Fed Ex Ground Economy Versus USPS Ground Advantage
Summary: blackssilvershop shared their thought process on choosing between FedEx Ground Economy and USPS for shipping, noting potential savings with FedEx. tenoem warned about hidden fees with FedEx on eBay, while onefootflipper disputed this, defending FedEx’s reliability. profitweb offered tips to avoid FedEx's additional charges, emphasizing correct packaging. Other participants discussed their shipping preferences, with some highlighting convenience and cost as major factors in choosing delivery services.
Recently I've been looking at my Shipping Label Policy a little bit closer these days, especially when the Price for a 4 Oz. package can be $8.40 from USPS. Usually these days $7.56 and other "Over The Top" postal charges I'm still trying to get used to! So I open up the Shipping Choices Area on eBay Shipping and there is Fed Ex's Ground Economy.
It is Usually at least $1 less than USPS Shipping for $7 to $8 Shipping.
I live in LA, so I recently began looking for the Fed Ex Boxes to drop my Packages in... Only one down the street, but then I saw through Google, of course, that I have a Store that Ships as a Depot for Fed Ex and other shippers, just down the street.
Indeed it is much more efficient to just drop all my Shipping down at the post office. Truly just a one package saving of Only $1 isn't enough to go through the hassle of going to the Fed Ex store.
But just now, a few minutes ago I was looking at my more expensive shipping costs at USPS and there were 4 Packages that I can ship to Fed Ex instead! Altogether on Fed Ex Ground Economy Shipping I'd Save $4.55. (See Image)
That Kind of Savings, in Frequency, over the next month (August) could very likely be Substantial.
-Later I thought, what if Fed Ex lowered the price for the regular shipping area of Fed Ex Ground Economy on Ebay directly competing against Ground Advantage By lowering it by say About Twenty Cents (0.20) Cents, across the board? Fed Ex could Make Millions.
I'm going to ship these 4 at Fed Ex and save that $4.55.
suzysemporium
·1 week agoI live on the east coast. I found if a package is going to the west coast in a rural area, the amount that will be charged is $8.40 from 1 oz to 15 oz by USPS ground advantage. If it is going to a city, or more populated area it will be cheaper.
My problem is that I can not easily get to a FED EX or UPS drop off site. It costs to have them pick up packages. Otherwise I would use them.
profitweb
·1 week ago · Edited@blackssilvershop
I pay about $43 a week for FedEx to pick up my boxes every day. It hurts, but it saves me time.
DROP OFF LOCATIONS THAT MAY BE EASIER, FOR SOME:
FedEx at Walgreens photo counter
UPS at CVS photo counter (each have 3 letters, drop UPS at CVS).
They scan into the delivery agent's system upon drop-off and it shows in tracking.
I use USPS, UPS, and FedEx. I try to pick whichever one is cheapest.
Finding the best price is tricky right now. Costs change based on how big, heavy, and far the box goes. UPS was my favorite 4 years ago, but now they are too expensive.
TODAY: Most items between 2-5 lbs, under a cubic foot, are cheapest with USPS Ground Advantage. The rest, FedEx Ground Economy (sometimes Home Delivery is cheaper and faster, rarely though).
I live on the East Coast, so shipping on east half is relatively cheap. Shipping across the country, like California, costs a lot more!
christworks
·1 week agoAbout a week ago I started listing some things using Economy shipping with the idea that I will use FedEx or UPS for rural orders. The thing is only 12% of my business comes from rural zip codes. I've still not had a rural order since the changes took effect. I'm really surprised people seem to be getting a large portion of their orders from rural zip codes.
I already use FedEx for larger, heavier items that are going beyond Zone 4. My FedEx drivers here are great. I can flag them down and give them a package, or I can take them to Walgreens or Dollar General. They rotate through both several times a day.
The thing to keep in mind is that FedEx's fuel surcharge changes every week, so pay attention to those prices. They may offer the best price this week, but next week that may not be the case.
authentic*vintage
·1 week agoI averaged all of my shipping costs since the rate change and across all shipments the cost averages $6.60 - those few rural shipments have little impact when you avergae them over a month.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 week agoMy goal for shipping is a breakeven over a one month period.
I am saving enough by using Bound Printed Matter for some of my orders to offset the rural surcharges I am seeing.
beautifuljewelrynyc
·1 week agoFedEx about $1 less than USPS to ship 1-4 oz packages to rural zip code.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 week agoIMO price is the only reason to use FEDEX.
IMO the lower price is not worth the beating the packages take, the scans days before delivery and the insecure places which FEDEX drops packages in.
tenoem
·1 week agoEbay's fedex shipping rates do not include surcharges for package dimensions, fuel rates, or rural zip codes. You cannot take anything ebay's fedex shipping calculator tells you as fact, you must either go onto fedex and open an account, or use a service like veeqo.
onefootflipper
·1 week agoThat simply isn't true. I have been shipping multiple Fed ex packages per day on ebay for years. The label is always good, the price is always the price. If it is a rural zip code then the fedex price is always higher just like the USPS and UPS rates are higher as well. have had maybe 3 after the fact price adjustments ever and none of them were over a couple of dollars.
