Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with shipping

Ship a laptop from US to Poland

echo target — Fri, 03 May 2013 06:54:34 -0800

I have an old laptop I'd like to send to my relatives in Poland. How would I go about this? Does this even make economic sense? I'm replacing my old, still-functioning laptop with a new one. I'd like to send the old one to my relatives in Poland, since it's a better than the old desktop they're using now.

I got a quick quote from both UPS and FedEx, and they're saying it's around $300 to ship it, which is probably more than the laptop itself is worth. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better way to do this, or does it just not make any sense to try this at all?

If there is a good way to make it happen, what do I need to do about VAT, customs, etc? Are there any special worries with shipping a lithium ion battery?

What happens to packages shipped without the addressee's phone #?

Gin and Comics — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:19:40 -0800

I recently ordered something something from the US via eBay to be shipped to Canada, but did not include my phone number with my mailing address. What will happen to the package when it reaches customs if my number is not on it?

Shipping clubs

Cuspidx — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:13:39 -0800

Can you explain the logistics of shipping golf clubs? I would like to ship a set of golf clubs from Southern California to Southern Oregon. How long before I go should I ship them (prefer ground for $ reasons) How do I get them back home? Do I preprint a shipping label and hope I don't lose it or get it wet and destroy it? The course uses a company called "Ship Sticks" but that seems to be used to ship from a private club, of which I'm not a member.

Argh, packaging for shipment!

aramaic — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:02:20 -0800

I need to pack three fairly delicate, 1" thick panels which are 18" by 15". Ideally all three would be in the same container, but I'm having difficulty navigating the world of hard shipping cases... These are fretwork panels with some surface relief (so their thickness is variable at differing points on the panel; the thinnest point is 1/8" and the thickest is 1").

The question boils down to this: if you were confronted by the need to ship three 1" thick, 18" by 15" fretwork panels in a single box that must survive repeated Fedex/UPS shipments, to whom would you turn?

Problem: cash is not infinite, which (thus far) has put most "custom case" builders out of reach.

What is the safest method to ship to Hong Kong?

Vaike — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:42:44 -0800

I have a $2,000 piece of artwork that needs to get to Hong Kong. I am not sure what carrier I should go with and would love insight. I am pretty nervous about this, but also don't want to spend a fortune if I can help it. It will be coming from the U.S., metal and wood, so not very breakable, and will fit about a 12"x12"x12" box.

Right now I am between USPS and FedEx, but I have no experience with Hong Kong at all. I just really want to get it there safe, so I can breathe again.

Thanks!

Cost-effective strategies for moving from Hawaii to LA

lostburner — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:12:40 -0800

I'm trying to plan our move from Oahu back to Los Angeles. We have too much for airline baggage, but too little for a shipping container. We're selling all the furniture and big items, and planning to buy used replacements when we arrive. We're paring down our belongings as much as we can bear, but it's still not going to fit in airline baggage. I'm talking medium-value, medium-sized things like baking pans, shoes, small kitchen appliances, and books. What's the cheapest way to ship all this little stuff? I don't care how long it takes. Is there a shared container solution that would let me take advantage of the economy of shipping containers without having to rent an entire one? (Something like the UPack ReloCubes is way too expensive, at $4000 terminal-to-terminal, and too much space besides as we don't have furniture.)

Do the options really boil down to dragging a couple big boxes in to FedEx, UPS, or USPS? Is one significantly cheaper than the others?

Off-the-shelf shipping company job board application or site?

daHIFI — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 07:31:01 -0800

I have a meeting next week with a Seafood distribution company that wants an application that can match up truck drivers with people needing stuff shipped. Before I go into the meeting I'd like to be able to provide a short list of existing services or applications that can provide some of this functionality. I'm having problems locating anything and I'd like to know what the alternatives are before I pitch them a $10-12K development project. I'm assuming that they're going to need something that drivers can access from their phones that can provide them with a list of jobs near their location or along their planned route. We've discussed using Access or SQL server integrated with IIS or Sharepoint, but a hosted solution that uses PHP/mySQL is also on the table.

San Francisco -----> Halifax: Parcel Edition

otherwordlyglow — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:47:19 -0800

What's the cheapest way to get a large box from San Francisco to Halifax, NS? I need to ship a large box (approx 22"x 24" x 26") from San Francisco to Halifax. There is no urgency and it doesn't matter to me if it takes months for it to arrive. It's currently packaged in a cardboard box and could possibly be packed slightly smaller but not by much. It weighs about 30 lbs. It's not particularly fragile or valuable.

