No Good Deed Goes Unpunished OR Alway Use A Box With UPS

[officermayo]

So...... I had this Protec gig bag sitting around (I don't use 'em myself) and decided to put it up for sale on Facebook Marketplace. Within a half hour I got a message from a girl asking about it. I always vet FBM buyers (can't be too careful these days, donchaknow?), and upon seeing her FB page I discovered she had just graduated with a performance degree and was going to pursue her Master's.

So, in a moment of weakness I replied to her questions and told her that she could forget sending dough via PayPal and that I was going to ship it to her for no charge as a graduation gift. She was extremely pleased and thanked me over and over.

Since I was giving away the gig bag and was already losing money on the deal, I figured I'd save on shipping and wrapped the Protec gig bag in a contractor's bag, bought the shipping label ($43) and sent if off to the young lady.

That was Thursday. Today I get an email from UPS saying they were charging me an addition $30

BECAUSE I DIDN'T USE CORRUGATED SHIPPING MATERIALS.
The dang package was only 4lbs and 39" long, for cryin' out loud!

Bottom line? I gave a $100 gig bag to a young up and coming trombonist and then paid $73 to ship it from Alabama to Maryland.

Lesson learned, wallet lighter, but I still feel good about helping another trombonist. That takes out the sting a bit (a LITTLE bit).

So remember, no matter how small or light an item may be, ALWAYS put it in a cardboard box before taking it to UPS.

[Doug Elliott]

Depending on exactly how you did the label and how and where they accepted the package, I might refuse to pay the extra. If it wasn't enough they shouldn't have taken it at all.

[officermayo]

Depending on exactly how you did the label and how and where they accepted the package, I might refuse to pay the extra. If it wasn't enough they shouldn't have taken it at all.

You'll get no argument from me - unless your name is Aiden.

[Mamaposaune]

First, I just want to say that it was very generous of you to gift her the gig bag.
2nd, I'll pass along a lesson I learned the hard way.
Make sure the corrugated box is rectangular in shape, or the price to ship through UPS may jump.
A few years ago, I found a 70's french-style Bach bass trombone case on F.B.M. It was cheap, around $30, but was in poor shape; I didn't care because I wanted one to re-skin and re-line. He got a shipping quote on-line, I forget exactly but think it was another $25. or $30. I told him to just wrap some cardboard around it to minimize size and weight.
Well, he shipped it (UPS) but then informed me that it had actually cost nearly $100. - he sent the receipt so it wasn't B.S. 1) I think he went to a UPS store, which charges more, and 2) they told him there was an additional charge because it was an irregular shape - it must have been about double or triple.
He told me he would cover it because it was his error, but of course I couldn't allow him to do that, and reimbursed him for the difference.
Lesson learned - an expensive one at that!

[AtomicClock]

I think he went to a UPS store, which charges more

How do you do it otherwise? I assumed going to the store was the only way.

[Burgerbob]

If your object is not some kind of parallelogram, they will charge more.

[Doug Elliott]

UPS "stores" are franchises that do a lot of extra stuff and charge an inflated price for everything.
Find the actual UPS "Customer Center" near you (not "Store" or "Access point." (Use Google Maps)
They will weigh, measure, print the label, etc. But not pack. There you will pay the actual correct price.

[OneTon]

Thank you for giving a recent graduate such a nice graduation gift. You are a mensch. I am sure that she will remember this the rest of her life.

Up through the 1970s, UPS facilities were relatively small. Rubber impregnated cloth belts were not very long. And the work inside processing buildings was labor intensive. It was not a big deal to load irregular cloth bags of metal fittings and random bearings in the possum belly of a 26 foot trailer or hold that stuff and load it at the rear of the trailer, just in front of the trailer door. If need be, a person could hand carry items that would damage belts or other packages to where it needed to go. If someone did put something irregular on a belt and it jammed itself, a human was most often near by to pick the item out before damage occurred. Occasionally irregular items might be transported in the cab, illegally.

