When I sell stuff I try to make the postage as reasonable as possable, gal at the Post Office handed me the latest addition to the free Large Priority Mail FLAT RATE boxes. 24x12x3 for $14.95 , I know a Model T or A head will fit in one, along wiht a lot of other odds & ends.
i don't believe there is a weight limit , if it fits it ships edit: checking the USPS website it says 70 lbs
Actually, flat rate priority mail has a 70 lb limit. You can verify it here http://www.usps.com/prices/priority-mail-prices.htm
Still seems awfully high to me, for a little flat box with a 50/50 chance of arriving damaged. If it was 24x24x12 and double the claimed value if damaged, I would think it was reasonable at that price.
You know that's three day service, right? Faster than FedUp and the post office has never damaged anything I've shipped. I can't say that for the private couriers. Shawn
Those things are great! Nice thing is, if it's something valuable you can also send em registered, I also collect coins and a lot of guys use em for shipping bullion. A $1,000 face bag of silver fits in one nicely.
Cool!! I use the USPS almost exclusively. They take so much better care of stuff than anyone else. I rarely if ever use UPS anymore. I got tired of my stuff getting beat to **** or flat out stolen. I have shipped over 1000 items with the post office and only had one item arrive damaged.
That flat rate weight is slated to be lessened, so the guy at my local shipping store says. I try to use the Flat Rate option when I ship stuff to the east coast from here. HOWEVER, I've learned to check the actual cost whenever the areas are closer because you could end up spending more going flat rate. I've done this a few times by not paying attention.
I could have used one of those boxes the other day shipping out one of my flathead engine stand adaptors! Thanks for the tip!
In most cases yes, weight and distance makes Flat Rate International the best and quickest. I always feel bad that you guys get beatup on shipping charges. Bob
We try to use the Flat Rate cartons for international shipping but if it weighs more than 20 lbs it's NO GO (for international). We also consider what we're actually packing...some items are pretty hefty and yet also have the potential for some damage if the item is close to the dimension of the carton. Sometimes we have to use the regular Priority Mail rates and pack the item(s) in a larger/tougher carton to make the trip safely. Cheap rates are of no use if the items are received damaged. Plus, no matter how we smash a piston flat.....it just doesnt fit well in the Small Flat Rate carton!
I have a friend that manages a FedUp warehouse and it is packed full of damaged, lost and don't know why it's here stuff. His job is to sort it out and get it ready for public auction. He comes up with some really cool deals. You name it and it has gone past his station.
I shipped a 1930 Chevy grille shell down under and it was $90 and some change, there in 6 days. UPS was a little over $70 dollars more, same shipping time. I sometimes laugh as i'm boxing up stuff in flat rate priority boxes. They must have spent some serious time and thought coming up with the dimentions as alot of stuff i ship is 2% too oddly shaped to fit in...lol. I go to the same guy always and he lets a bulge here there slide.
You can purchase insurance for whatever your claimed value is very cheaply. Delivery or signature confirmation as well.
I've been using the USPS flat rate boxs for the past couple of years with no problems. I can mail something to the west or east coast and it usually takes 2 work days to get there compared to 4 days for UPS. It's been a freight saver for my customers.
On The subject of insurance; UPS mishandled a mandolin I sold to a guy on the left coast. It arrived broke. I had insured it so I filed a claim. They turned me down by claiming it was not packaged well enough. When I disputed that claim I was told they wouldn't pay out on anything that they didn't package. If that is so why did they even sell me the insurance? That was 2 years ago and I'm still pissed at them! GO USPS, Normal Norman
It's always fun to place a Flat Rate box on the counter with one hand at the post office, and see the counter guy/gal react to the fact there is a starter or generator in it.
I spent years shipping UPS and found the insurance claim process so unfriendly that you tended to just give up. Unless you had an actual UPS employee package the item they'll always say it was "improperly packaged". I even had one package arrive with tire tracks over it and they said it was not packaged correctly - I would have needed to ship it in an iron cage to survive that. For our business now we've been perfectly happy using the USPS (Priority Mail with delivery confirmation.)
I bought a 3-valve cast iron Gresen tractor hydraulic valve ***embly on epay a while ago, and had it sent Priority Box- that ****er is heavy, and I have a large mailbox- had to fix the mailbox, but it shipped quick and cheap
Agreed. Never had a problem with shipping or receiving items via USPS. Can't say that about Fedex or UPS although Fedex seems just a little bit better.
Only one? Where I work we get 4 or 5 like that every year. I think the employees there actually have contests to see who can cause the most damage.
Funny my furniture business ships to all 48 lower states with some packages as long a 63" and have had only 2 damaged by UPS ( both Chicago Delivery ) And no damage with Fed Ex. We ship out of here on a weekly basis to residential address. Interestingly the state with the most sales is New York followed by Texas. jim h
I shipped some NOS trim packed tightly with bubble wrap, inside of a 6" PVC pipe with the ends glued on, like a sewer pipe. It arrived all beat to **** with one end gone and no contents inside. Then another time I shipped a 34 Bumper and it never even arrived at the first handling station. Some ***hole in Casper Wyoming has my customer's bumper on his 34. I have stepped on the UPS truck before and most of the boxes look like they just threw them out of the airplane. FedEx was a little better but they will only insure used parts or antiques to $100
The Jalopy Journal
