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We are officially moving from Oakland, CA on May 2nd. We are having a couple huge moving/garage sales the next couple weekends. I'm trying to get all of our furniture sold. I've been reading all the threads about shipping methods. We will keep a small storage space here in the Bay Area for my husband's heavy jewelry equipment and a few other small things that we'll deal with in a few months.
My question is, what have you all found is the cheapest way to ship boxes? UPS, FedEx, USPS? We are going to box up a lot of things since we can't find the proverbial share container.
Thanks for any insight on this.
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usps...
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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usps ground is reasonable for smaller boxes. Takes time, up to sixs weeks and they beat H_ll out of the parcel. Don't bother with Priority, it goes the same as Parcel Post. The size limit is 70lbs and 108 inches, length + girth; with a surcharge for a size between 108 to 130inches, their max. It costs about $1.00 per lb from Oakland to Hilo. for all the details go to
www.usps.com.
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I did the same thing, moved here with shipping things in boxes. Even though it was 20 years ago, USPS GROUND was the lowest priced back then too. I opted for UPS because I didn't want to wait three months for my stuff and the USPS AIR was about the same price as UPS.
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We shipped 81 boxes by USPS parcel post back in '05, only one of the boxes had damage, and that was our fault (it wasn't supposed to be shipped, it was a box of stuff that we were going to donate.....& got shipped instead & was not carefully packed!) One thing to remember - USPS can be slow & there is no rhyme or reason to the shipping order, first boxes shipped may be last ones received. We did ship very heavy smaller items (hand tools & cutlery type things) in USPS Flat rate boxes...and we had one box of books that we shipped media mail...
Shipping rules we learned (some the hard way)
1. have a packing list with what is in each box & ID each box (oh, and DO NOT pack the list in the last box, as we accidentally did....)
2. use double wall boxes, (we used comp. monitor boxes because we had a supply of them, but strong boxes are very important, parcel post mail can look like gorilla shipping service by the time they arrive here...)
3. pack everything very carefully....and utilize things like your linens for packing
4. pack everything with the idea that they may be in a humid container for a month or more (we lined all of our boxes with contractor type bags -they can be easily reused for garbage & stuff - and we further bagged up anything that really shouldn't be humid for a while & included desiccant bags -crystal kitty litter in pierced ziplocks)
5. include mailing labels within the the box, and out side the box - just incase the mailing gorillas rupture the box!
6. make sure the packing list is with you in the personal papers you take with on your trip here.... this is not something to pack....
7. We had a packing party with our friends & old neighbors, many hands helped make sure most things went off without a hitch.... & that the lists were complete & boxes packed well...
ETA: we moved when you were allowed free checkin luggage, but you can still use the checkin to ship some items - esp. those that you want/need to have when you first get here, make sure that you maximize your checkin $$ by getting a box that is the maximum sized allowed (our air carrier limit was 62" LxWxH, so we used 21x21x20 to get the most volume in our boxes. Make sure that you control the weight on these boxes (you may not want to pay a higher price for these boxes... but then, you may, depending on what you want/need to travel with you)
Kjlpahoa,
USPS Priority takes three days ( 4 max ) to get here from anywhere over there..
Use Parcel Post for stuff you can wait for and Priority for the stuff you want here quick. When standing @ the counter or looking things up ... Check Express mail too ... For 'sweetspot' larger size packages, its cheaper than Priority and you can get a refund if it doesn not get here on time.
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Don't forget to ask for book rate for your books, it's quite a bit cheaper. I wish I had brought more of my treasured collection w/ me instead of donating it to the library.
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USPS rocks...and the flat rate boxes can often be the best deal in town if you're shipping small, heavy stuff. But everyone else is correct, if you don't mind waiting for stuff, USPS parcel post can be a great deal too. Go online to usps.com and use their calculators to figure out your best option for each package. Small changes in size and weight can make a big difference in shipping costs.
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P.S. Book rate is called Media Rate & is about 1/3 the price of Parcel Post.
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Wow, thanks! You all are very helpful.
