Third-party shipping companies: YIKES

[airgunaut]

I packed an item (not an airgun) to ship from CO to MA. 54" long, a little more than 6" x 6", a hair over 5 lbs. Going to a residential address, so there was no PO box kerfuffleshuffle.

I knew the length would bring on surcharges, which is fair enough. To get a hopefully fair rate comparison, I brought it to a third-party mailing business.

HOLY canoli! UPS quote was well over $200, with FedEx next in price and also exorbitant. Even USPS quote was $138! None of these were accelerated shipping methods, just basic ground rates. The worker did suggest I go to the post office and compare.

Result:  Actual charge direct from the post office, including extra insurance, cost $70. Yup, HALF the quote from the third party. Wow, 100% overhead fee tacked on...no thanks!

[Rocker1]

Try pirates ship or shippo you do need a printer probley half that.  Go have a look  and  do a rate. David

[Blowpipe Sam]

+1 for Pirateship.

[Matchstickshooter]

+1 for Pirateship.

 Another +1 for Pirate Ship!!

[Back_Roads]

 Yup sign up for Pirate Ship, they wont spam you too much, but just enter your package weight and dimensions and compare, free to sign up.

[Ronno6]

Never heard of 'em.............

[Van]

 About 6 years ago I priced shiping a very lightweight wood airgun stock at one of the store front UPS franchise places.  Even then they wanted about twice what I paid when I took it to the shipping desk at the actual UPS hub where the truck docks were.  I learned if you have one close enough you can save some money.

[airgunaut]

Thanks for the tips about pirateship and shippo. I shipped via USPS today but for comparison will try to get a quote from them. The $70 charge was in line with what I expected, having shipped a similar box a few years ago for about $40 but destination not nearly as far away.

As Van noted, the UPS and FedEx offices might also charge half what the third party did. The nearest UPS store is an hour's drive away. FedEx I don't know but will look up. Probably an hour or more away also. A guy in front of me at the third party mailer was trying to return a package to Amazon and was told he would need to go to the UPS store to do so. I bet he was trying to get free shipping on the return.

[avator]

We have a Radio Shack branded PC repair type shop here in town that is also a UPS drop point. I stopped in to send a package once.. the shipping would have been $90+. I took it to the local USPS and sent it for just under $30. 
As for Pirateship... the only downside I've seen as a recipient was somewhat slower delivery times. There was one time I received a package and the sender didn't pay enough for the shipping.. I was at work and Betty Lou had to dig a few bucks out of the change jar and pay the mail carrier the difference.  That was weird.. 

[Ronno6]

PS rates depend on sender supplied package info...dimensions and weight.
If those are inaccurate, the rate may be off......................

[avator]

PS rates depend on sender supplied package info...dimensions and weight.
If those are inaccurate, the rate may be off......................

Yep, I'm sure that's what happened.

[Rocker1]

 you have to weigh it i always use bathroom scales or weigh myself  with and without parcel , then width  depth and lenght, if you can keep it under 48 inchs it is huge discount, I am sure i have been off on some guns i posted but have never heard a thing. easy to print also if you screw up you can get a refund then and start all over, this part i did not like is they use a refund as a credit which for me works because i send a lot but for someone that just occasionally post his money is in credit until he post again.  Shippo uses fedx and personally  do not like them,i have had to pay for a rifle and several stocks they broke they lost a rifle, they broke a stock on a hatsan galation in a hard case, so i use pirate ship my self  you will have a choice of prices from usps and ups, doesnt cost a thing to  look and certainly will save you money. David

[Matchstickshooter]

you have to weigh it i always use bathroom scales or weigh myself  with and without parcel , then width  depth and lenght, if you can keep it under 48 inchs it is huge discount, I am sure i have been off on some guns i posted but have never heard a thing. easy to print also if you screw up you can get a refund then and start all over, this part i did not like is they use a refund as a credit which for me works because i send a lot but for someone that just occasionally post his money is in credit until he post again.  Shippo uses fedx and personally  do not like them,i have had to pay for a rifle and several stocks they broke they lost a rifle, they broke a stock on a hatsan galation in a hard case, so i use pirate ship my self  you will have a choice of prices from usps and ups, doesnt cost a thing to  look and certainly will save you money. David

I have used it a few times, and I try to round up a bit on box dimensions and weight. No problems so far and it always turns out cheaper (for me) to use UPS.
 They find you the best deal (a Broker) and it's left to you to use the one you want.