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I am still trying to understand SmartPost and any info or links to info would be greatly appreciated. All the videos I can find say how slow FedEx SmartPost is especially through Ebay and one said that you have to take your items to a SmartPost drop off and that going through USPS as a drop off adds extra time.
Also I tried to add Smartpost as a shipping option to very large heavy items and it won’t add it. I cannot find what the size/weight limit is for SmartPost.
Any smart post 101 info would be very helpful and greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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You should be able to see SmartPost as a shipping option on your label page. When you are shipping, at the top of the label info there will be a dropdown box that says USPS. You change that to FedEx and then you can see all of the FedEx shipping options.
Put in your weight, length, height, and width dimentions and you will get your price.
Print your label, put on the package, and drop it off at your local FedEx location (USPS doesn’t like to take them.)
The basics are that FedEx will take the package to the buyers Post Office, then USPS takes it to the house. Generally it is faster than USPS Parcel, but cheaper. Weight isn’t as much of a factor in the cost, it is the size of the box. FedEx uses Dimensional Weight, where they price based on the size of the box. So smaller and heavier are cheaper than large and light.
We love it for heavier items.
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T-Satt, I like how you summarized this at the bottom. Love to learn from those selling higher quantity. Heavy and very small I would think USPS flat rate boxes. Assuming a buyer is not very near to a seller, can you boil down the size box and weight that makes Smartpost a winner vs USPS. It doesn’t take much weight to make USPS expensive in non-flat rate, even with parcel post. I took Smartpost off as my first option and never added it back, so will need to think this through and adjust listings (again!). Thanks!
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I find that Fed Ex Ground is typically only $1-2 more expensive than Smartpost, and includes $100 insurance. Maybe its just the things I ship or the fact I’m not top rated, who knows. Even when smart post is cheaper, it is not by near enough to account for the shipping delays and lack of insurance (No, you will NEVER get a shipping claim approved with smart post). I’m not using Smart post to save $1 or less. Not even $2-3. It ain’t worth it for me or my customer.
So as you can see I generally hate smart post. Every time I try to do it again it bites me. I sold a pair of shoes with free shipping – buyer in California weekend before last. I shipped smart post since it was cheapest and should have easily gotten there by the time the customer needed it. Nope! Customer was upset because he bought the shoes to wear this past weekend. As of today it is STILL not delivered.
I’m glad that some of you find smart post useful. I don’t.
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Thank you everyone for all the input. T-Satt, thank you for that 101 info, very very helpful. I get it now.
No insurance, having to drive items to drop off location instead of mail pickup, and slow delivery are definitely cons. I would have to seriously consider on a case by case basis to see if the cost will compensate for the cons.
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Totally understand. Though I can tell you from our perspective we have never had any trouble with smart post. Yes, the delivery times are longer in some cases, And we have been known to go ahead and pay a little bit more for FedEx ground so that the item can get there faster and less risk of damage. But overall, it has worked out really well for us.
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