one set of charges didn't get delivered before they refund. It's also a federal offense to "rip off the post office" in any kind of way, so to speak.
I never printed off my labels untill I purchased a postal scales off ebay for ll.00 they are 50 to 60 bucks brand new, you can get them cheap off ebay which is what I did, and yes you have to have a printer for sure.
Now , about fed ex, the only down fall with fed ex I have is having to hunt up boxes . You have to supply your own boxes for shipping fed ex home delivery , as it's the only way you really save money, if you go the express delviery your not saving any money. You also have to have the phone number of the person your sending it to. which you don't on usps priority mail. They don't pick up home delivery boxes at your house unless it's express delivery, you have to take it to town and drop it off at say "mail boxes ect..."
Advantage of usps priority mail, my mail man picks my boxes up at my house, all I do is leave him a note in the box. Boxes are free. through their usps web site. so long as you pay the proper priority mail fees. You can also use their flat rate boxes to save you money , as long as it fits into their sized boxes for that.
A friend keeps telling me to try DHL I haven't done that yet, but will try soon,
If you ship any amount of boxes out on a regular basis, it's worth the effort to get a scale off ebay and I even bought my daughter a printer off ebay for 20.00 I took a chance hoping it was a good one, though, and it was a great one. prints photos wonderfully.
I'm with Kathy...a good but cheap scale from ebay will save a lot in the long run. A trade I made earlier this year was just 1/2 oz over 2 lbs which would have cost an extra $3. By cutting the box down just a bit I was able to get it under 2 lbs.
By going to the link below one can see what mailing zone the trader is in.
http://postcalc.usps.gov/Zonecharts/default.asp
My PO even gave me a printout, though one could print their own.
Then one can go to the link below and figure just what the cost would be for the poundage.
http://pe.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/notices/Not123/Not123.pdf
It's on page 4 of the pdf file link above. Again, my PO gave me a printout, though one could print their own.
I prefer trading with folks who are closer as opposed to farther away.
a 2 lb box to zone 1&2 is just 4.60 but is 7.50 to zone 8
a 3 lb box to zone 1&2 is just 5.05 but is 10.55 to zone 8.
a 4 lb box to zone 1&2 is just 5.70 but is 13.45 to zone 8.
Mailing to zones 3 and 4 are quite reasonable too.
So many folks think 'flat rate' is the way to go for a bigger trade, which is not always true.
Example, 8 lbs to zone 1&2 is 7.75
--------------5 lbs to zone 3 is 7.55
--------------4 lbs to zone 4 is 7.70
It takes quite a few plants to weigh 4-8 pounds.
Sue
I saw a postal scale at Costco for $19.95 last week if that'll help anyone else out.
DHL is awful. Don't count on it for rush or fast delivery. They will also reuse their tracking #.
Here's another thread where folks were talking about the postal rates,and there was some discussion of DHL on that one, too.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/737029/