jmik26 Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 How do you guys ship your baits out? I was going with UPS but the prices are a lot higher then USPS. It seems that USPS flat rate boxes and envolopes are the way to go? I just want to make sure I am offering the best option to our customers. Any help, stories, or ideas would be greatly appreciated.....Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ute Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Jeff, Between 2 businesses, we ship over 1000 packages a year USPS. The service is really pretty good, and if you are shipping to mainly residental addresses, by far the least costly. Also, if you use Priority Mail the shipping containers are furnished at no cost to you. With that said, I would recommend looking at USPS.com. I would use delivery confirmation on every shipment. If you print your own shipping label there is no cost for this on Priority Mail, and it is discounted on 1st class and this gives you a way to track the shipment. Are there problems with shipping USPS? Sure, but I could tell you some real horror stories about UPS and FedX as well. Ben 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe S. Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Same here, USPS Priority mail with delivery confirmation, it's only 3 days shipping across the country, that's faster than most large companies that use ups unless you pay $20.00 or more for second or next day air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 When we first opened our shop up here in Nova Scotia we used UPS to have baits shipped to us from the states.Not anymore as we were totally taken back at the amount of duty they would charge coming across the border.Now we ask our suppliers to ship using USPS...what a difference in shipping costs.When it comes across the border using USPS we pay a flat rate of $5.00 for duty and % 7 GST on the $ value.Now we know what to expect and so far the USPS service has been great. Sammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmik26 Posted January 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 I had one problem with USPS losing 2 packages of Ebay items that drove me nuts. Even though I had delivery confirmation they did not refund the items which I could not replace. At first I told myself I would never use USPS again. Then I started shipping stuff out UPS and shortly realized it was costing $3 to $5 more a package to get it there 2 days later? Now Im back to USPS. I have recently went online and ordered all the stickers, boxes, and delivery confirmation stuff for free which is a bonus. I went with the flat rate boxes just to make it easier for the customers and myself. Thanks for the input guys, just wanted to make sure I'm on the right track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB GONE Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Using USPS flat rate envelopes/boxes + click-n-ship is a no brainer to me!!! You get free delivery confirmation as previously mentioned AND a free online address book so when you ship to previous customers, you just click to submit their address. The great thing is you can access that address book from anywhere you are!!! Rates are great and in 4+ years, I have not had a lost package!!! Makes it easy for accounting also as you can print out your postage use for the month as well... Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmblack Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 jmik26, how do you order from your web site. I would like to order some skirts and possibly some Psycho tubes. Have I missed it somewhere on your site. Please send me an email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloomisman Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 I've never had a problem with shipping usps. I've sent some expensive stuff too. Like 5 loomis rods to MI for a fishing trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dampeoples Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Usps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxfish Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Having retired from the U.S. Postal Service after 35 years I obviously lean towards then for shipping. But the free supplies, flat rate boxes etc do it for me and I haven't lost anything so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2marshall8 Posted October 24, 2020 Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 When using usps did you guys use envelopes or boxes and how would you pack them to protect the baits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanmc Posted October 24, 2020 Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 I usually use the padded flat rate envelopes. You can fit more in them that the regular flat rate envelopes or the small flat rate boxes for the same cost. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonteSS Posted October 25, 2020 Report Share Posted October 25, 2020 Under 12 oz goes first class mail. Over goes flat rate Priority box or evelope. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Boys Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 you guys resurrected an oldie !! 2007.. wow . good info though . shipping cost suck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2marshall8 Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 Yeah the price on a pack of baits is cheaper than flat rate shipping. It’s around $7.65 to $8.05 for the shipping, so if yur only selling a single pak of baits yur margins are super low . