Wednesday, December 19, 2012

save on shipping!

I tend to think everyone knows about this already, but I discovered this week that that isn't so. It's a little late for holiday shipping for this year, but good info to have for later!

If you go to the post office's official website, you can set up an account and print your own postage. The advantage? No lines! Oh, and you save some money too. =) I have a small digital scale and can weigh my packages, but if you use the flat rate priority boxes (free from the post office), you don't even need the scale. I used to keep a few boxes on hand when I had more space. I shipped 4 packages Monday and 3 of the 4 were cheaper to ship flat rate than by weight - it doesn't take much to add up! When printing the postage online, they give you a small discount (up to 15%) on shipping and they also give you free delivery confirmation (a savings of $.75 per package). The best part? You can also schedule a pick-up and you won't even have to go to the post office to drop them off no matter how big the package or how many you have. The only down side is that you can't print first class postage on the site. I have heard you can print these through PayPal's website though so if you're mailing lighter items, be sure and check that out!

The other alternative? If you're not making the gifts yourself, purchase gifts from companies that offer free shipping (gotta love Amazon!) and have the item sent directly to the recipient. No, you won't be able to wrap it yourself, but a lot of companies offer gift-wrapping services now. Amazon has been offering a lot of $5 credits lately too so keep an eye out for those! I purchased an item for $25, got free shipping and used my $5 credit so it only cost $20 + tax shipped. Not a bad deal!

2 comments:

  1. I am a big fan of the flat-rate boxes. It's amazing how much you can cram in the little one if you are so inclined!
    I use the PayPal multi-ship printing as well for Parcel Post & 1st Class. It does bum me that the USPS website won't let you print either of those 2 options, but hey, can't have it all!

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    1. Good to know about the PayPal option. I don't mail a lot of stuff and when I do, it's usually a decent amount of stuff that won't go first class so those flat rate boxes rock! I tried to explain the cost difference to my friend this week, but I'm not sure it sunk in... then she tried to get me to go to the post office for her. No thanks! That's why I print my own postage. LOL

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