Fast forward to 2024. Package volumes exploded. Facilities are huge. Belts are long. And long expanses of belts are unmanned. Hand carrying a package or a slew of packages from one end of the facility to the other eliminates profit margins. New hires may get lost. Then a supervisor has to perform the work. Careless placement of irregular items can cause damage to items shipped, damage to other items, or damage to processing equipment. UPS still accepts irregularly packed items. UPS passes the increased costs to the shipper. UPS may still be only breaking even or losing money in such items.

The UPS Store where we ship items is a privately owned franchise. Success in screening out unacceptable packaging methods or predicting actual shipping costs may depend on the length of time a franchise employee has worked. Even direct UPS employees sometimes screw up.

The cheapest way to ship something is in a rectangular cardboard box. Wooden boxes are not accepted for shipping because they cause damage to equipment and other boxes.

[hyperbolica]

I tried to ship a tuba sold on ebay. Ebay said it would cost $150 to ship. So I printed the shipping label, boxed it up and gave it to the post office. PO said they wouldn't ship it, and even though they picked it up from my house, I had to go get it back from them.

I then end, it cost me $415 to ship it, and I had to go through UPS, extra of course came out of my pocket. And I shipped it in it's case (nylon covered foam) - no corrugated.

[OneTon]

In the bad old days, UPS had a 100 inch metal beaded chain like a key chain bead. They would wrap the item once around and run the remaining chain down the length. If it exceeded 100 Inches, they wouldn’t take it. They may have increased their limits.

[officermayo]

I've always used UPS on Evilbay sales. It's cheaper than going straight through UPS. As long as you weigh and measure carefully there's no problem. The discounted shipping cost is deducted from the funds from the sale of your item. Print the lable, tape it to the box and hand it over at the UPS store. Also, certen places live Walgreens and CVS will take them and hand over to the UPS/FedEx person who delivers to that store.

I've shipped lots of trombones and cases with UPS and the boxes were all triangular. I cut one side from a U-Haul lamp box and tape the crap out of it. Most times the shipping costs have been $30 or less. So........ in my experience, not being rectangular has never been a problem. The email I got from UPS today didn't mention irregular shape - just not in corrugated material (i.e. BOX).

This will not be an issue in the future as I've sold all of my extra horns and am down to only the horns I actually use on a weekly basis. Any future items I sell (I have an extensive collection of Batman and Superman items and Bibles) will be done via FB Marketplace and will only be sold locally with door drop/ meet up options and cash payments as FB holds money from sales for a long time.

[harrisonreed]

The one that gets me is that you can't get insurance through UPS Store if you use a uhaul lamp box. You need to use one of their boxes.

[OneTon]

The advantage of triangular boxes is they are less likely to be loaded on the floor of a truck or trailer. The disadvantage for top loaded packages is they can tumble from a height of 8 feet or so. If they were properly packed it is not usually an issue. Electronics don’t like it no matter what. The triangular corrugated cardboard boxes won’t foul the UPS processing equipment.

[JerryY]

I have shipped a vintage/antique trombone to Norway. A square box increased the cost dramatically. I purchased a sonotube from home depot, bubble wrapped it and cut and folded over the ends and used packing tape. By using a stiff sonotube cylinder, I exponentially increased the strength, and reduced the "inches" around the package and saved a huge amount of money.

Jerry

[OneTon]

That sounds like a good alternative.

[Doug Elliott]

Sonotubes are even stronger if you fill with concrete as intended.

[greenbean]

The biggest mistake when shipping is to walk into a location - whether it is UPS, FedEx, or USPS. You will pay RETAIL and walk out unhappy. Every time.

Alway measure carefully (and round up) and buy a label with EasyShip, ShipStation, PirateShip, etc. Commercial rates, no standing in line, affordable insurance from a company that actually pays claims quickly and professionally.