Need to ship some parts from San Fran to Florida...who do I use?

[Baz]

Hey everyone....

I'm buying some parts for my motorcycles from a private party in San Fransisco.

He has 3 boxes....but told me he needs to re-box them into FOUR boxes instead of these THREE.

Not sure what his reasoning is for the re-boxing, but in the meantime let's assume we are shipping the following THREE boxes:

16 lbs. 12x20x9
16 lbs. 24x17x9
26 lbs. 24x18x12

UPS?
Fed-Ex?
USPS?

I know it will be ground with no urgency - I'm looking for the most economical choice.

BTW, I did browse the above 3 shipping company's websites - but wanted also wanted input from the Pelican brain trust.

TIA for any advice!

[Scott Douglas]

We once shipped a sewing machine my wife sold to a friend of our daughter. The box was easily the equivalent of those 3 boxes and I think it tipped the scales at close to 70lbs. It cost @$250 via UPS if I recall. As far as I know it made it there safely and is being used too.
Other than that, I've shipped model trains back to Virginia via USPS and they're competitive with rates of others.

[rfuerst911sc]

Go onto each website and use their shipping estimator . That way you can nail down the cost up front............ or at least close . Personally I would use UPS .

[Ayles]

Check the rates on Pirate Ship, been using them a lot lately. Seems to save a little money.

That said, if you know anyone with corporate account that will generate the labels for you, you can save a ton of dough. Can also save money by shipping to a business.

https://ship.pirateship.com/rates

[Rusty Heap]

UPS, Fedex Sucks.

[Helix8]

Check rates at Shippo.com. And ShipNerd.com
Both use excess freight space at UPS, FedEx and USPS
I’ve been using Shippo for a couple years now with good results

[GH85Carrera]

FedEx Ground is decent. We used to have to ship our $490,000 aerial film camera that weighed 500 pounds to Canada to be cleaned and then to Colorado to be calibrated by the USGS every 5 years. We put shock sensors on it, and strapped it all to a large palette. They handled it properly.

Strapping it all to one fork lift palette and shipping by a freight company may be your best bet. Strap it all together in the bed in your truck, and find the freight company that will use a fork lift to unload from your truck to the freight dock, and haul it cross country.

[70SATMan]

Have had far better luck with FedEx ground than UPS and I find the FedEx tracking information superior. I’ve also found the FedEx rates to be a bit cheaper.

[Baz]

Thanks for all the input, thus far, guys......I'm still processing this.

Even wondering if we could jam as much stuff into those flat rate boxes from USPS would be the way to go....

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by Ayles

Check the rates on Pirate Ship, been using them a lot lately. Seems to save a little money.

That said, if you know anyone with corporate account that will generate the labels for you, you can save a ton of dough. Can also save money by shipping to a business.

https://ship.pirateship.com/rates

Someone here recommended pirate ship a month or so ago.

I sent out a small package that was estimated at 60$ at the ups store... I paid 8 dollars on pirate ship for ups 3 day service....

[Shaun @ Tru6]

shippo.com is what I use for the company Baz

[Ayles]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

Someone here recommended pirate ship a month or so ago.

I sent out a small package that was estimated at 60$ at the ups store... I paid 8 dollars on pirate ship for ups 3 day service....

Thats a decent savings!!

[Baz]

OK - I was going to go the Pirate route but then checked Ship Station and it was less.

$25.24 vs. 23.11 for USPS Ground Advantage.

Still processing but right now looks like it will be shippo.com (Ship Station).

How does this work?

Create an account.

Punch in parcel info.

Select carrier.

Pay.

Get labels?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

^^^ reading your post I googled shipstation. Found this. Of course being on the Internet it's 100% true but something to read. I only looked at the stars.

https://www.softwareadvice.com/scm/shippo-profile/vs/shipstation/

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

^^^ reading your post I googled shipstation. Found this. Of course being on the Internet it's 100% true but something to read. I only looked at the stars.

https://www.softwareadvice.com/scm/shippo-profile/vs/shipstation/

OK thanks. When I typed in shippo.com the ship station website came up. I thought they were the same thing.

[Baz]

OK Shippo showing $25.24, same as Pirate Ship for USPS Ground Advantage.

Ship Station still less.......not by a lot though.......

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by Baz

OK - I was going to go the Pirate route but then checked Ship Station and it was less.

$25.24 vs. 23.11 for USPS Ground Advantage.

Still processing but right now looks like it will be shippo.com (Ship Station).

How does this work?

Create an account.

Punch in parcel info.

Select carrier.

Pay.

Get labels?

Print labels off at home.
Tape label to box.
Drop off at post office, or drop box.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

Print labels off at home.
Tape label to box.
Drop off at post office, or drop box.

OK thanks - pretty much what I thought. What a novel concept!

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by Baz

OK thanks - pretty much what I thought. What a novel concept!

It's novel if it's your first time.

I use clear tape and make sure not to get any overlap ridges over the barcode. I also love to get the clear packing label pouches from Fedex. Just place the label inside and peel off the back side adhesive.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

FedEx Ground is decent. We used to have to ship our $490,000 aerial film camera that weighed 500 pounds to Canada to be cleaned and then to Colorado to be calibrated by the USGS every 5 years. We put shock sensors on it, and strapped it all to a large palette. They handled it properly.

Strapping it all to one fork lift palette and shipping by a freight company may be your best bet. Strap it all together in the bed in your truck, and find the freight company that will use a fork lift to unload from your truck to the freight dock, and haul it cross country.

For 58 lbs total?

I've never heard of these seemingly 3rd party shippers but what a deal!