General Information

The ease of shipping today makes it possible to ship your items via a multitude of low-cost carriers, usually offered from one location: your local packing and shipping store.

Unlike the United States Post Office or a UPS Store, other packing and shipping stores such as Goin' Postal, can allow you to price shop for the best rates and the most convenient services for your needs from one location. Most of these packing and shipping stores have one piece of software that will show the rates for all the major carriers and can allow you to select the carrier, price you want to pay, insurance amount, and how fast you want your package to arrive at its destination.

Some packing and shipping stores charge incredibly low rates while others can charge upwards of 200% over the actual cost to ship your items. For this reason, it is important for you to be an educated consumer and to call around to compare prices before you select a packing and shipping store. In order to obtain accurate price quotes, be sure to give each shipper the following information: exact weight (round up to the nearest pound), dimensions (round up to the nearest inch), whether the package is going to a residence or a business, the value of insurance coverage that you want, and the destination zip code of your package. These tidbits of information are all required in order to calculate shipping rates.

UPS has package size restrictions that allow most things to be shipped at a reasonable cost. The maximum size box UPS will allow is 130 inches in combined length and girth (add the length of the longest side, plus double the width and length combined), with a maximum weight of 150 lbs. The United States Post Office size restrictions are slightly less with a maximum of 130 inches in combined length and girth and a maximum weight of only 70 lbs. At Goin' Postal there are no size or weight shipping restrictions, as Goin' Postal can ship just about anything via motor freight if it is too large for one of the regular carriers. Give your local packing and shipping store a call to make sure that they can handle your shipment before you lug it all the way there. Your local Goin' Postal can even arrange to ship your vehicle to your summer home/winter home without you having to worry about it. Just ask!

If you are shipping valuable items and want insurance, please ship your items through a major carrier such as FedEx and UPS. These carriers can provide insurance coverage and tracking numbers so that you can access your package's information online via their websites and can follow it along in its travels to its intended destination and can see who signed for the package, the time of day and date when it was delivered, and if it was delivered to its intended destination address. The USPS does not provide a comparable service. USPS provides something called “delivery confirmation” but delivery confirmation simply means that your can have confirmation that you item has been delivered. It doesn't offer tracking, a way to see who received the package, or verification that the package was delivered to the intended address. You can purchase insurance coverage for packages shipped via USPS, but we strongly recommend utilizing one of the major carriers such as FedEx or UPS for shipping valuable items.

Use declared value coverage for peace of mind. UPS and FedEx automatically insure your package for $100 included in the price and have very reasonable insurance rates for items worth more than $100. Remember that insurance will only cover items that are packaged properly according to carriers' guidelines and will only cover the current marketplace cost of replacement of those items. An item may have sentimental value and you are welcome to insure it for whatever amount you wish, but insurance coverage will only cover the cost in today's marketplace to replace that item and ONLY if the item has been packaged properly in accordance with carriers' guidelines. Let professionals, like those at Goin' Postal, pack all of your valuable and fragile items to ensure safe delivery.

Don't package your items “on the cheap” as it only leads to trouble. Sometimes spending $3 on a new box, as opposed to using an old disheveled one that you had lying around, can make the difference between your package arriving safely or arriving in pieces. If you are in doubt, take the unwrapped item to your local shipping store and let them advise you as to the best way to package it. Most shipping stores charge a small fee per items plus the cost of any packing materials, but it is well worth it to see your belonging arrive safely.

EBay Sellers Can Save

If you’re an eBay seller, then you are already savvy when it comes to shipping. But did you know that you can put even more money in your pocket by shipping your eBay items at Goin’ Postal? Lots of eBay sellers send items through the shipping services offered in conjunction with PayPal service, or through their own accounts with UPS, FedEx, DHL or via USPS Click-N-Ship…but those published prices are almost always higher than the prices at your local Goin’ Postal store, particularly on items that are 2 lbs or heavier. How can that be, you ask? Your local Goin’ Postal store is an Authorized Shipper for UPS and FedEx, which means that Goin’ Postal enjoys much better discounts than the general public and even better discounts than most volume shippers do simply because of the ASO/ASC status discounts and the volume of packages that Goin’ Postal ships. Goin’ Postal also has the ability to compare ALL of the rates for UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS and other carriers within seconds so that you will know all of your options. That means that YOU get to decide how much you want to spend on shipping and which carrier you want to transport your package. You can even have an account with Goin’ Postal so that you can just drop off your items and Goin’ Postal can do all the work for you, and can give you a detailed invoice weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Goin’ Postal’s mission is to provide low, low prices and stellar customer service…and that means less hassle for you and far more money in your pocket!