Cubic Shipping on USPS

[So Cal Joe]

I recently purchased 24 keyed alike padlocks (16 LB package) from a buyer in Canada. He drove the items over the border and then shipped them Priority Mail from upstate NY to Southern California.

I expected a Medium USPS Flat rate box. They came in a plain box, but were sent Priority Mail. Per USPS website it costs $59 retail to send this package.

The label had the correct weight listed and then the term “Cubic”.

I then went here https://www.stamps.com/usps/cubic-pricing/

I guess if you are a high volume seller, or somehow use a shipping service that qualifies, you can get cubic pricing.

Referencing the chart and assuming .3 cu/ft and zone 8, it looks like $11.39 is the postage cost.. Wow, even less than the Medium Flat Rate Box.

For people selling small and heavy items, this seems like a home run. I wonder how hard i would be to get this. I’m seeing a lot of references to it on the 3rd party shipping services like Pirate etc. Why doesn’t Ebay make this available to us?

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Happy Weekend all.

• This topic was modified 6 years, 12 months ago by So Cal Joe.

[Jay]

Yep, this is why people rave about Pirateship and other smaller postage services. For some reason, eBay doesn’t have this discount, but does well on other types of postage.

[Timo]

I use eBay Shipping Labels for most everything as this is usually my cheapest option.

eBay still wins on many things: like the Padded Flat Rate Envelope at $7.33 with top-rated discount.

But I used PirateShip a few times in the last 2-3 months for items where cubic shipping made sense. Most times it saved me a dollar or less. One time PirateShip saved me almost $4 on a 3-lb item that was going cross-country.

[Jay]

I guess if you sella lot of items that need cubic shipping, those $1-$3 add up. We just use eBay labels for everything because of speed and convenience.

[So Cal Joe]

Very true, the Ebay labels are fine for most items.

The Flat Rate Medium box would have worked fine for my purchase.

Once in a while, you just get a smaller heavy item that won’t fit in a flat rate box. I guess, unless you’re selling those items routinely, Ebay labels and the flat Rate options get the job done.

It’s just nice to have one more tool to work with..

[simons44]

I use my paypal debit card to pay for pirateship, which gives 1% back direct to my paypal account.

[Timo]

eBay shipping prices are usually pretty good for me with TRS discount, but there is no cubic weight option.

Here is an example of PirateShip savings for today’s shipment:

Package is 13x5x5 and weighs 2 lb 4 oz.

Priority Mail pricing:

Retail: $16.10
eBay charge (after discount): $12.71

Pirate Ship (cubic rate): $8.61

[sonia]

wow – $4.10 is quite a difference!
Looks like there’s a benefit beyond just small heavy items.

[Timo]

I had another package today that was a candidate for Priority Mail cubic rate.

Similar to my last post, the package today was 13x5x5 and weighed 2 lb 4 oz.
Shipping today is from Atlanta to San Diego.

For Priority Mail,
eBay charge (after discount): $14.83
Pirate Ship (cubic rate): $8.92

If you have any small heavy items to ship that will not fit in a padded flat rate envelope, PirateShip.com may be the way to go.

[Retro Treasures WV]

Does the 15x8x5 shoe box qualify for the cubic rate?
I could save a TON shipping heavier shoes.

[Old Dad]

You can check some sample rates here: https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#_c094 15x8x5 would be the .40 row, $7.95 to $20.09 depending on zone. Sometimes it pays to cut down a box if it will get you to a lower rate tier.

The cubic rate won’t always be cheapest compared to other rates. Note the additional retail fee.

[Timo]

Retro:
It depends on the distance / zone.

Looks to me like PirateShip would save you some if the package goes over 2 lbs.

You can go to PirateShip.com and what-if a few of your previous shipments to see. You don’t have to create an account in order to what-if the rates.

Let us know what you find.

[Retro Treasures WV]

the 15x8x5 box is always minimum 3 lbs for shoes for me. Anything under 2 lbs either goes in a flat rate or a standard poly bag to save ounces. I put REALLY nice shoes or Heavy mens shoes are 4-6lbs in the 15x8x5 box.

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