potential Shipping savings

Alan Edward Klein · Mar 12, 2022

USPS account signup:
https://reg.usps.com/register

Rick A · Mar 12, 2022

mgb74 said:
I assume you mean USPS, not UPS. This FAQ from the post office suggests you need to be a commercial shipper and have an online account.

A typo on my part, but I was referencing the Post Office. No, you don't need to be a commercial shipper. I'm not and I have a personal account with the USPS.
Register here:
https://www.usps.com/

sfphoto · Mar 12, 2022

ColdEye said:
If you have the Regional A and B boxes, can you pay for the postage at the post office or does it have to be pre paid before you get there?

Either pay online at USPS.com of take in to the PO. I do remember that Paypal had no Regional Box option (A,B or C) - not sure about the other on-line providers that have been mentioned here.

Rick A · Mar 12, 2022

sfphoto said:
Either pay online at USPS.com of take in to the PO. I do remember that Paypal had no Regional Box option (A,B or C) - not sure about the other on-line providers that have been mentioned here.

I don't think PayPal has those options any more, but you can link your PayPal account to the USPS account as a payment option.

ColdEye · Mar 12, 2022

Got it, thank you. I only ever used the paypal option and I could never find the Regional boxes there. Just signed up for a USPS account.

Rick A · Mar 13, 2022

ColdEye said:
Got it, thank you. I only ever used the paypal option and I could never find the Regional boxes there. Just signed up for a USPS account.

If you click on "SHOP" you can order free flat rate and regional boxes in quantities and the PO will deliver them to your address free.

mgb74 · Mar 13, 2022

sfphoto said:
Either pay online at USPS.com of take in to the PO. I do remember that Paypal had no Regional Box option (A,B or C) - not sure about the other on-line providers that have been mentioned here.

So, just for the heck of it, I looked at a package I sent from the east coast to the midwest. I paid $12.06 to ship via UPS through Paypal's shipstation. As I recall, Priority Mail through shipstation would have been about $14.50. On the USPS site, Priority Mail would have been $17.90. The Regional Rate A box would have been $12.32. And the Regional Rate B box would have been $19.59.

But here's the problem. Those Regional Rate boxes aren't tall enough to comfortably ship most of the photo items I have shipped.

So then I went to shippo. They quoted me $15.03 for Priority Mail. Better than direct on USPS but a bit worse than Shipstation. I couldn't access the UPS and FedEx rates without signing up.

toulcaz31 · Mar 30, 2022

I would be careful shipping with USPS for items with value. I sent with insurance a Nikon F2 NOS to Bluemoon for service. The package arrived with foot marks on the package and the camera despite multiple protections ended with a ding on the finder. It has been a nightmare to submit a case with USPS and to this date I haven't got a dollar back from the insurance I paid for (despite the help from Bluemoon).

mgb74 · Mar 30, 2022

toulcaz31 said:
I would be careful shipping with USPS for items with value. I sent with insurance a Nikon F2 NOS to Bluemoon for service. The package arrived with foot marks on the package and the camera despite multiple protections ended with a ding on the finder. It has been a nightmare to submit a case with USPS and to this date I haven't got a dollar back from the insurance I paid for (despite the help from Bluemoon).

The problem is that you hear the same type of issue with UPS and FedEx as well.

I suspect the large corporate accounts get much better service from UPS and FedEx.

gone · Mar 30, 2022

I've had the opposite experiences with USPS. They've only damaged 2 items in 30 years, and they paid within 2 weeks in each instance, and just from a couple of pics I took of the damaged items. I think it helps to have a shipping account w/ them, but that's just a guess. I won't ship w/ any of the others, they cost too much, and USPS just ends up delivering a lot of their packages on Sundays anyway.

Donald Qualls · Mar 31, 2022

mgb74 said:
I suspect the large corporate accounts get much better service from UPS and FedEx.

Much more likely, large corporate accounts simply ignore the losses from occasional damaged shipments. That's effectively what my employer does.

potential Shipping savings

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