I have no idea where you would even be getting such an idea? Is this based on some decade old bad experience you had?
Fed Ex usually has places other than just Fed Ex where you can drop your packages off. I know in my area you can just drop them off at Walgreens.
tenoem
·1 week ago · EditedThat is simply true, according to thousands of complaints online, as well as scans, dimension weight, and fuel surcharges. I don't care what your personal experience is, it's the personal experience of thousands that the quotes on ebay are often wrong.
I ship about 1,000 - 2,000 packages a month, how about you?
tenoem
·1 week agoBy the way, here are two complaints int he past week found in 5 seconds on community forums, perhaps if you did some research first:
https://community.ebay.com/forum/shipping-57923/topic/fedex-shipping-charge-adjustments-464720/?focus_post=1807558
https://community.ebay.com/forum/ask-a-mentor-57913/topic/fedex-over-charge-for-weight-adjustment-470878/?focus_post=1807553
If you'd like, I can find over 1,000.
shire123
·1 week agoI agree with @onefootflipper I also have shipped multiple packages with fedex every week for a number of years. I have yet to have any issues with fedex.
Yes. There are certainly documented issues with fedex more so than any other shipping services. But I believe that if you understand the issues revolving about dimensions and weight you won't have any problem.
Also, people only document issues that come up. People never document good service. I would estimate that all the issues with fedex involve a small fraction of all their packages. Note that they ship millions of packages.
profitweb
·1 week ago · Edited@tenoem I ship with FedEx on eBay every day. I used to get hit with extra fees, but I learned how to avoid them.
If you use FedEx on eBay, follow these two rules:
Boxes only. Use cardboard boxes. Never use plastic bags or poly mailers, or FedEx will charge extra**.
Round up the weight. Always round up to the next full pound. If an item weighs 1 pound 12 ounces, enter it as 2 pounds.
Doing these two things stopped all the extra charges for me!
**I was charged a penalty of $30 for the plastic shrink wrap over a box. They only want cardboard boxes (unless it's FedEx flat rate). I was told plastic bags can be used if they're the exact same dimensions as FedEx's packaging but have yet to test that and risk a $30 penalty.
No straps either... basic cardboard box with regular shipping tape.
onefootflipper
·1 week agoI use bubble mailers with fed ex all the time.
profitweb
·1 week agoDo tell, please!
What size(s) do you use? Do you do anything special to them? Are you using FedEx Ground with your own bubble mailers and not getting penalized?
I'm amazed because I got penalized almost $30 each time I did it (I measured and weighted it when bubble mailer was full and rounded up). It's against their rules. Maybe your location doesn't enforce.
FedEx assesses a Packaging penalty fee (currently $26.50 for standard zones) for any item not fully encased in a rigid, corrugated cardboard box. Bubble mailers and soft poly bags inherently fit this "non-standard" category.
According to FedEx's Packaging Surcharge Guidelines, any package that is loosely wrapped or has contents that protrude can cause conveyor belt jams. If a sorting machine cannot seamlessly process the envelope, a human must handle it, it triggers the fee.
I think if it's soft, like a shirt, versus hard and lumpy (like a box inside a bubble mailer) that could make a difference too.
blackssilvershop
OP1 week agoThat sounds Amazingly Stupid!
I just did drop my 1st Fed Ex (4) packages in the Drop Box this Morning on my Bike! (Original Poster of this Thread) 8x4x3 on regular Bubble Mailers, Nice Labels, easy to read, that I've shipped 8K of at USPS. I can't imagine Fed Ex would Charge me $26.50 for doing it Wrong! lol... I'll know by 5pm today if my Packages were Accepted without penalty.
I'm in Los Angeles.
profitweb
·1 week agoOh no... it takes weeks to find out if you've been penalized. It's not instant when you ship FedEx via eBay.
Good luck!! It is Amazingly Stupid!!!
blackssilvershop
OP1 week agoonefootflipper
·1 week agoFed Ex totally allows bubble mailers and produces their own bubble mailers "Fedex Padded Pak" what they charge for is bubble mailers with a largest dimension over 18" or second largest dimension over 13". You also don't want to use them for ground or express. I have never used express. I have never had something ship ground that would ever fit in a bubble mailer. Every Fed Ex bubble mailer shipment I have ever done has been Ground Economy. Home delivery much like ground only ever pops up cheaper on big heavy stuff that would never fit in a bubble mailer.
However the misinformation about Fedex and their fees is endless due to the number of people who accidentally broke the rules and got a charge, thus I don't expect you to actually believe me.