The best Shipping methods

[kenstogie]

What are the best shipping methods? IE the cheapest and more importantly most convient?? I am thinking in terms of Bombs, trades etc. Thanks

[j6ppc]

Here's my .o2 In short USPS Priority mail.

[kenstogie]

Originally Posted by j6ppc

Here's my .o2 In short USPS Priority mail.

Is there a way one can mail from his house and not pay a subscription?

[RGD]

Originally Posted by kenstogie

Is there a way one can mail from his house and not pay a subscription?

Not sure what you mean by subscription - but - log onto the USPS website - set up an account - and then pay only $4.05 by printing a label with your computer. Schedule pickups while online if need be - I normally drop them off at the post office or leave for the mailman to pick up.

Order your free boxes right online also.


Ron

[Ivory Tower]

Originally Posted by RGD

Not sure what you mean by subscription - but - log onto the USPS website - set up an account - and then pay only $4.05 by printing a label with your computer. Schedule pickups while online if need be - I normally drop them off at the post office or leave for the mailman to pick up.

Order your free boxes right online also.


Ron

By the way, do you need my address?

[BP22]

Originally Posted by j6ppc

Here's my .o2 In short USPS Priority mail.

Yup.

[billybarue]

SCENARIO #1 Problem I have with click and ship is that for anything 1 oz thru 16 oz you still have to pay $4.05 (priority mail - 2 day service).

SCENARIO #2 If you are only sending five sticks, you (at least I) can pack them up snugly and weigh about 5 oz. First class shipping (3 days) for 5 oz at the Post Office is $1.35. Of course the DC # is gonna cost another $.60, but that is still only about $2.00 with a DC #. If you did click and ship it is automatically $4.05 for the convenience of printing from home and leaving with the postal carrier.

SCENARIO #3 Stamps.com is another way (like Click and ship) to print labels from home. They charge $.14 for a DC #, but you can print labels for packages weighing less than 1 lb. Per the example above for 5 oz, you would pay $1.35 + $.14 for DC# and would only pay $1.49. Again, with click and ship you would pay $4.05. And with stamps.com you get to print labels from the convenience of home. The rub is, the cheapest membership/subscription for stamps.com is about $7.00/month. But if you send 3 small packages a month, the money you save with stamps.com (about $2.50 per 5 oz package) will result in about a $7.50 savings from click-and-ship, and the result will effectively be a wash.

Conclusion (for me anyhow) is if I have a package 1 lb or more I use click-and-ship and pay $4.05, with a free DC #, and convenience of at home label printing and drop-off with the mail carrier (i.e. SCENARIO #1 ). Otherwise, if I have a small package (about 15 cigars or less) and you can pack efficiently, you can save a few sheckels by going to the post office and paying 1st class (3 day rates) as opposed to paying for priority rate for a 1 lb package from home (ie SCENARIO #2 ).



And to make matters completely confusing, Stamps.com has a deal where you can join them and they will give you $25 in postage. Plus a very accurate, digital, USPS approved 5 lb scale - which is awesome!!

If the promotion is still available, here is how it works. Join and they immediately put $5.00 postage in your account. and the first month is free. You could spend the $5.00, close your account and be gone, but you have to keep your suscription into the second month to get the scale (a supposed [yea right] $50 value, but I bet it is worth at least $20). Into the second month they also will deposit another $10 of free postage into your account, but you will incur a $20 subscription fee for the second month. So through the second month, you have received $15.00 in free postage and a great digital scale. You have paid $20 for your second month of subscription. In essence you paid $5.00 for a digital scale - but remember stamps.com allows you to pay for and print labels for packages that weigh less than 1 lb. therefore, your $15.00 in postage would allow you to send about 10 five ounce packages with a DC# ($1.49 apiece), whereas at USPS click-and-ship would have cost $4.05 for each of those packages - which would be about $40.50 using click and ship for those 10 packages - That's a bundle of Famous 3000 robustos right there you just saved.

And now it gets really obscure. Paragraph above is exactly what I did, and when I called to x-cel my subscription at the end of the second month, they said how about you try the $7.00/month subscription (which, for our purposes is no different than the $20/month subscription). to sweeten the deal they waived the $20 fee for the second month, and added another $5.00 into my account. So at this point they gave me $20 in free postage and a free scale, and I was only obligated to the subsciption rate of the third month for $7.00. One more subtelty, in the third month you are eligible for another $10 coupon. So I am in my third month of subscription for which I payed $7.00 total and I received $30.00 in total free shipping and a great USPS approved digital 5 lb scale.

I will more than likely cancel my subscription and go back to using click-and-ship for packages 1lb or more, and print the labels from home. Now I have a very accurate scale to let me know how much the package weighs. And of course for the small packages (5-10 stogies) I will use scenario #2 above and go to the PO and use 1st class shipping for the exact weight, as opposed to paying extra for the only option you have with click-and-ship from home, which is Priority rate of $4.05 for any package 1 oz thru 16 oz.

So so wordy, hope it makes sense, and helps in some way,


Cheers,

BillyBarue

[MiloFinch]

So for Click and Ship, you can just put the package in your mailbox, and the carrier will pick it up, right? Or do you have to schedual a pick-up?

Seems awefully convenient.

[RGD]

Originally Posted by MiloFinch

So for Click and Ship, you can just put the package in your mailbox, and the carrier will pick it up, right? Or do you have to schedual a pick-up?

Seems awefully convenient.

For the very small packages I will just put them by my mailbox. Anything above that I will drop off at the post office because I don't want her to have to carry the thing around on her route. Does not weigh much but the box is awkward to have to lug around.

Ron

[RGD]

Originally Posted by billybarue

SCENARIO #3 Stamps.com - lot's of snippage - LOL

Yep - often overlooked. I use to have a Stamps.com account for years - and I have one of those digital scales. Don't remember if I actually paid for it or if they gave it to me. I also use to have a Pitney Bowes stamp machine and then did the online thing. I simply don't mail out like I use to so canceled them all.

But they could save money. For me though - I'd rather just pay the extra $2 bucks than have to stand in line at the Post Office. Cost me more than that to fire up the ole truck and then count my time.

A good option for some though.


Ron

[Warren]

Just a quick note on Stamps.com...

I started using them in '99 probably around the time they got up and running. I was a huge fan and got all my friends to sign up under me back when they offered free postage for referrals. Then about 2002 or 2003 I decided to cancel the account because I wasn't using it anymore. I submitted my request online and got billed anyway. I called and was told I had to close the account over the phone. So I asked to do that. The next month I got billed again. Called back, got the run around, was offered free supplies to stay, stuck to my position, and was cancelled a 3rd time. Next month same drill, bill on the credit card. So this time I just disputed the bill. A week or so later I started getting calls from a collection agency over the $18 bill.

They may be completely different now but I'll never do business with them again. It took 4 billing cycles to cancel plus I had to deal with a colleciton agency and had to go to each of the 3 credit reporting agencies to clear up the account on my credit report.

[Bigwaved]

Three toed sloth?

[newcigarz]

Originally Posted by billybarue

SCENARIO #1 Problem I have with click and ship is that for anything 1 oz thru 16 oz you still have to pay $4.05 (priority mail - 2 day service).

I don't know how close you live to a post office, but most have to drive and at $3.00+/ gallon of gas. Walking out to the mailbox is a lot cheaper.

[billybarue]

Originally Posted by newcigarz

I don't know how close you live to a post office, but most have to drive and at $3.00+/ gallon of gas. Walking out to the mailbox is a lot cheaper.

I absolutely agree with that. I won't make a special trip to just send out stogies. I make sure I have something else to do, ie on the way to work, groceries, park with the kiddo, scoring some crack on the other side of the tracks - did I just say that !

For example, got to hit Home Depot, and get some groceries this AM, and pick up the wifes laundry - therefore:

9101 0105 2129 7256 5654 85
(etc, etc, etc x 18)

BTW - Note that stamps.com has two extra digits in their tracking numbers. You just enter them the same way at USPS website. With the number of pakages going out today I probably saved more than $30 in shipping.

Whatever works for you!

Cheers,

BillyBarue

[sonick]

RGD: Thanks a million for the suggestion of opening an account on the usps site.... I did just that and have 10 boxes coming for free in the next 7-10 days.

I'm in a large metro so I'm assuming they'll be here quicker.

The only thing that sucks about being in a condo/apt. is that the small-a$$ boxes they have for the mail will not fit boxes much larger than a box of checks.

For the $ I pay for this place, I'd better be able to drop the boxes at the front office for carrier pick-up........

Standing in line at the PO, procuring boxes/labels, dealing with ornery tellers and the cost of a gallon of gas is the main reason I've not participated in any trades/bombs. Now for 4 bucks I can ship out Habanos Torres bombs

*warms up turbines*