+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 That is the difference. They likely paid online, you keep going to the PO so yes you are going to pay more. Most of the time my shipping of a console back to the client is within a buck or 2 of what it cost for them to send it to me. If I use a bigger box to return their systems (And I usually do with more additional packing that is likely needed), then I expect it to cost more due to the larger sized box. But what doesn't make sense as I stated is when I do use the same box and the shipping comes out to be quite a bit of a difference. As I stated previously though, they do make mistakes. The last system I shipped cost me less than it cost the owner to send it to me and we used the same services. I used a bigger box with more packing and it was $2 less?! So...maybe it also depends on the mood the PO worker you are dealing with LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Most of the time my shipping of a console back to the client is within a buck or 2 of what it cost for them to send it to me. If I use a bigger box to return their systems (And I usually do with more additional packing that is likely needed), then I expect it to cost more due to the larger sized box. But what doesn't make sense as I stated is when I do use the same box and the shipping comes out to be quite a bit of a difference. As I stated previously though, they do make mistakes. The last system I shipped cost me less than it cost the owner to send it to me and we used the same services. I used a bigger box with more packing and it was $2 less?! So...maybe it also depends on the mood the PO worker you are dealing with LOL! They are probably not weighing it and just making up a random weight, then printing shipping online for whatever and the post office is delivering it anyway. You are doing it the honest way and getting it weighed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 Once again... the pricing makes no sense. Sent off a 7800 today that is going just the next state over and weighs just over 4lbs and shipped priority. It is in a box that is larger than an actual large priority box. It will take 3-days to go just to the next state over... and the cost? $10.95.. Second box I shipped at the same time, is 2x the size overall of a small priority shipping box and just has a power supply in it. It weighs just over 1lb and is going to Maryland. It will only take 2-days to get there priority and the cost of this much much smaller and less heavy box?.... $10.65... So it has to be a distance thing. But what I don't get is why I'm shipping both priority and one is only going to take 2 days to get there even though it has to travel halfway across the country, and the other is going about 4 hours from me and will take 3 days?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 It has to be based off zones and maybe weight. https://postcalc.usps.com/DomesticZoneChart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Well...the PO did not go in my favor at all today... Just sent an SMS and SNESjr back to a customer today that only cost the customer $16.90 to ship to me via priority from Ohio to Oklahoma (Where ITC is located). I just left the PO and sent it back but the same box with the same systems in it (No difference in weight or anything) and for some odd reason, it cost me $31.40 to sent back to Ohio via 3-day priority?! This is the most any package I've sent has cost and it really makes no sense. If it was zone and weight, then why didn't it cost the client the same to send to me when he also took it to his local PO to send my way? I'm convinced now that either the person I've dealt with at the PO has been pricing the last few packages I've sent wrong in my favor...or....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 meanwhile I just sent a nes motherboard to canada for 15.20 though paypal quit wasting your time with the post office 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I wanted to chime in on this for folks that use PayPal (if you don't, then this doesn't apply to you). You can use their USPS shipping label creation tool (https://www.paypal.com/shipnow). When you do so, you get the online rates, and it opens up Parcel Select (Ground) and First Class shipping. I personally find it ridiculous that you can't do this from the USPS website, so I just use PayPal for everything (and have for many years now). Untitled.png I used this method today for the first time to print out First Class Parcel postage. I've never accidentally run into this on the PayPal website before, so I assumed that I didn't have access to this service. Thanks for the link, this will make shipping easier in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 you can use is for ups as well, unless something is sold on ebay I always use the "hidden" ship now link on paypal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 quit wasting your time with the post office I don't trust to just leave the package at the PO with what I hope is the correct shipping. Besides can the Paypal shipping site also allow for things like increased insurance etc? And No I don't trust to leave packages for the Postman to pick them up either. Postman doesn't even deliver my mail and packages until a little before I get home from work and sometimes after. So yeah, if I want to make sure the PO has it and it is going out when I want it to, I take it to the PO. Besides, the PO workers don't make any money upcharging the shipping so there would be no point in them doing that. I think the packages were supposed to cost nearly that much, but the PO workers I get don't usually measure the boxes and just look at the weight and guess the size. Or at least that is what it appears. Today, she measured the full volume of the box. In fact it only weighs just over 5lbs as that is what it says on the receipt, but she marked it 11lb dimensional weight. That is the difference as I've not seen that done on the packages in the past. So I don't know if that is normal or not. Either way, I will be eating some of the cost of this shipping. Is what it is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 when I do packages I round up a little, but what you quickly find out is its kind of like a class system so variances in size and weight always comes to the same cost unless you break a barrier (which you can see when playing with it) I drop the packages off at the post office, they have a drop box in the lobby, my mail man cant even read numbers or drop off packages either so I drop them off on the way to work or lunch, no standing in line and yes you can add insurance via the paypal site along with all the other standard options (like signature required etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 (edited) Okay, well the paypal link states that my last package should have been about $24+ change to ship with the same options. So it has to be the dim weight she stated, and the fact I marked the package as fragile. didn't have a choice there as the owner of the systems sent it to me with Fragile sticker all over the thing. Anything that is to be marked fragile requires going to the PO...so that is another reason I go to the PO. And yes, I would consider a 7800 to always be a fragile item given their brittle nature of the plastic. But I also noticed on the other packages that shipped for MUCH less. There aren't any sizes of the packages listed on the receipt as this one does. Same PO, but different employee took the packages this time. So aside from the extra $7 they added when I went in today, it would seem they weren't charging me enough the last few visits. That link is great! But I don't see an option to pay for the shipping outside of a paypal balance? I assume it will ask for other payment options if your paypal balance is zero, but if you do have money in paypal, it looks to force taking the payment from that? I'm not okay with that either...I like to control where it is being taken from as there are times I don't want it coming from the PayPal balance and would rather it come out of another account? Edited June 25, 2018 by -^Cro§Bow^- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 yea I dunno about payment, I want it all to come from my paypal, I imagine there is a way to tell it bank account or credit card but I never paid attention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 (edited) PayPal should give you different payment options as long as you already have them set up in your account. From the shipping and payment page, there should be an option that says "select another payment", or something like that. If you have another payment type set up, it will let you choose it. *Edit - Actually, looks like I was wrong. I just printed out a label today. It should list all of your payment options in the initial dropdown. I didn't see a link to choose more options. Edited June 26, 2018 by Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Crossbow, you are really not getting this lol. There are technically 3 different prices here. Price one which is the most expensive is walking in to a PO and paying there for the postal worker to put postage on the package. Price two is paying via USPS online which a discount is given via printing your label (pre-paid) before you go into the post office. Price three is paying online via PayPal which gives you even lower rates than paying via USPS website. Then if you sell on eBay, eBay offers a 4th level of pricing that is even lower than PayPal! I can easily tell you and explain to you why your customers are paying less than you are. Simply send me a picture of the customers box and label, cross out the name and address but leave me the zip code. Then give me your zip code. I will then show you why you are getting such different rates. Plus do you know for a fact your customers are adding insurance on their packages? Insurance really increases package pricing usually by at least $5, plus DC adds and extra $1 or so doing it at the PO as compared to being free online. Box type will affect pricing too, whether customer uses a flat rate and that depends on medium, large, regional A, regional B, and so forth. There is a lot of variables here you may be missing but until you post a picture of the box and label your customer used we are just guessing why you are paying more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Iceman...and you aren't getting it apparently. Most of the time here lately (Except for yesterday...) I was paying at within a buck or so or in some cases even less by walking in than my clients were. But there are times it costs me more such as yesterday. I don't have any current labels to show as the last client sent theirs to me UPS, but I know the one I sent that cost them like $16.90 to send to me had a PO stuck on label just like the ones I've been sending out. Like I said, I noticed the last few receipts that had cheaper rates didn't have any box sizes or dimensions listed on it at all. But the one from yesterday did and it appears they priced it as if it weighed 11lbs instead of the actual 5lbs. It shows the actual weight at 5lb 2oz, but the lists the pricing next to dim weight of 11lbs. So yeah..looks like the postal worker decided to charge it as it weighs 11lbs because according to their measurements, the box size could contain that much. Despite the fact it was sitting right there on the scale. I just don't understand why taking it to the PO would actually cost more?! You're going to tell me that all the PO workers are expected to do then is just sell stamps and hand you your certified mail? Nah...I think it is really just luck of the draw. But I will try out option #3 next time, I'm just NOT okay with it only pulling from my PayPal balance. I tried it last night and there was NO option to change and it would only pull from my PayPal balance and I'm really not okay with that. UPS and FedEX are options of course, but in my personal experience, they don't handle the packages nearly as well, and I've had more issues with lost packages through them. Also they are usually more expensive unless I have a really large box that weights a bunch to ship out somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratwurst Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 I just don't understand why taking it to the PO would actually cost more?! You're going to tell me that all the PO workers are expected to do then is just sell stamps and hand you your certified mail? Nah...I think it is really just luck of the draw. But I will try out option #3 next time, I'm just NOT okay with it only pulling from my PayPal balance. I tried it last night and there was NO option to change and it would only pull from my PayPal balance and I'm really not okay with that. The discount you get through Paypal is because you're paying with funds within Paypal. It costs them nothing to transfer direct to USPS as opposed to paying a merchant fee through credit card etc. Paypal's probably even waiving the fee on the postal service's end or it's so reduced that it's insignificant per transaction. It is in Paypal's favor to keep the money circulating within Paypal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 The discount you get through Paypal is because you're paying with funds within Paypal. No paypal, ebay, etsy and so on get discounted shipping rates because they have such mass volumes. Just like a big business gets shipping discounts for using said carriers services. I