Shipping parts

[OrlinEngh]

I am going to be shipping some parts and am wondering whats the best way to go about this, And who offers the best deal.

Thanks Orlin

[eusa1]

usps will loose it for you, but they still charge the same, if you insure it it's your responsibility to prove they lost it. UPS has always worked and real tracking info helps too

[cowpuc]

Many moon ago I did a TON of business selling parts thru Ebay - I used USPS Priority Mail almost exclusively, ordered their FREE shipping boxes (came in a variety of sizes) and just passed the cost on to the buyer. I never ever did have an issue shipping this way. I also sold and shipped over 500 antique BB Guns using those tubular Priority Boxes before I sold out the remainder of my collection in bulk - same deal, never a problem. I liked using Priority cause it offered "free" insurance, tracking and sign for it upon receiving.

Not sure if they still do it but USPS also used to offer a "box" that you could ship for one price - no weight limit.

Just shipped a HUGE box of parts to VanRiver thru UPS - it was way over the weight limit for USPS so it had to go UPS. Total weight was 83 pounds and, if memory serves me correctly, USPS has a 50 pound limit. I could have split the package up and shipped USPS but thought it wise to keep all the parts together so nothing got lost.. Or, I think UPS did a really good job (maybe Riv will jump in here and verify) in handling the shipment as I did not hear anything bad about the condition of the package suffering or it taking a lot of extra time to get to him..

 

Of course, the best way to ship parts is to tell the buyer to come to a Meet n Greet and pick em up in person - save some cash, eat some Hot Dogs, pet some goats and make some new friends..

[Flyinfool]

I guess it all depends on what you are shipping.

I use USPS Flat Rate shipping for anything that I can stuff into the flat rate boxes. They have a 75lb weight limit. so I had to break up one shipment into 4 medium flat rate boxes at about 65LBS each. It was a pile of big end mills and other big cutting tools. It all made it no problem. UPS offers insurance but has a standard answer to deny the claim "Insufficient Packaging" their belief is that if it was properly packed it would not have been damaged. Even if it was packed by one of the UPS stores. Company I work for PAID UPS $10,000 to design the shipping container for the machines we make and they still try to claim insufficient packaging when they smash one.

 

For delicate expensive stuff I have had the best luck with FedEX, but they are also the most expensive.

 

I guess there are probably an equal number of shipping horror stories for every shipper out there.

 

If you are shipping really big parts, I have used greyhound shipping to ship LARGE model aircraft across country, box size of 2 feet x 3 feet x 8 feet. Greyhound is slow, but it has always made it there with no damage. Compared to the normal shipping companies for big boxes Greyhound is less than half the price.

[camos]

I won't buy anything on eBay that is shipped other than by USPS. All the courier companies operate as extortionists when it comes to cross border shipping. It is also rare to be charged either customs or tax on goods shipped from the USA via USPS/CanPost. Have never lost anything either so it has been reliable enough for me.