shipping Why use flat rate boxes?

W

Walka

I am not sure where to post this since the marketplace doesn't allow threads like these. I have been selling on this forum and it has been a nice way to kind of reinvest in my hobby. I appreciate that and wanted to give back to the forum.

I can never figure out how the flat rate boxes have caught on on this forum. In one thread going on now 120 pods says it might cost $15 to ship because he is using a flat rate box.

One thing that flat rate ignores is the weight of an item. That is their main source of how they rate their mail. So flat rate goes by just dimensions alone.
An example: You can use a $10 flat rate box to ship a 30lb flywheel for a car. Do you know how many peppers it would take to make 30lbs?!

Peppers weigh nothing so it makes the benefit of ignoring the weight null but counts against them on size since they are basically just air pockets.

Most of my packages of 70 or so pods cost $5.35. That usually doesnt change much as 30 cost the same. That is because its really just the regular postage for a box under a certain weight that peppers just wont go over.

So hopefully the sellers who all use SFRB's and then worry about fitting them all in the box to save money read this and know it wont cost more shipping to send out more. If you dont believe me put a bunch in a bigger box and go to the post office and see how much they want to charge you.
 
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I use them for convenience. For pods they make it easy since distance can also change the price. Also I have an automated post near the house and I can do them there quick and easy 24/7.
 
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Are you wondering on this as opposed to say, regular Priority Mail in regular boxes? I know that Priority Mail goes by box dimension, too, so if you have 2 boxes that weigh the same, but one box is slim, and the other is more squared, they may charge more for the bigger dimension box just because of the odd or bulky shape. I've shipped out stuff Priority before that, had the bottle of hot sauce I sent fit, it would have all gone into the Flat Rate box. However, because of the odd dimensions of the box I sent, they charged me like $9 for Priority shipping, even though, had the bottle been slightly slimmer, it would have fit into the FRB. That's one reason why people use the FRBs for peppers, since Priority Mail service is wonky about box dimensions.
 
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Also with the FRB they are Priority mail so they get there quickly and a Small FRB is a pretty good size for sending an assortment of pods and the cost is about the same or less than other methods Plus the Post Office provides all needed materials for free instead of tracking down boxes, labels, etc. --- though I do agree on the larger boxes (medium and large FRBs) are probably more than their priority mail counterparts and it would be cheaper to send priority mail rather than Flat Rate but I think most users use them because they can be sure of the rate no matter where it is being shipped thus making the posting easier than stating $ x.xx +shipping and arranging the proper payment after the auction ends.
 
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All this is especially true when you are shipping things often. If I ship out a 2lb box of pods, it will fit in a 8"x8"x8" box and it is a few bucks cheaper than a medium FRB, but it just confuses my wife (who does 99% of the shipping) and it makes it more complicated to estimate the shipping charges on our website. It also seems to confuse the Post Office, which is inexcusable, they get paid too much to be confused by such a thing, but it is the reality of it. I feel much better knowing that my customer is going to get the right order in the amount of time they choose even if it costs a couple extra dollars.

thegreenman said:
Can you even get Non Flat Rate Priority boxes anymore?

I was in my local office yesterday, and they only had flat rate boxes available.
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You can't get the non flat-rate boxes anymore where I am, you can provide your own box and the PO will tape it up with "Priority Tape". Its not fool proof though, I have lost a few orders to the postal service letting them sit around because they didn't notice the tape on the box.
 
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It also helps the buyer know how much they are getting in actual product. Flat rate boxes ship for 4.95(I believe). So if you win an auction or buy pods and pay 25 then you are getting 20 dollars worth of actual product. Rather than tacking on actual shipping costs for odd size boxes and possibly getting screwed by the seller. I guess it makes us more honest.
 
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Ghost Pepper is right, more and more Post Offices are moving towards Flat Rate Shipping boxes. My Post Office is among them, and I can definitely see the appeal of it. It eliminates guessing how much to pay, and realistically, most of us can easily ship peppers in the small boxes, and in the case of 5oz bottles or thin bottles, the small boxes work pretty well too for single orders. Of course for larger orders, a bigger box is needed, so of course, the amount increases, but usually by then, you're shipping quite a bit more
 
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Standard shipping charge, ease of use, known quantity of product, (approximately) fast shipping.