UPS and FedEx Ground both come out to about $180 estimated. Is there anything cheaper?

What happens if a cell phone alarm goes off while it's in the mail?

pete_22 — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 02:55:46 -0800

So I broke the screen on my new Nexus 4 and just mailed it off yesterday to be repaired, and I realized too late that the daily alarm clock may go off while it's in transit. What will be done with the package if that happens? I mean, hopefully it's in some cargo hold at the time (6:50 am) and no one hears it, but if someone does, will they open it and turn it off and deliver it in one of those "damaged mail" bags? Will they return it to me? Will they discard or destroy the whole package? Call in the bomb squad? Fine me for the nuisance?

I'm sure postal employees have seen it all, and there are other gadgets that could also turn on or make noise accidentally during shipping ... just curious if there's a standard policy in these cases.

Also, do most cell phone alarms "time out" after a certain time or will it just go off until someone turns it off? (or the battery dies?)

Bonus question: if I had remembered to do it, how WOULD one even turn off a phone like this with an internal battery, if the screen doesn't work? Holding down the power button just restarts it. And don't some phone alarms work even when the phone's off?

Charlie don't surf (but needs to ship a board)

drfu — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 10:13:28 -0800

I am in San Francisco for a few days visiting a friend. My friend has a board that needs to be shipped to Texas. I have called the local surf shop (Wise Surf), but they don't have any board boxes at the moment, and won't have any until well after I leave. Is there a service (UPS, FedEx, etc) that will take a board, package and ship it for us? I can't find any such on the Googles. Cost is not a huge issue, we just want to get this done.

Economics of online glasses sellers

Lugos — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 23:31:06 -0800

I am looking for background on the means of production for the well known online glasses retailers (Zenni, 39dollarglasses, etc.) How are orders fulfilled, from placement to delivery in stores such as these? It is an intriguing business, but there is little background information available for the curious. I am looking for background on the means of production for the well known online glasses retailers (Zenni, 39dollarglasses, etc.). From reviews, the quality is by and large, very good, while the price remains at a fraction of those sold through traditional channels. I have looked for sources on where these glasses come from, and how they are produced, but I have come up with little concrete information.

For the top sellers, I have tried to search for a factory or office, and I can not seem to find much. This leads me to believe that they may be produced outside of the country, or quite possibly though a 3rd party.

How are orders fulfilled, from placement to delivery in stores such as these? It is an intriguing business, but there is little background information available for the curious.

What do modern sailors do when their ship is docked?

deadwax — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 19:01:22 -0800

Do the crews of ships such as container and bulk good carriers leave the ship and get to see the place they are visiting? If not, why not? General descriptions of the lives of modern seafarers that illuminate this question are more than welcome. This question has come about from a discussion between my partner and I. We live in a small town with a big port but never see the crews from the boats in town. We are both curious as to why.

Shipping labels to return lost items

acidic — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:00:35 -0800

I accidentally left a bag in someone's car, and we are now in different states. I want to make it as easy as possible for him to return it to me, as we are not even really acquaintances. The bag is a big leather tote containing a winter jacket and other stuff, to give you some idea of the size (will not fit in any standard FedEx/UPS boxes).

So, I'd like to create two shipping labels using my accounts on FedEx and UPS and let him decide which is more convenient. There are a few things I don't know:
* his address (and I'm not going to ask)
* weight of the package
* exact dimensions and price of the box he buys

So, should I create a normal shipping label using my address as both sender and recipient? Or should I create a return shipping label instead? I assume that even if I'm wildly off with my package dimension estimate (say he has to get 20x20x20 instead of 20x20x5), the package will still ship and I'll be charged the difference?

I need to buy more of the jewelry things!

NoraReed — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:34:06 -0800

I'm getting a start making jewelry and am looking for suppliers for inexpensive beads and pendants. Most of what I've been using has been cheap stuff from Fire Mountain and I've been really happy with the stuff I've gotten for them in the 75 cents to 2 dollar range but am looking for more variety. I'm more interested in pendants and other focals than beads, but I'm addicted enough to the bead part that I'll look at sites that focus on those too :) I use a fair amount of natural stone (mostly inexpensive ones, obviously-- I use a lot of jasper, marble, fake jade, coral, mother-of-pearl, stuff like that) but my work mostly is in glass. I particularly like lampwork stuff. I usually make big orders at once but generally don't get a lot of the same item, so places with discounts when you order a lot of assorted stuff are way better for me than places where you have to buy a lot of a single item to get a discount.

