Cheapest way to ship small tools?

[Bryan Burns]

How do you ship a small tool that won't fit in a flat rate box? I put an architect's scale on ebay with free shipping and it's 12 5/8" long and 4 oz. and I don 't know the best way to ship it. I'll need tracking information on the shipment. And for future reference, how should I ship the following:

1. 12 to 18 inch ruler (like above)
2. 26 in handsaw
3. 48 in tree saw
4. 36 bar clamp
5. License plates

I'm reasonable educated (through 16th grade) but I just can't figure this out reading the USPS byzantine categories for shipping "parcels".

 

[BillK]

Bryan,
On the smaller stuff I would just ship it USPS Priority mail in your own box. For small stuff like that the price is usually about the same as a flat rate box. The longer items might do better with UPS, just have to check both sites and see who has the better price.

 

[chicane]

USPS "Large" if it fits it ships box. It is flat rate to anywhere in the lower 48, around $15. But it is no good for anything too big or long. Once you have to go with your own box it is better to go with either USPS OR FedEx ground.

 

[wmartin]

I wonder how they price those tubes that posters get sent in. They would be the perfect thing for some shapes.

I wish that there were more variations of flat rate boxes.

My own eBay hell is coming up.

I forgot to set up the 'dont allow foreign buyers to bid' setting (it should be the default anyway) and some Russian guy won my 'will ship to USA only' auction.

I'll go ahead and get a price from the post office...this tiny parcel was going to cost in the mid $60's for DHL to ship...and send him an invoice and see what happens. Live and learn, and I don't mind learning the procedure in this one case.

 

[930dreamer]

I make a crude box out of cardboard.

 

[Zeke]

I wonder how they price those tubes that posters get sent in. They would be the perfect thing for some shapes.

I wish that there were more variations of flat rate boxes.

My own eBay hell is coming up.

I forgot to set up the 'dont allow foreign buyers to bid' setting (it should be the default anyway) and some Russian guy won my 'will ship to USA only' auction.

I'll go ahead and get a price from the post office...this tiny parcel was going to cost in the mid $60's for DHL to ship...and send him an invoice and see what happens. Live and learn, and I don't mind learning the procedure in this one case.

I sent several very small parcels all over the world USPS and it was cheap. Like less than 10 bucks to Europe.

 

[wmartin]

I sent several very small parcels all over the world USPS and it was cheap. Like less than 10 bucks to Europe.

That gives me some hope. I'll stop by the Post Office and deal with them tomorrow and see what the what is.

 

[jjjrmx5]

I make my own boxes, or usually modify boxes I get from my local mom and pop hardware store. Or grocery store. Or convenience store

For license plates, just cut flat sheets of brown corrugated cardboard to size with a littel slp and then tape all edges. Done.

Modifying boxes means scoring or debossing to get the folds right, but I use the back of a box cutter or the Harbor Freight yellow trim tools.

And I send s&^t to GJ members all the time.

I also keep scotch whiskey and bourbon round tubes that the bottles come in around and they work awesome for shipping.

USPS flat rate is awesome for heavy heavy items , but usually higher cost to ship for lighter stuff.

I;ve sent drill bits to Australia to member uart here on GJ and the biggest ***** was filling out the paperwork. And they went USPS. And got there quicker than I expected.

All shippers are now using box volume plus weight to guage shipping price (ouside of the flat rate at USPS).

If you plan to ship , keep an eye out at your grocer and any other palce that stocks shelves.
Broken down boxes ready for the cardboard compactor can easily be taped back together or modified.

BTDT x 1000.

 

[Tronyadorable]

You can check airline cargo too. I've use AA a whole bunch for live animals both domestic and overseas and I imagine something on the order of a hand saw or even a power miter saw might not be too bad to ship.
Doesn't hurt to call them.

 

[Flatintoone]

Bryan,
Like many suggested, you can make your own box or package. Sometimes just a long piece of cardboard folded over, with enough overlap to seal the ends.

Go to the USPS website and browse through the Priority Mail packages. There are many more sizes than are typically available at the post office. Some of the useful ones include:
Large Flat Rate Board Game Box-Same price as the regular Large Flat Rate box, but is long and flat.
Large Shipping Tubes and Small Shipping Tubes-Actually triangular in cross-section, they come in two sizes. They've been a life-saver when it comes to long things like speeders and torque wrenches. If nothing else, they will save you the effort of folding up your own box or flat package.
For those things just a little bit too big for small flat rate boxes (i.e. 1/2" drive ratchets), they have a box that is a similar shape, but just a bit bigger.
I also use a lot of padded flat rate envelopes. Shipping cost is just a little bit more than the small flat rate boxes. I frequently use them for shipping relatively flat things-I almost always cut a piece of cardboard to fit in the envelope and securely tape the wrapped item to the cardboard.

All of these are delivered FREE, and I've never worried about calculating the 'long parcel' charges, since they are USPS packages. If there's a drawback, they seem to take a bit longer to ship to you than the more common package sizes.

I send almost everything Priority Mail. Domestically, it's usually the cheapest option when you take the free boxes into account.

Hope this helps!

 

[2oolhound]

To elaborate on the license plate shipping, the common accepted method for shipping photographs or art work in the graphics/photography fields were as above, sandwich between 2 sturdy sheets of cardboard BUT cut with corrugations going 90' to each other. So the one sheet had the corrugations going across the length and the other sheet had the corrugations going across the width because if both were the same cardboard will bend easily along the corrugations.
.

 

[Zeke]

To elaborate on the license plate shipping, the common accepted method for shipping photographs or art work in the graphics/photography fields were as above, sandwich between 2 sturdy sheets of cardboard BUT cut with corrugations going 90' to each other. So the one sheet had the corrugations going across the length and the other sheet had the corrugations going across the width because if both were the same cardboard will bend easily along the corrugations.
.

Good tip, thanks.

 

[wmartin]

I sent several very small parcels all over the world USPS and it was cheap. Like less than 10 bucks to Europe.

I just checked. It's roughly $35 to go to the place I need to send to.