$70 to ship??????????? Please Advise!

[fallen_angel]

Okay so we shipped some geckos today, which was our very first time shipping. Next Day air by 10:30am via UPS for a box 12x9x6 cost me $72.94!!!

Here's the charges:

Next Day Air - $56.25
Insurance Optional - $1.50
Fuel Surcharge - $15.19!!

Is this something new; they are charging for fuel now? Has this happened to anyone else? I thought the Next Day air for boxes 12x9x6 and 7x7x6 were supposed to be $50. In fact, I was specifically told that boxes of those dimensions would be $50 for Next Day Air. How do you other breeders afford to only charge $50 shipping?

Please advise, I was shocked when I got the total!!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Kwyk]

I always ship with reptster.com and they have great prices.
But i would say around a 60-70$ is still in the green.

 

[shadowx362]

yes those are the real charges unfortunately It would be less if you have a UPS account and payed via your paypal account because I think its a bit cheaper. Repster cost less, but I like UPS a bit more. I think breeders just charge $50 because most buy the shipping in "bulk" so they pay less, but more on the spot. I try to keep it at $50 flat rate, but if its going to be a big shipment I just charge what I pay.
It sucks

 

[fallen_angel]

Hmm, well I do have a ups account and a paypal account, so I suppose next time I need to make sure that I use my ups account number.. But HJ (GeckoGathering) also shipped a package today and also had to pay the fuel surcharges, so I wonder if these are new charges based on how bad the economy is? Or have these fuel surcharges always been there?

We won't ever be shipping in bulk because we don't have many geckos for sale, and plan to always stay pretty small.. This would be a pretty big loss for us, to only charge $50 and really have to pay $70. What a drag

 

[fallen_angel]

Or do you mean actually paying for shipping in advance, for several boxes, so that it's a bulk order? I guess we could do that.. maybe.. lol

 

[Ccrashca069]

I used UPS once. They are a bit more now. I ship Fed Ex.

 

[Halley]

Fuel Surcharge - $15.19!!

Never heard of that.

It does cost me about $75 to ship a box total, though. I charge $60 for it, this is why i don't give discount on my geckos, i simply cannot afford to, and people will not buy if you tell them you are going to charge $75 for shipping. Believe me, I’ve tried.

 

[Nigel4less]

I`ve always had some sort of Fuel Surcharge. Sadly I don't do Fedex after having problems with Geckos getting delayed.

 

[fallen_angel]

Nicholas, that's pretty much what we'll have to do as well. There's no way we can afford to lose $20 on shipping costs for every sale. I figured people wouldn't buy if you charged $70 or $75. What a shame when that is the actual cost that has to be paid.

HJ (GeckoGathering) also checked out FedEx for the same shipment, same box, everything, and it too was $70 :main_no: The price difference between FedEx and UPS was about $3

 

[Halley]

Nicholas, that's pretty much what we'll have to do as well. There's no way we can afford to lose $20 on shipping costs for every sale.

Yeah, I’m considering using Respter, so i can cut the cost down for me, I’m still loosing $15 ever sale, it makes me raise the price of my lesser-end stock, so nobody wants to buy it, so i just have to eat the cost. :main_thumbsdown:

 

[fallen_angel]

I guess we'll be doing the same :main_no: We wreen't charging for the cost of shipping supplies, but there's those costs too.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Unfortunately, that is what it costs now to ship. Most of us breeders actually LOOSE money by shipping geckos. I also agree that checking out REPTSTER or getting an account with UPS or FedEx is the only way to save money. Also, keeping your box size down will help.

 

[fallen_angel]

Thanks for the comments everyone

 

[malt_geckos]

fuel charge eh? I've never heard of it.

 

[shadowx362]

By bulk I mean prepaid shipments, but you have to pay like 1K up front (maybe around $900) I forgot how many they give you though. I have seen the fuel subcharge on the shipments I've sent. Its usually towards the bottom. Repster is much cheaper, but I prefer ups because you can pay through paypal.

 

[Sunshine State Exotics]

By bulk I mean prepaid shipments, but you have to pay like 1K up front (maybe around $900) I forgot how many they give you though. I have seen the fuel subcharge on the shipments I've sent. Its usually towards the bottom. Repster is much cheaper, but I prefer ups because you can pay through paypal.

I use my PayPal account with Reptster. I've shipped many packages through them and have saved a lot of money.

 

[Mel&Keith]

We've always paid fuel surcharges with FedEx, they just went up a lot in the last year and a half when gas prices started skyrocketing. Unfortunately, shipping has gradually gotten higher and higher regardless of who you use. I shipped a small (non-gecko related 6x4x4) box via USPS Priority a while back thinking it would be cheaper than FedEx ground...wrong! It ended up being $10.

 

[dprince]

I have an account through FedEx, and shipping is much cheaper that way than UPS OR Reptster. There have always been fuel charges, they've just gone up. :shocked:

As far as Reptster goes, you might want to check this out prior to using them - if for no other reason than to make an informed choice. Even prior to all the issues, it was cheaper for me to ship through my own account. Plus, if I have an issue, I can just call my FedEx rep and get it dealt with. Getting certified is very easy.

 

[fallen_angel]

Thanks for the tips and help

 

[Halley]

As far as Reptster goes, you might want to check this out prior to using them

I hate the crazy long ones. :main_thumbsdown: