Shipping cost????

[ifirefight]

What the average price you guys pay to ship a frag??? And do you lie to the carrier or tell them whats in it. I went to the post office today,and lied,they said 18$ to overnight, then changed there mind and said it could not be shipped overnight to the location I was sending it to. So I went to UPS (didnt tell what was in box either) they would be happy to overnight it for the low,low price of $53.00

I couldnt find a Fed ex.... Just wondered what everybody else was paying. ***)

 

[myreef05]

There is no reason to lie to them about what the contents are. Obviously they can hear water sloshing around. Why lie???? Contents does not make the rate change..

 

[renogaw]

USPS will be about $18 to $23 depending on weight. You actually HAVE to tell them what is in the box. They won't deliver a wet box unless it says it had liquid in it. I just told them today that there is salt water in sealed containers, they put a little fragile sticker on it, wrote on the box "liquid", and said ok, thanks.
Fed/Ex and UPS are ripoffs for next day air.

 

[ifirefight]

All they asked me was " is there anything fragile,liquid,or perishable ".... I said NO

They would have shipped it...they never actually asked what was in the box....UPS did ask...I was generic and said saltwater fish "supplies".

 

[fishfryer]

if you do 2nd day priority mail in small box cost under $10.oo and just say yes to fragil and liguid. mark box fragile.

 

[viper_930]

IME USPS is unreliable and I never use it when I sell corals unless the buyer requests so. When I do use them I make sure the buyer knows I will not be responsible for anything once the box is out of my hands. At least half the time I use USPS "express" it arrives a day late. I wouldn't mind using this courier as much if I only ship out simple soft corals, but I've never shipped a box with just softies.
I usually go with Fedex priority overnight. This way suually costs between $30-50, sometimes a little more. It's totally worth the better service IMO, especially when the box has $300+ of coral frags in it. I use my fedex online acount to get 15% off and I can print my own shipping labels.

 

[chadman]

usps will not ship coral/water...it is against there rules and regulations....whenever i ship and they ask if it is water etc etc i just say no...i have never been able to hear water sloshing around in the box...but 18-23 for a frag shipped is pretty much the going rate....

 

[myreef05]

Originally Posted by chadman
usps will not ship coral/water...it is against there rules and regulations....whenever i ship and they ask if it is water etc etc i just say no...i have never been able to hear water sloshing around in the box...but 18-23 for a frag shipped is pretty much the going rate....
Maybe it is because I live in a small town, but the post master KNOWS what I ship and he has no problem with it at all. :thinking: :notsure:

 

[prevwon]

Originally Posted by ViPeR_930
IME USPS is unreliable...
I agree, USPS is very unreliable...I've had some bad experiences with them. Some things that are supposed to be 2-3 day priority took up to 3 weeks...and other things that I sent priority took longer to get there than regular mail....I wouldn't use them if I were you.

 

[tiberius]

Originally Posted by chadman
usps will not ship coral/water...it is against there rules and regulations....whenever i ship and they ask if it is water etc etc i just say no...i have never been able to hear water sloshing around in the box...but 18-23 for a frag shipped is pretty much the going rate....
I have been using USPS since January. I tell them it is salt water. They don't even give me a weird look. I guess since I have salt water 15 miles from my house they might get other people shipping stuff from the Gulf everywhere. Sometimes the box I have has been used by someone else and it is written "perishable". I did tell them once that it is since it is coral. Again, they probably get it a lot. My prices have ranged from $4.20 to $12.40. I pay 50 cents for the delivery confirmation. UPS is more money for me here.

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by Tiberius
I have been using USPS since January. I tell them it is salt water. They don't even give me a weird look. I guess since I have salt water 15 miles from my house they might get other people shipping stuff from the Gulf everywhere. Sometimes the box I have has been used by someone else and it is written "perishable". I did tell them once that it is since it is coral. Again, they probably get it a lot. My prices have ranged from $4.20 to $12.40. I pay 50 cents for the delivery confirmation. UPS is more money for me here.
tiberius: they have a flat rate priority box behind the counter for $8, no matter the weight. You may want to look at those if the cost is going to be more than that.

 

[tiberius]

Originally Posted by renogaw
tiberius: they have a flat rate priority box behind the counter for $8, no matter the weight. You may want to look at those if the cost is going to be more than that.
But, if the box is that rectangular shape then I wouldn't be able to fit a thermos in it. When summer comes for the northern folks then it won't matter anymore since I can use littler boxes and get it shipped for less then $8.00. Unless I am missing something here.