Just a helpful post about saving shipping rates

[taylor_memorial]

About a year ago, on a whim, I compared PirateShip to eBay on a ground services package was not a book. There was a significant difference between the two for the same service on the same package.  Enough I opened an account there. 

Today, I was creating a label for a mass-market paperback going to Englewood, CO (suburb of Denver). I live East of Akron, which is near Cleveland Ohio. 6 zones away.

My cost with USPS was  $4.63. Ground advantage was $4.47. Outrageous, but media mail wasn't the least expensive postage rate.

Another 3 pound book offers even more savings if I had chosen to use UPS Ground, but the difference was offset by the price of gasoline (the PO is a quarter of a gallon away) and USPS picks up at my driveway.

Now I don't know if eBay offers Ground Advantage at wholesale the way Pirateship does. Never needed to check. Pirateship imports seemlessly and is set up with a couple clicks and credit card. (which is a cash flow advantage).

[wastingtime101]

Key words: about a year ago. Why? Because about a year ago PirateShip was offering cubic rates (based on package size, not exclusively weight), while eBay was not. As of Jan this year, eBay added cubic rates.

Today, eBay and Pirate's Ground Advantage rates all match.

Of course your cost at USPS was higher. With the exception of services where there is no online discount (such as Media Mail), you will always pay higher rates at the PO counter.

USPS is competitive with Ground Adv cubic rates, and has increased Media Mail significantly the past couple years, which means sometimes it is cheaper to ship heavier books by Ground Adv instead of Media Mail.

[dreambooks]

Cubic rate replaced the Regional Boxes. Cubic rate works better for nearby regions