I know about looking around on Etsy, eBay and Amazon, but sites like that where you have a lot of items available from different sellers with different prices are frustrating to sort through because of the sheer quantity of sellers with different shipping costs. If you have suggestions for specific sellers on Etsy, Amazon, eBay or any other "marketplace" site I'd be glad to hear them.

Shipping a soundbar

dhens — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:02:35 -0800

How to pack a soundbar? I have become the owner of a hand-me-down Vizio VSB200 sound bar. I want to ship it (or check it as a bag) to move it from my mom's place to my own place, but she does not have the original box. Given the... unusual dimensions of the piece, can anyone recommend where I could pick up a box which would fit it?

39.63" wide
4.67" tall
4.26" deep

11.68 pounds.

(I will be packing the mounting brackets and such in my suitcase.)

How do I send these perfumes?

ohmy — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:23:42 -0800

Can I ship bottles of perfume from Canada to the US? Can I ship them within Canada? I can't stand perfume, but I received three expensive fragrance box sets as Christmas gifts. I'd like to list them on ebay, but Google tells me that perfumes are considered flammable, hazardous materials and are often refused by postal services, or only shipped via ground service. I know this applies to USPS and am almost 100% sure that it also applies to Canada Post.

So I'm pretty sure that shipping to the US would be a real problem because I don't think any Canada to US shipments are ground shipments, but I just read on the Canada Post website that perfume is a non-mailable item... period? I think? So... how do fragrance vendors do it? Can I actually sell this stuff on ebay and mail it out - even if it's only within Canada? Or will I have to rely on the unreliable and hostile crazies on Craigslist to offload this stuff? (I listed these items on Craigslist and have only received ridiculous offers and responses from random anonymous aggressive trolls)

Do any of you guys have experience with this? I'm especially interested in hearing from Canadians.

It shouldn't be this hard when Toronto is barely 100 miles from Buffalo, OK?

SMPA — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 10:47:25 -0800

I want to change the world. Or at least make it easier/faster/cheaper to send my niece and nephew, currently living less than 500 miles from where I live, a flipping Christmas package. Who should I bother to help get this done? (the first two paragraphs consist of a rant with illustration; you can skip to the first bolded line for the actual questions.)

Okay, fine. We live in a stupid bureaucratic nightmare world, where lines on maps create major hassles. I accept that mailing stuff internationally is a royal pain, as a general concept. Languages, treaties, blah blah blah, whatever.

But this is Canada and the United States. We speak the same language, and have a VERY long mostly-undefended border (and nearly everyone in Canada lives really close to that border,) and we signed a treaty (way back when Bill Clinton was less than halfway through his first term,) saying that commerce should be significantly easier in North America already. These are post-industrial countries! You can drive to Toronto from here in less than two days, and bring all kinds of gifts with you! So, why is it still so flipping hard to mail the junior members of my family some stickers and fake tattoos and Christmas cards - let alone books and toys?

This is the question part - What I want to know is, who do I bother to get some progress on this specific issue?

Should I set up a petition on WhiteHouse.gov? Send emails to members of the Senate and House foreign relations committees/Western hemisphere subcommittees? Write to the Postmaster General? Harass the Universal Postal Union? File some kind of statement with the State Department? Rail about this in public and hope the media notices?

What I really want is for it to be much easier/faster/cheaper for a normal human being in the United States, Canada, or Mexico to send a package with not-dangerous stuff in it to other normal human beings in one of the other two countries.

I'm not even sure exactly who makes things this way, where the problem(s) is/are, or who could change the way it all works. Does the President of the United States even have any power over this at all? The US Postal Service is a relic of a bygone era mixed up with bizarre early twentieth century standard operating procedures, and apparently everyone and no one is in charge of this kind of policy stuff. I don't know a thing about Canada Post, and I had to go look up who does mail in Mexico just to finish this sentence (Correos de México is apparently the answer, and the article listing postal entities by country needs a lot of expanding.)

