Cheap shipping for tools ?

[EVILDR235]

What method do you use to ship tools ? I had sold some 1/2 inch drive ratchets on here, but they are to long for a small flat rate box, so i had to send them in a medium flat rate box which is costly. Most 1/2 inch ratchets weigh about 2 to 3 pounds. what is the bottom cheapest way to mail something oversize short of sending it around Cape Horn on a 17 century sailboat ? Donkey cart driven by a old blind gypsy woman ?

EvilDr235

[lebaron]

I use Flat Rate Envelopes. Double them up and ship for $4.95. If there to long I use Legal Flat Rate Envelopes. Same rate $4.95. Tape them up good. Never had a problem.

[EVILDR235]

Thank you for your reply. I may try that with a single ratchet. I would be concerned if it was more than that due to the weight. The post office needs a small flat rate box that is longer and less wider.

EvilDr235

[lebaron]

Here is a tutorial for shipping ratchets (this is a Craftsman 1/2" Drive ratchet) or other tools weighing over a pound. You can also put it all in a padded USPS Flat Rate envelope for $5.35. There is no weight limit. Remember the Post Office logo "If it fits it ships".

[RedVise]

Evil, I have attached 5 1/2" ratchets to  a piece of cardboard, taped them up ,  inserted in the padded flat rate envelope, taped that up real good and they shipped OK.


Brian

[amecks]

Some good advice there guys.  I did not know there was a legal size padded envelope. 
Parcel Post can save some money but you add insurance and tracking you end up in the Priority Mail price range anyway.
The Regional Rate Priority Mail box has saved me a few dollars. 
Al

[Lostmind]

I use the flat rate envelopes also. Wrap the ratchets in newspaper , keeps them from sliding around when they throw the envelope. I have shipped six at a time in one envelope.
I tape all the edges and wrap a band around the middle in each direction.
Haven't had a problem yet , I'm sure I've shipped a hundred or more ratchets.

[lebaron]

Theres no legal padded envelopes, just regular. Insurance and tracking is free, no extra cost. Also, if you pack everything right there is no need for insurance. In 13 years of shipping I only had about 4 things that got lost or damaged. A needless expense. Regional rates are great but the boxes are skimpy, just make sure you protect fragile things right. Remember tape for a shipper is cheap just like nails for a carpenter, use it.

[keykeeper]

Either method you choose, EvilDr235, just go to the USPS website. They will ship to your home whatever you want as far as flat rate envelopes or boxes, free. I have an area in my storage building full up with just about every flat-rate box they offer. Saves the hassle of going and getting them.

A lady at our local PO told me they had problems getting them for the lobby, so one of the employees just orders them as a private individual!

[EVILDR235]

Thank you all for your helpful information.

EvilDr235

[crankshaftdan II]

What method do you use to ship tools ? I had sold some 1/2 inch drive ratchets on here, but they are to long for a small flat rate box, so i had to send them in a medium flat rate box which is costly. Most 1/2 inch ratchets weigh about 2 to 3 pounds. what is the bottom cheapest way to mail something oversize short of sending it around Cape Horn on a 17 century sailboat ? Donkey cart driven by a old blind gypsy woman ?

EvilDr235

Just to add my two cents worth!!!!

This picture is from a extension that was sent to me--by strapping the bulky item to the corrugated and then placing another corrugated piece over same and taping all four edges-it is padded from both flat sides--works very well even in the longer legal envelopes--just as previously stated-clear pkg. tape-corrugated pieces-electrical ties-bubble wrap as a back-up caution will save ratchet chrome or any surfaces in the scheme of shipping bulky/heavy items....Cranky

[Bill Houghton]

http://postcalc.usps.com/ will let you estimate the cost of various shipping methods, if you know the weight of what you're shipping.  My post office has a scale in the lobby, which helps for heavy stuff.

For anything with much of any steel or iron in it, priority mail flat rate winds up being cheapest 90% of the time or more.  And I concur on the padded envelopes; I've shipped all kinds of things in them.  I'll even build a cardboard box to put things in, then put that in the envelope.  As long as you can close the flap properly and you don't exceed the weight*, the bulkiness is OK.

*You might not be able to ship that infill wood plane on which you used depleted uranium as the infill; but most tools are way under the weight limit.

[bill300d]

Several times Ive requested materials from the USPS, never received. Maybe my local post office is keeping them for themselves.

bill

[Bill Houghton]

Several times Ive requested materials from the USPS, never received. Maybe my local post office is keeping them for themselves.

bill

The mailing of those boxes/envelopes is from a different source than your local post office.  I've ordered them and received them before, although my most recent order, sent before Christmas, has yet to arrive.