USPS Shipping Rates Increase?

[QUOTE=chickluu;402081]Serious!
Use USPS.com and save some $$..print your own labels ......online [B][U]discounts[/U][/B] and [B][U]free[/U][/B] delivery confirmation...[B][U]free[/U][/B] shipping supplies delivered to your door..and [B][U]free[/U][/B] package pick up.[/QUOTE]

Your just saying that so you dont have to work as much, we are on to you!! LOL

Flat rate boxes are Ok when shipping heavy items and to the farther states. But you need to use common sense. If I have an item that is 3 lbs, I will write flat rate box . I will ONLY use that flat rate box if the customer is in the West coast, Hawaii, Alaska, Ore. These states are in zone 7 /8. If the buyer is in NY, I will use a regular box and I will actually save my customer around 5 dollars. So you need to use common sense.
As a buyer, I will not pay flat rate box if the seller is in NY. (or NJ, PA,Ct.) I will actually tell the seller to re=box it because I am not going to screw myself out of five bucks...


So use common sense . The post office promotes it because they make money when the sender is not as sharp as little ol' me. Of course, if you're running a big business and send out tons of boxes per week, then it does make sense but I think that its wrong to charge this fee when the buyers live in nearby states.

I have learned to not pre-pack.


As for timing, sometimes a box does get stuck somewhere but overall the postal service is great. I mailed a box from Long Island, NY to Plano , Texas on Monday around 11 am. It arrived on Wed 9:30 am. Less than 48 hours. That's pretty good.

maribell

I think shipping rates are still pretty reasonable.
Where else could you ship a package across country, get it delivered in 2 -3 days for around $6.00.

Right on,we have mailmanmike22 and chickluu on the scene.Now I can feel a bit more connected to USPS via online communication.As I mentioned above I choose to do in person postal visits.Always have,there is a thread about me hosting a kindergarden field trip to the PO in the Greatest Hits forum.Anyway,when talking with Keith the other day (My local PO man) he says all this online business could someday put him out of a job.My reply was see ya tomorrow.

Words from the wise Maribell.Common sense makes perfect sense to me.I admit to having many questions ... Usually about everything.Again thankyou for the additional zone information.

Good point Rumbler Bob.

Eric

Hey Anita throw in some [B][I]FREE MINTY REDLINES[/I][/B] and will see if it works from West Coast to East Coast!

Colin

I have been doing this for years and I wonder why more people don't do it. I have been told that priority mail boxes are actually handled better than first class boxes.


[QUOTE=chickluu;402081]Serious!
Use USPS.com and save some $$..print your own labels ......online [B][U]discounts[/U][/B] and [B][U]free[/U][/B] delivery confirmation...[B][U]free[/U][/B] shipping supplies delivered to your door..and [B][U]free[/U][/B] package pick up.[/QUOTE]

I lowered shipping costs by NOT using Priority Mail anymore. Priority gets to destination no faster than first class or parcel post; in fact in a recent "test" both priority and first class took six days. :ohmy: Note that the PO will not commit to saying that PM is faster than regular mail. Of course you do need your own boxes but I recycle ones that others send me.

I only ship using priority unless the buyer specifies other mailing options.
I recently mailed out 25 packages, 22 via priority, 3 via 1st class.
The priority boxes were all delivered within 2 days while the 1st class took as long as 6 days.
I still think priority is the best deal going for the price.

[QUOTE=rumbler bob;403034]I only ship using priority unless the buyer specifies other mailing options.
I recently mailed out 25 packages, 22 via priority, 3 via 1st class.
The priority boxes were all delivered within 2 days while the 1st class took as long as 6 days.
I still think priority is the best deal going for the price.[/QUOTE]

Same results I had a long time ago. Priority is still the best deal.

I think it depends on where its comming from and where its going. Some first class mail gets to me sooner than priority. shipped the same day. But i do think its true that priority boxes are treated with more respect.. The postal delivery people in my area are not the brightest bulb in the box.