Mainly, just for the ease of the thing and the time saving. Yes, it may cost a little more (or less) than taking a package and having it weighed.
But standard box, standard price, standard shipping and in and out of the post office with little hassle.
 
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theghostpepperstore said:
you can provide your own box and the PO will tape it up with "Priority Tape". Its not fool proof though, I have lost a few orders to the postal service letting them sit around because they didn't notice the tape on the box.
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Yea that is what I was talking about, though have not had problems with it sitting around. Of course your likely on a 100x larger scale than anything ive done haha.
 
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I recently sent someone 4 bulbs of garlic . It would not fit in
small flat rate box, so I used my own small more square box.
It cost me 5.35, and I used a priority address label. If I had
used the same size box , flat rate priority, it would
have cost over 11 dollars. So you have to check which
way is cheaper.
 
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Walka said:
Yea that is what I was talking about, though have not had problems with it sitting around. Of course your likely on a 100x larger scale than anything ive done haha.
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It might just be that I am dealing with a bunch of idiots in my local USPS. Last year they left 10 boxes of fresh pods sitting on the tarmac at St. Louis airport, in 100+ temperatures for two days before getting them on a plane. Needless to say I had 10 customers that ended up with a rotten, smelly pepper mash instead of fresh pods.

Ever since that day, no more plain brown boxes for me, at least not for fresh pods.
 
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Priority is priority, whether it goes in a FRB or not. The tag they slap on that gets scanned differentiates what class mail it is. I sell a lot of things on EBay using my own packages. Haven't had a problem yet. I think SFRB's are cost effective but you can save money on larger packages. The downside is finding the boxes in the size you want (and possibly having to pay for them) people forget that the cost of the box is included in that price. All in all, it just makes things easier. Dummy proof I you will. (I'm talking in the case of the P.O......mostly lol)
 
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thegreenman said:
Can you even get Non Flat Rate Priority boxes anymore?

I was in my local office yesterday, and they only had flat rate boxes available.
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Yes you can they are behind the counter. I once used FR and looked up at the price chart and they had regular pricing. I felt scammed since FR was more. You have to ask for them, and you can always use your own too.

Another scam is if you get to the window and regular Priority is cheaper you can't use it because it's in a FR box. And vice versa! Scam is a harsh word for this. It's marketing. Just be vigilant.
 
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they also have "regional rate boxes" which are sometimes your best option for priority... i had to order these online to get them. also- priority mail services are cheaper if you print the postage online and you get free delivery confirmation that way as well. small flat rate box goes from $5.35 to $5.10.

their website also takes paypal to tie in nicely with on-forum sales.
 
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I agree - for Pods, 2-day express makes the most sense.

For sauce, glass+liquid, flat-rate is the way to go. I can fit like 20 bottles in a lg flat rate box, so for $15.35 that works out to $0.77/bottle to ship.

Med flat-rate holds up to 9 comfortably with bubble wrap and $11.35 makes that pretty affordable too.

For 2 bottles, the best is probably the flat-rate bubble wrap Envelopes - I still have to bubble/cardboard wrap the bottles, but I've had good luck with these. $5.35 and I can fit 2 bottles and a t-shirt (or 2) in there. Great value and fast shipping.
 
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Regional rate boxes are the best deal 90% of the time if you want something larger than a small FRB. Regional Rate Box A is the best bang for the buck usually (10" x 7" x 4.75"). USPS.com will ship you free of charge any size box ya want and I keep several sizes in stock and print postage online and stick it in the mailbox. No need to go to the post office and they give a small discount with "click and ship".
 
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Lucky Dog Hot Sauce said:
I agree - for Pods, 2-day express makes the most sense.

For sauce, glass+liquid, flat-rate is the way to go. I can fit like 20 bottles in a lg flat rate box, so for $15.35 that works out to $0.77/bottle to ship.

Med flat-rate holds up to 9 comfortably with bubble wrap and $11.35 makes that pretty affordable too.

For 2 bottles, the best is probably the flat-rate bubble wrap Envelopes - I still have to bubble/cardboard wrap the bottles, but I've had good luck with these. $5.35 and I can fit 2 bottles and a t-shirt (or 2) in there. Great value and fast shipping.
Click to expand...

I use the Small Flat Rate to ship up to 3 5oz bottles. Never had an issue.
 
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