Shipping Costs?!?!

[Isoprene]

Okay, after being absent from the forums, selling, and basically shipping to anyone, has shipping cost of overnight packages gone up? A 5 x 5 x 5 box that weighs 5 lbs to basically anywhere outside of the radius of Tallahassee FL to Jacksonville FL costs about $60 upwards to $130 to go to NY. This is insanity.

How are vendors affording to have shipping rates at $35 and $25 in state? I understand there is a business account discount associated with # of packages shipped but after that discount (which i'm assuming pays for packaging its self and possibly a little more) how can they afford to ship sps especially for under $50 overnight by 10:30am?

I am not in this for money those of you that know me or have seen my posts. I am just trying to get the best shipping cost deal I can for people that want coral. Anyone have ANY advice on this? I have UPS and Fedex available to me as well as USPS but I have heard bad things about trusting USPS with sps overnights.

ANYONE chime in PLEASE!

 

[4FordFamily]

Indiana to Texas overnight 120-200 dollars depending on carrier. 3 fish in bags.

 

[Isoprene]

Wow...this is just how it is then. Keep the shipping in state or neighboring states if you do not want to pay outrageous shipping costs? I think I will just include a flat $50 added to each price I throw on a pack of coral that way someone far is not eating the cost.

 

[ronnie]

I use my work discount. It's a business account (granted one of the largest in the world), and I spend much less than $50 to ship the small 6x6x9 insulated 2lb boxes to CA. Figures in around $25-30 taking into account packaging, boxes, etc.

 

[Isoprene]

I do not have a work discount I can use, I really wish I did. dang, this kind of throws a wrench in my plans for trying to get some of my sps out there. Captain hindsight...where are you?

 

[4FordFamily]

Even if you have work discount (it would have saved me 10% to use mine because of the level of account- we don't ship much) it may not help much.

I might also add my 3 fish were delivered 2 days late by USPS and one miraculously survived..

 

[Big E]

You have to set up an account with FedEx and/or UPS to get better rates.

You can get away with ground shipping in state or nearby states, but run the risk of no guaranteed delivery.

 

[gooch]

Yeah, shipping has gotten way out of hand. I get a very nice discount on ground shipping. Even with the discount the last piece I made for a customer in NY we were quoted $360 for ground. And that is with my discount applied. With a nice $57 per box added to the shipping because the boxes were large dimensions. I honestly couldn't believe it myself. Often when I am processing orders I look at what overnight shipping would cost on an average 15-20 pound package I ship and it is always between $100-$200. More than the cost of the product at times.

I promise you almost every vendor out there loses money on shipping or has to inflate the cost of the product to compensate for the shipping cost. And just think next January they will raise rates another 3-4%. They do it every year.

 

[hig789]

I just calculated a price online for usps express overnight for live animals from 42303 to 91501 and it was $31.80(online) and $38.80 at the PO for a 2lb box.

Is using usps not any good? I see that most use fedex.

 

[hig789]

Wrong thread. Sorry.

 

[LILBUDDHA]

I would open a Nex account . They use different carriers dependent on area .
One 11 x 8 x 8 box 5 lb dimensional rate was 42.71 from Seattle to NC . Yah, I was the guinea pig .
UPS delivered the package by 10:30 am .. overnight.

HTH

 

[Akida17th]

Okay, after being absent from the forums, selling, and basically shipping to anyone, has shipping cost of overnight packages gone up? A 5 x 5 x 5 box that weighs 5 lbs to basically anywhere outside of the radius of Tallahassee FL to Jacksonville FL costs about $60 upwards to $130 to go to NY. This is insanity.

How are vendors affording to have shipping rates at $35 and $25 in state? I understand there is a business account discount associated with # of packages shipped but after that discount (which i'm assuming pays for packaging its self and possibly a little more) how can they afford to ship sps especially for under $50 overnight by 10:30am?

I am not in this for money those of you that know me or have seen my posts. I am just trying to get the best shipping cost deal I can for people that want coral. Anyone have ANY advice on this? I have UPS and Fedex available to me as well as USPS but I have heard bad things about trusting USPS with sps overnights.

ANYONE chime in PLEASE!

