2. misc-audio
  3. 193745-17600

Shipping costs- WTF

I just need to vent. A couple days ago I tried to ship some Target speaker stands from Oregon to Ohio. I bought them from a guy in NJ and he paid $60 to ship them FedEx ground. Using the exact same box and packing materials I went to FedEx and they said to ship them to OH would be $170. So I went to UPS: $169. I went to the USPS: $180. Granted it's a large box (30" x 17" x 17") but weight was about 15 pounds and it's easy to handle. So yesterday I took the stands to the UPS store to get an estimate on them boxing them separately. $33 x 2 for the boxes and $104 x 2 for shipping. So $274. For $200 speaker stands. Obviously I'll only be able to sell them locally....

maprik
bigtwin's avatar
bigtwin
1,306 posts
 

When shipping, weight is a factor, but the size of the box is more problematic.  There's only so much volume in a truck and many things can't be stacked.  Shipping went through the roof during Covid and like many other things, has never come back down.  I doubt it ever will. 

mike_in_nc
1,166 posts
 

You could try a third-party shipping reseller like PirateShip.com. When I used them for some UPS shipments, their rates were about 50% of what UPS quoted me directly.

paradisecom
360 posts
 

Yes, PirateShip all the way.

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
2,023 posts
 

You walk into a retail shipping outlet and you pay 2-4 times as much, or more, than you pay if you box at home and print out your own labels. I just shipped a heavy piece of machining equipment across the country for $50. It would have been at least $200 to walk into a UPS store.

I get things that I bought arriving with ridiculous shipping charges on the label and I think "if this guy knew how to ship we could have split that extra $100". but you can’t tell the seller how to ship. You can, however, figure it out yourself.

Jerry

mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
5,308 posts
 

I have used PirateShip since the day they launched. Many, many transactions later, never an issue and fantastic pricing!

SUPER HIGHLY Recommended!!!

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