Extra charge on packaging for SmartPost

[brians_car-parts]

Hi, I am relatively new to the selling community.  Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.  I have used Fedex Ground for a couple of months and noticed additional handling fees for items that were not packaged in a box.  It seems anything packed in a poly mailer bag, shrink wrap or yellow mailer envelops were charged with additional fees.  Does still also apply to SmartPost services?

Brian

[ohnojoey]

Maybe something here will explain?

Additional Handling Surcharge

7

https://www.fedex.com/content/dam/fedex/us-united-states/services/Fees_Shipping_Information.pdf

[ida02555]

One of the $12 fee things says:

7) is encased in a soft-sided pack (e.g., courier packs, poly bags and bubble mailers) that exceeds 18 inches along its longest side or 13 inches along its second-longest side or 5 inches in height;

[juststuffisell]

Please don't use smartpost. The delivery times for it are horrendous and the longer your package is in the system, the higher the rate of damage.

There are usually other cost effective ways to ship. Just my opinion from my experience buying from sellers that I won't do business with again waiting 2 to 3 weeks for a smartpost package to show up all damaged.

Cheers

[berserkerplanet]

>> Does still also apply to SmartPost services?

No.

The Additional handling surcharge only applies to FedEx Ground/Home Delivery and Express services (it's right there in the FedEx Service Guide).

FedEx Smartpost is a completely separate service with it's own Rate Tables, Fees, and Terms&Conditions.
https://www.fedex.com/content/dam/fedex/us-united-states/services/FXSP_ByPound_2019.pdf
https://www.fedex.com/content/dam/fedex/us-united-states/services/FXSP_FeesOtherShipInfo_2019.pdf
https://www.fedex.com/content/dam/fedex/us-united-states/services/FXSP_TermsConditions_2019.pdf

The Smartpost restrictions/surcharges analogous to the FedEx Additional Handling surcharge are the $3.05 non-machinable surcharge:
Non-Machinable Defined as:
a) Any item with one dimension measuring more than 27 inches.
b) Any item with any two dimensions each measuring more than 17 inches.
c) Any item weighing over 35 lbs.
d) Any item packaged in a cylindrical shipping tube.


Note to all:
Condition (a) changed from 34" in 2018 to 27" for 2019. That means starting 1/7/19 any Smartpost package over 27" long will incur the extra $3.05 surcharge.

Dimensional weight applies to Smartpost pkgs (unknown what the eBay Dimensional Weight Divisor for 2019 will be or if the calculators have implemented a new one - I'll check it out when I get a chance), and Balloon and Oversize ratings apply to larger pkgs. Other fees like Delivery Area Surcharge and Fuel Surcharges also apply. (see the fees document referenced above)

[brians_car-parts]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. Very helpful!

[berserkerplanet]

Sure thing. If you have any further questions about details just ask.

[berserkerplanet]

Followup on eBay FedEx 2019 Dimensional Weight Divisors for various FedEx services

eBay FedEx Dimensional Weight Divisors (DWD) are generally better due to NSAs (negotiated service agreements) with FedEx, and that continues to be the case, even today after the 1/7/19 FedEx rate increases (and I would think *should* remain as they are for the rest of the year under the assumption that the NSA timeframes should? pretty much follow the FedEx "Calendar year" when the year's new rates are in effect)

Using some mockups in the eBay FedEx label flow, I was able to determine on 1/13/19 that the DWDs are the same as last year, and are pretty good compared to the standard 139 divisor a "normal" FedEx account uses to compute dimensional weight.

Note that the DWD for FedEx Express Services through eBay labels is the same 139 as a standard FedEx account DWD. However, there are pretty good 35% ± discounts for those Express services through eBay labels. Although having the same DWD divisor is one less reason to use eBay FedEx labels for FedEx express services, and there is an added risk if there is an issue with a shipment that needs to be contested (incorrect billing, insurance claims), I think the convenience of automatically populated address and pkg specs n the labels, along with those 35% ±  discounts tip the balance back in favor of using eBay labels (you can "cookie jar bank" the amount saved through those discounts to mitigate any trouble that arises from having eBay in the middle)

DWD        Service
───────────────────
 139         Express Services
 166         Ground/Home Delivery
 250        Smartpost

Those can be used with FedEx Service Guide rate tables and Smartpost rate tables for manual calculations and sanity checks on the eBay calculator.

Finally, don't make the mistake of assuming that that juicy Smartpost 250 DWD that looks so much better than the 166 Ground/Home Delivery DWD makes Smartpost automatically cheaper. Although that divisor DOES reduce the billable weight of a shipment, Smartpost rates increase much faster than Ground as weight increases, and it goes from being a wash to Smartpost being more expensive. Don't assume - use the calculators.

[jcollins2411]

Go to fedex.com. Download the 2019 Service guide. (EVERY FedEx shipper should have a copy) You can find all the base rates for each weight and each zone for Express and Ground services (just like UPS so download theirs and you will see the two companies are only pennies apart on their base rates to begin with, so the big difference is who can give you the better discounts) Other things being equal for your area like pick up times and charges for weekly pickup fees if you actually need a weekly pick up. Most surcharges for each company are almost identical in most cases, not all.

