So, I just had 3 people in the last 2 weeks ship me items in flat rate boxes. I’m kind of mad that the post office (I can tell they actually went into a post office) didn’t tell them that their rates would have been half if they shipped nonflat rate. For example, someone paid $18.45 for a large flat rate, that would have been $8.50 if he shipped normal priority.

I thought I would copy and paste my previous advice on shipping from a different thread…I would be willing to clean this post up if they made it a sticky?

 

I almost always ship USPS. FedEx and UPS only offer a better solution for heavier items (several lbs) which almost all BPL items don’t get in that range where it makes sense to use FedEx/UPS. And…USPS priority is usually almost always faster than fedex/ups (usually 2 days).

By far the cheapest shipping is USPS first class…just get it under 13oz, in most any packaging, and save a ton of money.

Flat rate shipping is almost ALWAYS more expensive than just normal priority shipping. Why? BPL gear items are super light for the volume.

Now, you might say…well, flat rate boxes are really convenient b/c the boxes are free. BUT…there are a ton of priority mail boxes that are not flat rate that the USPS offers…for FREE too! And….you don’t have to use a priority mail box….you can use any box….save those amazon boxes!

Better yet? They will send boxes to you for free! Get a USPS.com account. Not to ship through (more on that later), but to make use of two awesome services:

1. Priority mail box shipping. They will send you boxes for free…through the mail. Yes, sometimes your local USPS has free priority mail boxes, but usually its always the flat rate boxes….not the nonflat rate priority boxes.

<span style=”color: #0066cc;”>https://store.usps.com/store/browse/subcategory.jsp?categoryId=priority-mail&categoryNavIds=shipping-supplies%3Apriority-mail</span&gt;

The ones I use most often are:
Priority Mail box #7…12x12x8 large items like quilts, sleeping bags, etc
Priority Mail box 1095…15x12x3 you can tape two of these together to ship packs like an arc blast. (that is how zpacks does it)
Priority Mail Tyvek Envelopes….these are nice for using inside a package you are making for protection (though technically that is against USPS terms to use it like that…you are supposed to only use it for shipping as the outer layer, but whatever).

2. Schedule a pickup. Going to work the next day but don’t want to go to the post office? Just schedule a pickup. Its free…just leave your package on the front porch, or somewhere else (there are various options) and the mail carrier will pick it up for free when they are delivering the mail. You need to schedule it the night before for the next day (you can’t schedule for same day pickup).

Anyway….I then use paypal to pay for shipping. You login to paypal, and then have to go directly to this link to pay for shipping (not a good link from within paypal anymore). ->

<span style=”color: #0066cc;”>https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_ship-now</span&gt;

When you use online shipping, you get about a 10% discount plus free delivery confirmation, even with first class shipping.

You can also use usps to pay for shipping, but I find its easier to just do it in my paypal account. You can’t pay for first class shipping on usps.com.

Anyway, for first class shipping….I reduce, reuse, and recycle. I have a small part of a closet where I keep amazon shipping boxes, packing materials, etc. I also try and keep any small box that comes in (for first class mail shipping) and padded envelopes…great for small, nonhard items.

You do need a scale….I use an escali food scale. Use for food and for shipping. Not sure how someone would be on BPL, or especially selling something on gear swap, and wouldn’t have a scale.