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 2 hours ago, 2marshall8 said: Yeah the price on a pack of baits is cheaper than flat rate shipping. It’s around $7.65 to $8.05 for the shipping, so if yur only selling a single pak of baits yur margins are super low . Maybe you could figure out the minimum order that you can ship and still make money, and have that as a minimum order for free shipping. I've seen that on other sites. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiderunner Posted October 27, 2020 Report Share Posted October 27, 2020 17 hours ago, 2marshall8 said: Yeah the price on a pack of baits is cheaper than flat rate shipping. It’s around $7.65 to $8.05 for the shipping, so if yur only selling a single pak of baits yur margins are super low . Then go first class in a padded envelope. The cost will be around $5.00. And maybe take a day longer for delivery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Glover Posted October 27, 2020 Report Share Posted October 27, 2020 USPS has screwed up plenty of our orders, but they are still the best way to go with large numbers of small packages & envelope type stuff. We ship 3K to 4K packages & envelope's a year. Small flat rate for over 13oz is the best. Most of my padded envelope's are around 5oz, that cost is 2.65. Don't think we could stay in business shipping small packages thru UPS. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2marshall8 Posted October 27, 2020 Report Share Posted October 27, 2020 How much are you paying for your padded envelopes? If you’re mailing those first class USPS isn’t giving you those padded envelopes for free, correct ? I think most of my orders will be under 13 ounces due to the way I’m marketing my baits and so that $2.65 Cost per package is really attractive. I Just wanna make sure and understand how you’re keeping shipping costs that low And if there’s anything else hidden that’s raising your actual total shipping cost to more than $2.65 thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Glover Posted October 29, 2020 Report Share Posted October 29, 2020 The padded envelopes are 67.95 per 500. Size 6.5 X 10. I get them on Ebay Yes you can add about .13 ea on the padded envelopes. I will check with my wife & see if USPS had another price increase, seems like she said something about that a couple of weeks ago. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Glover Posted October 29, 2020 Report Share Posted October 29, 2020 My wife said that USPS charges an average of 3.00 now got a 5oz envelope. The 11oz one that we shipped today cost 4.25, prices varies on what part of the country that you are shipping to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanmc Posted October 29, 2020 Report Share Posted October 29, 2020 I won't ship less than 100 baits... Just not worth it. Charge a fair price for the baits and have the buyer pay the $7.00 or so shipping... It's well worth their while to buy 300 or so at a time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2marshall8 Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 5 hours ago, R Glover said: My wife said that USPS charges an average of 3.00 now got a 5oz envelope. The 11oz one that we shipped today cost 4.25, prices varies on what part of the country that you are shipping to. yah those margins are super tight if yur only selling one pack of baits. this makes it hard for small time bait making to make a sale and crack a profit. tough industry indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Driftwood Posted October 31, 2020 Report Share Posted October 31, 2020 Just charge the customer for shipping. If you are selling one pack of baits, after deducting plastisol, color, scent, flake, heat stabilizer, cost of molds and equipment, electric, and your time has to be worth something, there is no way you are going to make a profit if you pay shipping. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2marshall8 Posted November 27, 2020 Report Share Posted November 27, 2020 (edited) On 10/31/2020 at 10:49 AM, Driftwood said: Just charge the customer for shipping. If you are selling one pack of baits, after deducting plastisol, color, scent, flake, heat stabilizer, cost of molds and equipment, electric, and your time has to be worth something, there is no way you are going to make a profit if you pay shipping. I think there is a lot of assumption here regarding charging more for selling baits and this might work if you have an established customer base who buys from you regularly. If you are like me and starting out with tons of competition, I'm forced to bring down my prices to make a sale. I just sold a pack of baits on ebay for $4.99 today. I thought I had bought the correct packaging to put my item into the large envelope category. The dimensions were correct but there was a bulge in the middle of the envelope so it wasn't an even surface across. So they categorized it as a package and I was charged $4.65. If I had spread out the baits into a package which kept them even across and stayed within those large envelope dimensions: "The maximum size for large envelopes is 15" x 12" x 3/4" thick. The maximum weight for large envelopes is 13 ounces." I would have been charged $2.00, drastically helping my margins. I'm going to return these 6x10 padded envelopes to amazon and look for an padded envelope which is close to that 15x12x3/4" thick allowing me to spread out the baits more evenly and stay within their required dimensions to bring me into this large envelope category. Edited November 28, 2020 by 2marshall8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