Zones are a measured distance from your shipping zip. like Zone 2 for FedEx is 0-150 miles then Zone 3 is 151 -300 and so on (see service guide page 106- The point is that Ground/Home Delivery Ground have different BASE rates Home Delivery goes to 70 lbs max and Commercial or business to business ground shipping maxs at 150 LBS ( that is the rate before discounts are taken) than Smart Post. Smart Post has its own base rates (That is before discounts are taken) and was designed from FedEx for the Ebay or Amazon shipper that sends the low value 1 to 9 pound items, the value is not over $100.00 (that's your cost not what you sell it for), and if your customer is willing to wait the 2 to 8 days the USPS can take to deliver.
ADVANTAGES:
you don't pay a residential delivery surcharge because the USPS goes to every US address anyway, and you don't pay the Saturday delivery surcharge because if it isdelivered on a Saturday the USPS is already delivering on Saturdays anyway (and I have seen some on Sundays) .
If you have a FEDEX Account or want to get one, you can open one online with a credit card for billing purposes, or you can call customer service 800-GOFEDEX. Register it in a business name please not an individual account or personal account name. You can ask customer service to open a customer request to have the AE (Account Executive from Business Inside Sales (BIS) to contact you and go over your business shipping volumes and they ask you some other fact finding questions to determine (other values that FedEx offers and not just discounts) where the AE can give you discounts and what makes sense for your business) You can have discounts that even incude bonus discounts on top of your regular discounts when you spend a certain dollar figure on a annual basis. Those tiers of spend are determined by the FedEx pricing system not your AE so much. Sometimes the AE can tweak those tiers but only so much.
Oh and by the way - THERE IS NO FREE SHIPPING. FedEx, UPS and USPS are not going to delivery ANYBODY's stuff for free. The price you see on Amazon Prime or EBAY "Free Shipping" includes the cost of shipping already calulated into the selling price. "There ain't no free lunch!" as the sasying goes.

[jcollins2411]

For those of you who don't know ALL shipping companies (UPS, FEDEX) use a dimensional weight calculation not just actual weight. L x W x H /139

Ebay may offer a 166 dim divsor but make sure the base rate EBAY is giving you is the same as the FedEx base rate for like weight and zone.

So take a 12 x 12 x 12 box = 1728 cubic inches/ 139 = 12.44 , at 166 = 10.41 so make it 11 lbs. What does Ebay charge for 11 lbs vs FedEx charge for 11 lbs  and remember Ebay gets big discounts from the carriers and then marks that up.

You don't think they are going to give the little seller their actual discounts and pass that on to you so you can make a higher margin do you?

 Yes the dim weight divsior helps, but again make sure you are comparing apples to apples on the base rate the calculation is made from.

 If you have an  AE (Account Executive at FedEx) they can try to get you a 166 dim divisor. It never hurts to ask!

They (The AE) can put in the request to their pricing anaylyst and see if they can get it added to your own accounts discount structure.

Do you have or even know who the Ae is for your zip code with FedEx?

It's a relationship you should have!

If Ebay charges a hypothetical $14.56 for a 5 pound box going to zone 4 and FedEx only charges a hypothetical $14.16 for the same 5 lbs going zone 4 but FedEx used a 139 dim divsor and Ebay used a 166 dim divsor, then you cna be sure the base rate from Ebay is higher to begin with they are charging you to use their shipping rates they negotiated with FedEx. Believe me they are making money on discounts they get from other carriers then upcharging you becasue they know it is more convenient than you taking the time to get your own discounts directly from FedEx or UPS becasue they know the little guy will NOT have enough volume to qualify for better discount percentages.  

In the example and real life, always round up to next higher number so make it 13. You will be charged for 13 lbs even if your item only weighs 5 pounds. 

On the reverse, if your box is tiny and the dim weight calculation is less than your actual weight you will be charged for the higher weight.  Say it dims at 3 lbs but actually weighs 7 lbs, then you get charged for the 7 lbs. 

[berserkerplanet]

If you were directing that at me personally it indicates that you haven't been paying attention to anything in this thread or these forums. And it's pretty obvious you either haven't checked out the rates here, or somehow misunderstood them.

The base rates used on eBay and at FedEx.com are EXACTLY the same published FedEx standard list rates, with a better Dim weight divisor for eBay FedEx Ground/Home Deliver/SmartPost, and fairly good (20-50%) discounts on top of that.

I get the same eBay discounts when using my FedEx account (minus the better DIm Weight divisor), having opted in to the eBay FedEx Advantage Savings program years ago.

Can't make heads or tails of
>>If Ebay charges a hypothetical $14.56 for a 5 pound box going to zone 4 and FedEx only charges a hypothetical
>>$14.16 for the same 5 lbs going zone 4 but FedEx used a 139 dim divsor and Ebay used a 166 dim divsor, then you
>>cna be sure the base rate from Ebay is higher to begin with they are charging you to use their shipping rates they
>>negotiated with FedEx.

If that is supposed to be the 5 lb 12x12x12 example, then the eBay price for Home Delivery to Z4 is $13.50
and at FedEx.com is $15.87 (and that FedEx price is with my linked eBay discounts - diff is the worse 139 divisor)
Using my non-eBay linked FedEx account at straight list rates, the price is: $18.29

Really don't know what your argument or point is - eBay FedEx Ground/Home Delivery is less than at FedEx.com Your eBay $14.56 number doesn't match the actual eBay rate, and your $14.16 number doesn't align with my FedEx numbers (if a real number then maybe you are using a contractual or negotiated FedEx account which means YOU are comparing apples and oranges, and your argument that eBay is adjusting base rates falls apart.)


Whatever the case, eBay will be cheaper than FedEx if a Ground Shipment and Dim weight is involved - and that's even with my eBay/FedEx discounts applied to the FedEx quote. If using my other FedEx account without the eBay discounts attached, FedEx rate will be much higher in all cases (std FedEx Dim Weight divisor, no discounts).


And your response to the OP was off the mark. The OP was asking about SmartPost, which is not an option at FedEx.com for most users without sufficient weekly volume and intervention by an AE.