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USPS vs FedEx vs UPS


talon177

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For those of you who have shipped items, i'm wondering which one of these shipping services listed above is idea for the lowest cost to ship the same item. As I'm trying to figure out which is best to choose, i also wonder where can boxes, bubble wrap, popcorn, etc... can be picked up at a low price.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for the best streamlined 1 man show for shipping?

 

Thanks

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FedEx is the least expensive. If you use QuickBooks 2003 you can use the integrated FedEx shipping option (which is included) and qualify for a discount. Check their website to see what the discounts are. FedEx has been really good for us to work with, never a problem with paying claims for damaged goods.

 

I buy a lot of my packing supplies from ULINE (www.uline.com), they have a very large selection and good prices (request a catalog and look for boxes which are reduced in price, they have some standard sizes which have significiant discounts). I usually receive my order the next day, which is really nice. You might also want to look for a local supplier of packing supplies (and I don't mean Staples), you will be able to save on the shipping charges.

 

Good luck with your business.

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Oh, one other note. USPS is actually probably the cheapest; however, the tracking features of FedEx and UPS is much more desirable. If you do use USPS pay extra for signature request and insurance.

 

A great tool built into osCommerce is the order status feature. Customers really like it when they receive an email when the order is shipped (we include a formal letter which tells them their package has been shipped and their tracking number). Then when we see that FedEx has delivered their package we change the status to delivered and include another letter stating that we are showing their package has been delivered and to contact us if they haven't received it.

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USPS I think is the cheapest for small packages. I use them almost exclusively on my site, since most of my products weigh very little. It's not often that I ship out a package that's over 1 pound. When you get into larger packages (I just shipped out a 15 and a 28 yesterday) USPS gets expensive, so I use UPS. I've never used FedEx, but I might look into it soon after seeing what mpiscopo said up there.

 

Downside to USPS - tracking capabilities not as great.

Upside to USPS - daily pickup at your house for free, free shipping supplies for Priority Mail, cheaper for your customers for small packages.

 

Downside to UPS - more expensive on smaller things, need to pay to have a daily pickup or take it to them yourself, no free shipping supplies for ground service (but free labels!)

Upside to UPS - cheaper on larger items, better tracking

 

Sometimes UPS is faster, sometimes USPS is faster, it all depends on where it's going. I've seen First Class Mail get halfway across the country overnight, UPS takes 2-3 days to get that far.

 

As for shipping supplies, I also recommend ULINE. I think they have a guarantee about same-day shipment. They have a location about 45 minutes south of me and I almost always get my package next-day without paying extra.

Chris Dunning

osCommerce, Contributions Moderator Team

 

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Wow thanks guys for the fast response. I'm sure other people will find this thread very useful as you guys said a great deal.

 

One thing I thought about UPS is that they charge you a fuel surcharge, not sure how that works but I plan to be sending out a lot of products.

 

Although I dislike both companies due to the fact they both screwed me before, but I argued UPS because they charged me for someone else's shipping then blamed me that I shipped it, which i then talked to the manager and they said oops wrong account number off by 1 digit and credited me.

 

FedEx has been great, until i shipped a package to canada and they said that it would have $0 customs due to being a gift for my cousin and ended up getting hit 80 dollars, if i had known i would have put 0 insurance on the item.

 

Thanks I'll probably stick with UPS and USPS since they have locations a few blocks away from me. Also since USPS does pickup thats a nice free future.

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Sometimes UPS is faster, sometimes USPS is faster, it all depends on where it's going. I've seen First Class Mail get halfway across the country overnight, UPS takes 2-3 days to get that far.

 

That's because UPS uses their own trucks that only go 58 mph top speed and USPS subcontracts to hundreds of independent companies that do not have governers (speed limiters) on their trucks, therefore they get to their desitnations faster.

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