Vendors usually get a substantial discount. At my job, a wholesaler distribution center, we actually make money on shipping through Fedex and UPS. We have a customer charge which shows on the tracking and then our company cost which is usually 40-50% off the original cost. Companies make a ton of money doing this and I'm sure vendors are no different. I always ship from my job when I can to get the 50% discount.

 

[4FordFamily]

I just calculated a price online for usps express overnight for live animals from 42303 to 91501 and it was $31.80(online) and $38.80 at the PO for a 2lb box.

Is using usps not any good? I see that most use fedex.

Good luck, not only did the quoted price literally quadruple once I bagged up my fish, but they screwed around and were two days late and killed two of my three fish I shipped. Never ever again.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/shipping-disaster-shipped-my-fish-feel-horrible.201089/

 

[Akida17th]

I just calculated a price online for usps express overnight for live animals from 42303 to 91501 and it was $31.80(online) and $38.80 at the PO for a 2lb box.

Is using usps not any good? I see that most use fedex.

USPS is the worst. Only ship with them is it's a cheap coral you don't mind losing. I prefer Fedex however they did just lose a package of mine for 3 days which was a true blue haddons carpet anemone. None of these companies are perfect and have way too much volume to not make mistakes and there will always be exceptions. Just make sure you declare a value for the animals shipping. If it arrives at the expected delivery date and it's dead obviously they will not reimburse you but if they lose your package for days then they have to refund you the entire cost if insured.

 

[hig789]

USPS is the worst. Only ship with them is it's a cheap coral you don't mind losing. I prefer Fedex however they did just lose a package of mine for 3 days which was a true blue haddons carpet anemone. None of these companies are perfect and have way too much volume to not make mistakes and there will always be exceptions. Just make sure you declare a value for the animals shipping. If it arrives at the expected delivery date and it's dead obviously they will not reimburse you but if they lose your package for days then they have to refund you the entire cost if insured.

Thanks for the info. Never shipped corals or anything before. Seems like it's worth the extra money to go with ups or fedex.

 

[Stephanie11]

Shipping generally cost me 55-90 alone fedex express. I have a pack listed for 180. Someone offered me 120. I nearly died. Box cost $5-10. I figured after shipping and boxing I'd have $40 in my pocket for over $200 in corals. Obviously I said no.

I generally base my packs price on what my lfs would give me then add shipping. I just have too much credit with the guy. Ha, last year I bought my 125 and a whole bunch of stuff on credit.

 

[Akida17th]

Shipping generally cost me 55-90 alone fedex express. I have a pack listed for 180. Someone offered me 120. I nearly died. Box cost $5-10. I figured after shipping and boxing I'd have $40 in my pocket for over $200 in corals. Obviously I said no.

I generally base my packs price on what my lfs would give me then add shipping. I just have too much credit with the guy. Ha, last year I bought my 125 and a whole bunch of stuff on credit.

If you don't know anyone who gets a shipping discount then when you post your livestock for sale make sure state shipping is not included and price will be calculated by zip.

 

[Isoprene]

OKAY great news people!

Not sure how long this will last, how available it is to all ebay sellers but here is how I have managed to get a minimum of 20% discount on all air overnight shipment within the US and a maximum depending on shipping COST totals over a 13 week average, you start at 20% discount, based on weekly cost of shipping increases in increments up to 32%.

You need to have 3 things:

1. Ebay Account in good standing, I am not positive but I believe you must have sold at least 10 items and received feedback thats positive for those 10 items (any 10, does not matter price) to become a verified ebay seller
2. A paypal account linked to your ebay account and bank account (need the bank account to open one anyway) which does NOT need to be a business account, it can be personal.
3. A UPS account linked to paypal, through paypal (go to profile --> selling tools --> shipping methods --> open ups account ....fill in forms etc.)

The trick here is, on paypal, the profile tab, find the small blue print button that says (traditional view) which takes you back to the old style paypal site which shows the shipping tools option. The new site hides this for some reason...go figure.

I try to be as transparent as possible with becoming a reputable vendor and if I can save any other vendors or customers and/or hobbyists money on shipping I am darn sure going to share it. THIS is how vendors are shipping in state for $25 and out of state for $50. I can ship almost anywhere a 8 x 8 x 8 package that's 5 lbs for about $60 now overnight by 10:30 am. This makes everyone happy, me, the customer, and any hobbyists trading.

Happy shipping!