Anyway, again: I want to take some constructive action, and vent my spleen to persons in authority, and maybe help in actually improving this situation. Who do I turn to in my hour of need? I am prepared to devote at least 10 hours of my time this year to the effort, BTW, and spend upwards of 20 first-class stamps on a letter-writing campaign, if necessary.

(If there is an advocacy organization already devoted to this issue, I will quite possibly espouse you for sharing it with me, unless that disturbs you or I decide it's too creepy once I calm down. I'll heart you forever no matter what though.)

Can I ship the bacon jamz?

little_c — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 13:40:15 -0800

Is it ok to mail a jar of "bacon jam? that I made? I made bacon jam following this recipe (it's really good!). I want to ship some to Hawaii in a glass jar. Everything in the recipe is slow cooked for 4 hours - the recipe says to refrigerate, but is it ok to spend a few days in transit to Hawaii? It's cooked bacon with a healthy dose of vinegar in the recipe - would it go bad before it got there?

It's not canned like a fruit jam, and I read some things about pressure canning meats, but I don't have the equipment to do that. If the consensus is it will not be good to ship unrefrigerated, I'll nix the whole idea.

Thank you!

Best shipping method for home business.

PlutoniumX — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:32:56 -0800

Help me decide on my small home business shipping system! All righty, my friends the hivemind.

I've got a small business, with an Etsy store. I ship mainly 6x10 bubble mailers and I've got a pretty decent idea on the price. Sometimes I'll do direct sales with Paypal and I may at some point in the future upgrade to taking payment options directly through my site. That is a future ASK though.

(Saw this, but its from 2010)

I'll also occasionally send other items out in boxes, some of them large boxes, different collectibles, stuff I want to get rid of, etc.

I'm thinking of investing a little money in streamlining the postage and shipping.

Etsy does shipping labels
Ebay does shipping labels
USPS does shipping online
Paypal has shipping services
Something else?

The first two really don't work, because they aren't all inclusive for everything that I need to ship.

I need to buy a new printer anyway at this time, and I am assuming a scale.

I currently use USPS and ship most things first class, which works out to be pretty affordable.

I live in the sticks, in South Central PA, and there is a post office by home and work. UPS and Fed Ex locations are further away.

Most of the options look pretty decent and comparable, but I wanted to check with you guys and see if any of you had any personal experience with this.

I need delivery confirmation, possibly insurance, and being able to put in the box dimensions and weight and get a shipping price quote is important.

Any other words of wisdom, I'm always listening.

Thanks in advance gang!

Pluto

Need help easily mailing 100 DVDs overseas

arniec — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:25:43 -0800

I need to ship almost 100 DVDs, many going overseas. How do I do this the easiest way possible? I know I have to fill out customs forms, determine postage to each country, etc. but is there an easy way to do this online? I have all the data of the people to whom I'm mailing discs in a spreadsheet.

The discs are uniform in size and weight so I have exact information on those.

Tracking would be preferred domestically, not sure if it's available internationally.

My ideal situation would be a site where I could either (a) reformat and upload my spreadsheet or (b) copy and paste my information (even if field by field) and then have it print out postage and all necessary customs forms.

I've been poking around the USPS site but what I'm finding does one at a time and this appears like it will take hours. I'm feeling like my situation is not unique, but I just don't know where to look having not done this before.

Something smaller than a moving pod?

Peemster — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:40:09 -0800

Is there a smaller option for a cross-country move than a moving pod? We are moving from Los Angeles to the East Coast. Eventually we will be in Brooklyn, though I will need to be in a smaller town upstate for the first three months of my job.

Anyways! We are selling nearly everything here in Los Angeles, but there are a few things we'd like to keep. Nothing like a couch or even a chair, more like a nice toolbox and a few picture frames.

We're looking into how to either ship or have these items moved across the country. I'm going to be driving out, but my car is small and won't carry much stuff.

Is there either:
1) An option like a moving pod but for even less stuff? Even the smallest pods seem to be about $2,000.

2) What is the dirt cheapest ground shipping option available? Speed of transit isn't an issue.

Thanks!

Also, any advice for those who have made the LA-to-NY drive on nice things to see along the way is much appreciated.

