<p>I'm wondering how USPS or UPS works in delivering LARGE packages. I'll be moving to college and I can't carry everything by myself on plane (+ it'll cost extra $$ due to overweight). How much approximately would it cost to ship 20, 30, 40, or 50 lbs of material from West to East coast (let's say Los Angeles to Boston). No specific time frame; I can wait.</p>
<p>We just shipped a 14# package thru UPS from Ventura County to Boston today and it was $24-yikes. We though that was high and will be looking for alternate methods! We are going to ship some books and papers thru the US postal service at their book rate after she makes it to Boston. It is very inexpensive, but takes up to a couple of weeks. </p>
<p>My D is leaving next week for Boston and she and I are flying on US Airways from LAX. Since we bought our tickets early, we still get 1 checked baggage each at no extra cost. So we are allowed to take 2 carry-ons, and 2 checked bags at no extra cost. I went to the thrift store and found the largest roll-on suitcase allowed (less than 50# and less than 62" height + width + length) for $5. We will pack it with her things, I will take it as my checked bag, and I will just leave the emptied bag in Boston at another thrift store. It's a cheap way to get a lot of her stuff there. She will also pack a checked bag with more of her things. We are trying to pack important things in the carry-ons in case of lost luggage!</p>
<p>We also ordered her bedding, towels, etc. from JC Penney and are having them delivered to a Boston store for us to pick them up when we arrive. That way we don't have to waste so much time shopping. We are shopping for school supplies/dorm supplies at local stores in Boston- we googled locations for Target, Staples, etc.</p>
<p>It's a pain to move across country isn't it??? She is just trying to limit what she takes. Good Luck!</p>
<p>The prices are listed in their websites, for small packages USPS is better, but for more than 15lbs use UPS.</p>
<p>Note also that it will be much cheaper to take the package to a UPS store than to have them pick it up.</p>
<p>Also, if one of your parents works for a corporation with a shipping department, they may be able to ship it from work using the corporate discount.</p>
<p>(For my daughter's trip to camp this morning, I bought a trunk from the Container Store (about $30) and filled it with almost 50lbs of stuff.)</p>
<p>We are going to ship some books and papers thru the US postal service at their book rate after she makes it to Boston. It is very inexpensive, but takes up to a couple of weeks. >>></p>
<p>For book rate, the materials have to be printed and bound. Nothing in the package can be loose leaf or hand written. We found this out when DD wanted to mail some papers and notebooks home to keep for grad school.</p>
<p>Perhaps this can help you:</p>
<p>Be sure and check if your school will accept packages before move-in day. S's didn't so we had to ship to a local UPS store, which will hold them for you for a nominal fee of about $5/day. We paid about $40, including $300 insurance, for 40 lbs in a 20" cubic box from NH to KS.</p>
<p>Just shipped 3 50lb boxes from Houston to NJ for 116.00 total. Went to one of those shipping stores where they compare rates for you- Fed Express Ground Home delivery was the best rate. Also- thought it would take 10 days to get there, but delivery was within 5 days.</p>
<p>We shipped 3 50lb boxes from Idaho to Connecticut for $100. We used the cheapest method US Postal Service had to offer. They arrived in about 10 days. It is cheaper to ship one big box, rather than two smaller boxes, as there is a flat rate assessed per box, and then additional cost by weight. Also, you may know that US Postal Service has flat rate boxes in three sizes (I think). The cost to ship the biggest one is about $12 and there is no weight limit. I plan to use these for care packages, especially when there might be books or other heavy things inside.</p>
<p>check their websites, Fedex Ground & UPS. But, know that such shipping costs are calculated is both weight AND size in linear inches (height + length + width). Thus, shipping a large box of light, king-sized pillows (light weight but high linear inches) could cost as much as a small, 25 lb box.</p>
<p>So, you need to estimate both weight and size before you check the online calculators.</p>
<p>Go online and create a UPS account. Print the labels yourself and drop the boxes at the UPS store, charging to your credit card. Much cheaper. The UPS store has a BIG markup.</p>
<p>We are huge fans of the fixed rate priority mailing boxes from the postal service. They are great for heavy items (like books)..and are particularly cost effective if you are shipping cross country. They take three days MAX to get there. Small box is about $9 and the larger one is about $12. But there is no weight limit. For books only, I would suggest at least looking at this.</p>
<p>When DD went to college across the country, we shipped nothing...we bought the "big stuff" (printer, bulky linens, lamps, tv, toiletries) where her school is. All she packed in her and my luggage was clothing and smaller linens (sheets, towels, blanket...took one suitcase but didn't weigh much).</p>
<p>THANKS guys!!</p>
<p>Found out FedEx Ground is cheapest :D</p>
<p>Yes, absolutely, use Fedex Ground for shipping...and use media rate for book through US Postal. Just returned from Pittsburgh...Fedex boxes arrived within 6 business days...books took no more than 8 business days. Good luck!</p>
<p>My DD is flying on Southwest and taking the biggest allowable suitcase packed with 50#, another smaller suitcase (that will store inside the big one) and one or two boxes (she's not completely packed yet...T minus 12 hours and counting :rolleyes:). The first two bags are free, the next two (boxes) are $25 and $50 respectively for up to 50#. So, all-in it'll cost $75 for shipping. Of course, she'll have her laptop in her carry-on and her biggest purse with all her jewelry. She'll have to get it all to the cab stand at the airport, but she'll have a sturdy collapsible hand truck in one of the boxes to help with that and with moving in at school. She's going to look like an overburdened sherpa, but she'll manage.</p>
<p>as others have said, media mail is BY FAR the best way to ship books/cds/movies/computer software. try fitting 23 POUNDS of books in a priority flat rate box, as thats what you would need to do for that method to be less expensive.</p>
<p>of course, media mail is slower, particularly if something is going cross-country or being shipped in december. </p>
<p>oh, and in addition to things like notebooks, note that you cant send console-based video games or magazines (given they have more than a few pages of advertising) via media mail, either. you can, however, include a card.</p>
<p>When my daughter moved into her dorm room, we shipped two large boxes, one about 30 pounds, one about 35 pounds, about 1200 miles for about $32 via Fed Ex Ground. It went really well; I wouldl recommend Fed Ex Ground. It was easy to track the progress of the delivery over the internet. This was the first time we have used Fed Ex Ground and it was great.</p>
<p>Be SURE to inquire before paying exhorbitant amounts for shipping. Yesterday, when I ordered some booklets, I was originally quoted over $500 for shipping. After numerous conversations, we were able to reduce the cost to $130--if I could have waited longer to receive the materials, I could have gotten the price further reduced to about $70, so please be persistent and try numerous angles.
USPS (United States Postal Service) has a great deal where you can fill up their larger flat rate priority mail boxes & send them for $12.95 ($9.80 for the smaller box). There is no weight limit, so it's fine to stuff all the heavy things in & is an alternative to worrying about overweight luggage. More info about USPS options are here:
USPS</a> - Priority Mail Flat Rate Shipping Supplies</p>
<p>I am glad to have saved over $400 in shipping by just being persistent (tho it admittedly did take several hours of cajoling the shipping department of the seller to get them to figure out how to ship to me cheaper than they had planned--2nd day air FedEx to HI is VERY expensive, especially if you have heavy items).</p>