just don't understand why taking it to the PO would actually cost more?! You're going to tell me that all the PO workers are expected to do then is just sell stamps and hand you your certified mail? Nah...I think it is really just luck of the draw. But I will try out option #3 next time, I'm just NOT okay with it only pulling from my PayPal balance. I tried it last night and there was NO option to change and it would only pull from my PayPal balance and I'm really not okay with that. My above statement explains it. It is cheaper to do it online. The less work the postal worker has to do, the less postal workers they have to hire. Paypal will pull from your balance unless you don't have the funds, then it will pull from your bank account. I would assume your customers are paying you by paypal anyhow so you should already have the funds in there to pay return shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icemanxp300 Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Most of the time here lately (Except for yesterday...) I was paying at within a buck or so or in some cases even less by walking in than my clients were. But there are times it costs me more such as yesterday. Well I'm sure I could explain it if you had labels. Odds are they are not paying for extras like insurance as you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Well I'm sure I could explain it if you had labels. Odds are they are not paying for extras like insurance as you do. They aren't paying extra insurance...no. One client did, but most just send Priority with the standard $50 that is included. I tend to send them back with an extra $150 making the total insurance $200. But that only adds $3.40 to do that. Sure is a few bucks more, but it isn't twice the entire shipping more?! And yes i do currently have paypal funds, but that isn't usually the case. Only recently has that been the case with the recent work I've been doing. I tend to keep the paypal balance for using with other purchases and would rather the shipping come out of other payment sources. One thing I did just think of...the last package I sent that i've been talking about was sent to me...a residential home. But the client lives in an apt complex. I know that some rates different based on stuff like that, so I'm wondering if the fact I'm sending to an Apt has any bearing? I'm more concerned with the current one I received as the return shipping is only a PO Box...and I'm really not understanding why but I will have to confirm that with the client when it is done and ready to be sent back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 (edited) Gawd damn imbecilistic porcine of a failed postman... First package (Amiga 500 from UK), he got out of the truck, looked at the package tore the card from it and rang the door to give my old mother the card. This mean that I had to go fetch the package at a drop point the day after. That was yesterday. Today , same genius, comes to the door with my second package (Amiga 1200 also from the UK) this time asking my old mother of 84, nearly blind and deaf, to pay $38,65. She answered that she had two $20 for $40. The guy refused because he can't make change and won't keep the change either. It's exact cash or bust. He also can't accept check which is funny since all of their competitor do. She called me at work to give me the news. I said ok, at least I can make it at the drop point for the first package since it's a store and I can get there before it closes. Once there I gave the clerk the card and my drivers licence as proof, she goes backstore to get the package and then proced to scan it... And at that point she realised that this on also as a chage of $45 and some change. I go for my wallet and the clerk quickly explain to me that they can't accept paiment here and that package should've never been delivered to them in the first place... Now she has to wait for the guy to come pick it up tomorrow and I have to wait for a new card to be issued... Which means that I'll have to quit my job at 2 at the latest tomorrow and try to beat trafic so I can get to the post office before closing and hope that at least one of my package is ready for pickup, hoping the second on makes it also. I hate Canada Post. Edited June 29, 2018 by AMenard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I didn't read every post but could some of your clients be using flat rate boxes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMenard Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 I didn't read every post but could some of your clients be using flat rate boxes? That's pretty much a US thing. Here i have two choice when shipping to the US. Regular parcel surface which is for small and light parcels, thing a few books, a couple of games or a sega genesys. But for the two parcels that i'd to ship thuesday, one was an atari computer, two drive, 3 psus, boxed 850 interface, cable and accessories. That one weight in at 50 pounds and had to go expedited and it was costly. The other one, the x360 plus games and psu was also too heavy for the regular parcel and ended up costing the better part of the profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaWarrior Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Wow, Canada Post sure suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Shipping is definitely a bit out of whack in the US too. I had a package a few days ago that was going to cost just shy of $18 to ship to somewhere on the West coast, but it ended up being cheaper to just use a medium flat-rate Priority Mail box. $4 cheaper and I didn't have to pay for the box. Crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Shipping is definitely a bit out of whack in the US too. I had a package a few days ago that was going to cost just shy of $18 to ship to somewhere on the West coast, but it ended up being cheaper to just use a medium flat-rate Priority Mail box. $4 cheaper and I didn't have to pay for the box. Crazy. For sure if you can fit the items you need to ship into any of the pre-done priority boxes...go for it. The boxes are always free and the prices are static regardless of the weight. The problem I have is that most consoles do NOT fit into the medium or large priority sized boxes to a safe degree. I've had people send me their 7800s in the large box with it in there at a tilted 45degree ange and the like. But there was also no additional bubble wrap or anything around the console since there isn't space for it. So yeah, you can cram some stuff into such a box, but I do NOT trust it to make the second trip home in the same box safely if it just fits in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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