Shipping from France to USA

HMSSM — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:44:25 -0800

How can I order from amazon.fr marketplace from a seller who doesnt ship to the USA? I found the perfect gift for my husband and can only find it on amazon.fr. After muddling through the checkout, I realized the seller won't ship it to the USA.
Do you know of a reputable mail forwarder or something who I can ship it to and then they will ship to me?

shipping a large, heavy package

koeselitz — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:17:28 -0800

I am considering purchasing a large and heavy item on Ebay that is listed as "local pick-up only," and then finding and paying a shipping company to pick up the item and ship it to me. Good idea or bad idea? And, if feasible, what would be the best way to manage this? I'm hoping to buy a large musical instrument on Ebay. There's a huge divergence in price on these, largely because of the size; a particular "local pick-up only" sale I'm looking at is a full eight hundred dollars cheaper than any that a seller is willing to ship.

It occurred to me that it should be possible to accomplish the pickup and shipping remotely for less than eight hundred dollars. I am wondering whether I'm right on that, and also how much money I could save if I did this.

Dimensions: this instrument would fit inside a 3' x 4' x 5' crate, and weights 313 pounds. It's only moderately fragile - no glass or easily-breakable parts, and the thing seems pretty sturdy, although I wouldn't want it dropped repeatedly or anything. I guess it should be insured.

Geographical specifics: I am in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The particular item I'm looking at is in Maryland.

So, questions: is this a terrible idea? I guess I should be worried about scams - what should I watch out for? If this is something that's possible, how should I go about it? The seller says they will take Paypal payment, so it seems like I wouldn't necessarily need to show up personally. I have a few friends sort of nearby, but they both live at least a hundred miles away, and asking them to drive several hours for this is something I'd rather not do if I don't have to.

Also - how do you have large, heavy items like this one shipped? The Post Office won't do anything over 70 pounds; I've looked at a few options, but I'm kind of lost in the face of all these shipping companies that I don't really know and don't know if I can trust.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

F**k the Truck

BlahLaLa — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:58:42 -0800

Every weekday my commute is either easy -- because there are almost no big trucks on the road -- or terrible -- because the freeway is packed with a solid line of big trucks. Why is it like that? What do I not understand about shipping, trucking and/or logistics that makes this such an either/or proposition? This is on the 5 freeway in L.A, and I travel in the Burbank/Glendale/Elysian Park area.

Mondays and Fridays, anecdotally, seem to be the easy days. Today I literally saw one, solitary large truck, and my commute was a breeze. Other days -- without exaggeration -- feature a solid wall of large trucks. Semis and containers, that sort of thing. Often there will one or two lanes solidly packed with a line of trucks as far as the eye can see.

Why is it like that? What do I not understand about shipping rhythms? Is it different at different times of the year? This is the commute I do to take my kid to school, so I don't do it during the summer and vacation periods. Is it different then? Or is my thesis wrong altogether and it's just some weird coincidences involving the section of freeway I travel, and the days/times of the week I do so. Edumacate me, please!

Looking to ship a couch across the Juan de Fuca strait without it costing an arm and a leg. How?

barc0001 — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 22:42:36 -0800

I've apparently been gifted with a couch and a chair from relatives in Victoria and I need to figure out the best way to get them to the Fraser Valley. Are there any movers that will move such a small number of items for a not-crazy price? So my relatives got a new couch and chair and decided to give their old ones to me which is nice as they're a damn sight better than the ones I currently own. The problem is the distance and the ferry. If they were anywhere in the GVRD I'd just rent a cube van for a few hours and be done with it, but the ferry crossing to Victoria is a problem. I'd have to drive down to the ferry dock, walk on, get a ride over to a truck or van rental place, then load the stuff and take the ferry back, unload, drop off the truck and get a ride back to the ferry and get my car again. I live about 90 minutes from the ferry so this operation would literally consume an entire day, not to mention cost upwards of $150-$200 depending on the available moving vehicle. I'm totally willing to spend that amount, or even a bit more if I can get a service to pick up the items in Victoria and drop them at my door for that cost instead that would be ideal.

Standard movers I've called all want $80/hr or so plus travel which would make the proposition close to $400 once you factor in the travel. I'm totally open to being flexible, like if there's a cargo company that does runs to Vancouver every so often, can pick up the items in Victoria and then drop them off on my side whenever it's convenient for them to be making a run in the area anyway, that sort of thing. Does not have to be same-day service at all if there's cost savings involved. Ideas?