Using boxes not made by USPS for Flat Rate ? Better to use Parcel select shipping ?

[jtwwave]

Have a bunch of puzzles and games I wish to sell. Have access to boxes that are 16.5"by 16.5" by 2" that the items will fit into. What would be the best option to ship them. Don't think the weight will be over 3 pounds. Any ideas would be appreciated. 

[toysaver]

"Using boxes not made by USPS for Flat Rate ?"

NO NEVER NADA This is not allowed.

[nobody*s_perfect · Accepted solution]

As noted in the other post, you can't use Priority Mail flat rate labels on any boxes other than the specific free flat rate Priority Mail boxes that are provided by USPS. Your package won't fit into any of them, so you will have to ship by regular rates that are based on weight and dimensions.  

Use eBay's shipping calculator to compare whether you want to offer Priority Mail or Parcel Select Ground; you might find that the price difference is insignificant.  Parcel Select can be very slow, so most sellers would only offer Priority in your situation.

http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator

[Anonymous]

---

@jtwwave wrote:

 16.5"by 16.5" by 2"...

Don't think the weight will be over 3 pounds. 

---

In addition to what the others have said, that sounds like it will probably be less than a large FRB anyway, so you probably wouldn't want that to go flat rate in the first place.

[stephenmorgan]

Just a sample shipping about 1300 miles

3 pounds 16.5"by 16.5" by 2"

from Pirateship

[nobody*s_perfect]

No need to mess around with specifics; you can see the entire USPS pricing charts in their official rates document, Notice 123.  Pirateship and eBay both charge the regular online ("Commercial") rates, AFAIK:

http://pe.usps.com/cpim/ftp/manuals/dmm300/notice123.pdf

[deserdog]

Pirate ship charges less  for priority, their price for the package to zone 5 is $9.59 instead of $9.93. Also note, if applicable, Pirate ship now has parcel select cubic rates, up to 1 cubic foot.