Shipping

[Dink]

Looking for other opinions, I have been doing all of our shipping through U.S. Postal service for a few years and have been happy with it. The site is easy to use, they always pickup on time, and the flat rate boxes are a good deal.

However I notice that none of my suppliers use USPS, they just about all use UPS and a few use Fedex. So what really is better and more cost effective? What are the benefits, and does shipment quantities play a role in this.

Thanks for any Advice

Dink

[Itch]

We live in a rural area and the Post office is a mile away.They tell us that we ship so many packages that we are responsible for keeping them open..

[Ferg]

We ship many packages via USPS Priority and First Class. Out of 25,000 packages shipped we might have half a dozen damaged at most.

Seldom use UPS, they are simply too expensive.

ferg

[dirtclod]

Those company's get a discount because they send out a lot maybe a truck full everyday. In other words they don't pay the everyday price you and me do.

[jwt]

Quantity plays a role in the price (the post office offers similar volume discounts) but the biggest advantage, until recently, has been the integration of the shipping software with other business software. Beyond that, proof of delivery happens pretty much by default and the tracking offered by UPS and FedEx is amazing compared to the postal service.

That said, I rarley use anything other than USPS since I don't typically need those features.

[dirtclod]

What really gets me is the people that want to use Flat Rate boxes to send a tool or a couple of tools that weight just a few ounces. I just checked the USPS web site sending a package that weights 12 ounces from Key West Fl. to Seattle Wa. cost $6.51 Priority Mail it takes 10 to 12 tools to weight a pound. But their hung up on the small flat rate boxes that cost $8.00 to send 1 tool. I know what your thinking buy more than one tool at a time. I'd love to buy more than one at a time but at $35.00 to $50.00 a tool that's a lot of money out of my pocket at one time and sometimes i only need one tool. I send a lot of packages and i charge $6.00 flat rate and use Priority Mail sometimes it cost a little less than $6.00 sometimes a little more but it all evens out and that's including the bubble wrap.

[cowboy bowhunter]

I ship with usps. I have had one package damaged and my stuff was lost. Other then that it has been good till i shipped to canada now that is expensive.