somebody explain the usps to me....

[beyondhairy]

few years back, i ship a bass, an ibanez sr405 in a hardshell case from NY To texas.... i picked the cheapest service, cost me $31 IIRC.... earlier in the week i ship out a schecter custom-4 on its way to missouri...in a gig bag....atleast half the weight....and half the distance...right? well i got charged $70.....

the reciept said something int eh ball park of "oversized" or "underweight"....


this confuses me... can anybody talk about this?

[incognito89x]

I know a lot of the places have certain dimensions a box must abide by for certain statuses.

If the box you sent the schecter in was larger overall than the one from the ibanez, it could be because the schecter box was larger than the specified dimensions and qualified it as an oversized package.

Also, was the shipping to Texas again, or elsewhere? I know it's always cost me a lot more to ship to Cali (from Michigan) than somewhere closer by.

Here's a bit of useful information I found on the USPS site:

With the new dimensional-weight pricing
for Priority Mail packages, is there still the
balloon rate?
Yes, but only for packages measuring larger than 84
inches combined length and girth, traveling locally and
to Zones 1-4 destinations, the minimum rate will be
20 pounds.
Are packages measured the same way for
dimensional-weight pricing as with balloonrate
pricing?
No. Dimensional-weight is based on cubic inches
by measuring in inches and multiplying the length by
the width by the height. If the result is greater than
1,728, divide it by 194 (the "dim factor"). The result is
the dimensional weight. Balloon-rate is determined by
measuring the length and girth combined and if the
result is greater than 84 inches, balloon-rate pricing
may apply.

[beyondhairy]

oh sorry, the schecter went to missouri....


but this all seems lame lol doesnt it all go in the same truck/plane?

[incognito89x]

It does. Ok, here's a fun little test.

I did a shipped calculation on USPS, both shipped to the same zip code from the same zip code.

A box at 50 x 20 x 10 gets a Parcel Post cost of: $58.28

Drop 2 inches per.

A box at 48 x 18 x 8 gets a Parcel Post cost of: $20.31

It's something to do with the size of the box, and once it's past a certain point the price jumps up a lot.

[Johnny Crab]

Go here: http://postcalc.usps.gov/

and enter your info on the package(size, weight, etc.).
Because I've shipped Thunderbird and Explorer basses(both extra long and heavy), I've been hit with the additional OVERSIZE charges before.

I shipped an Epiphone T-Bird from Texas to California recently and it was a little over $60. This included signature, insurance, and tracking. It was double-boxed, not in it's case but in it's original Epi factory box, and in the SMALLEST box I could make(cut a normal Uline box down and rebuilt it with tape for the outer box) around it. Before the oversize cost increases, I'd shipped a bass in it's case for less than that. For items I KNOW will go into the high-cost zone, I let the buyer chose Priority(costly but fast) or Parcel Post(Less costly but slow, very slow, sometimes weeks from Texas to New York once).

Get to know your Postmaster. This is easier here in smalltowns USA but it has been VERY helpful in getting advice on shipping, tracking, etc.

[beyondhairy]

Originally Posted by incognito89x

It does. Ok, here's a fun little test.

I did a shipped calculation on USPS, both shipped to the same zip code from the same zip code.

A box at 50 x 20 x 10 gets a Parcel Post cost of: $58.28

Drop 2 inches per.

A box at 48 x 18 x 8 gets a Parcel Post cost of: $20.31

It's something to do with the size of the box, and once it's past a certain point the price jumps up a lot.

lol thats so messed up

[MakiSupaStar]

Here's my understanding of the USPS. We pay our taxes so that we can have the luxury of sending our junk to each other. Services vary from region to region and office to office, but the general idea is that you package an item with a label of where it going and where it is coming from, you pay a nominal fee depending on whether you want said item insured, tracked, or whatever, plus a rate according to the size/weight of the package and in theory the package with arrive at the address that is supposed to go to.

The reality is that you go to the post office, and stand in line behind some j hole yapping loudly about nothing into his cell phone and carrying on a conversation about how cool he thinks his life is, even eventually giving you a few nudge-winks, an old lady that just came from writing her check, or counting coins, in the express line at the supermarket while telling the same story about her dead sisters children threatening to set her house of fire which she will tell to the post office lady who will deal with her and then promptly put out a "next window" sign at her desk while she yawns and looks at her 100 dollar manicure. Then you wait for the one ragged, but suspiciously peppy skinny old man to help you, who in turn looks at your package and tells you that it is either too big, too small, too heavy or any possible combination of the three. That, with some amount of money, which doesn't matter, because it's not going to make it where ever it's going anyway, puts a sticker on your package and promptly delivers it behind the office door and into the storeroom of the post office, which is where your package will sit for the next 7.5 weeks. Then when that normal 6-8 week delivery time is almost up, they kick it out to the wrong address and argue with you about your penmanship on a typed label when you complain about the package being shipped to some fat internet addict, who promptly takes the item, and throws it up on either Craigslist beside some dude selling cinder blocks, and or Ebay which is where the person your sending the item to, can see said item, and then proceed to buy said item. At which point the fat internet dude, upon receiving his paypal payment, takes the item to the post office so the whole process can start again.

It's really a beautiful thing when you understand it.

[beyondhairy]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

Here's my understanding of the USPS. We pay our taxes so that we can have the luxury of sending our junk to each other. Services vary from region to region and office to office, but the general idea is that you package an item with a label of where it going and where it is coming from, you pay a nominal fee depending on whether you want said item insured, tracked, or whatever, plus a rate according to the size/weight of the package and in theory the package with arrive at the address that is supposed to go to.

The reality is that you go to the post office, and stand in line behind some j hole yapping loudly about nothing into his cell phone and carrying on a conversation about how cool he thinks his life is, even eventually giving you a few nudge-winks, an old lady that just came from writing her check, or counting coins, in the express line at the supermarket while telling the same story about her dead sisters children threatening to set her house of fire which she will tell to the post office lady who will deal with her and then promptly put out a "next window" sign at her desk while she yawns and looks at her 100 dollar manicure. Then you wait for the one ragged, but suspiciously peppy skinny old man to help you, who in turn looks at your package and tells you that it is either too big, too small, too heavy or any possible combination of the three. That, with some amount of money, which doesn't matter, because it's not going to make it where ever it's going anyway, puts a sticker on your package and promptly delivers it behind the office door and into the storeroom of the post office, which is where your package will sit for the next 7.5 weeks. Then when that normal 6-8 week delivery time is almost up, they kick it out to the wrong address and argue with you about your penmanship on a typed label when you complain about the package being shipped to some fat internet addict, who promptly takes the item, and throws it up on either Craigslist beside some dude selling cinder blocks, and or Ebay which is where the person your sending the item to, can see said item, and then proceed to buy said item. At which point the fat internet dude, upon receiving his paypal payment, takes the item to the post office so the whole process can start again.

It's really a beautiful thing when you understand it.

lol this made me chuckle a lot...

but you forgot the one guy on line with the massive package that bumps into everybody while blasting metallica or tool out his headphones....