Cheapest way to ship a slab. 1 1

[Ride the Tiger]

I've shipped many slabs in the past using USPS Priority and my own boxes and its been 11.95 all the time. Boxes were about 12 x 16 x 5.  Just this past week they want over $20 to ship the same size packages. Same thing at FedEx. So what service is everyone else using? Not really worth spending $20 to ship a $100 dollar slab after ebay and PayPal fees.

[lizards2]

I recommend taking the book out of the slab.  It reduces the weight by about a pound, and you can ship it much cheaper then.

[rjpb]

 A slab should fit in a priority medium flat rate box, though it's tight. Regular priority should max out at $19.05 (much less if in the same zone), and that's before the ebay discount, using them to print your postage. Just keep the weight under 3 lbs. USPS retail ground is about $16 cross country.

[dupont2005]

Put a stamp on it and drop it in the mail box

[Ride the Tiger]

13 hours ago, dupont2005 said:

Put a stamp on it and drop it in the mail box

Mail boxes are banned in my state however recreational weed isn't. 

[lizards2]

2 hours ago, Ride the Tiger said:

Mail boxes are banned in my state however recreational weed isn't. 

Probably because of all the perverts in your state.

[porcupine48]

13 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

Probably because of all the perverts in your state.

[Ride the Tiger]

18 hours ago, rjpb said:

 A slab should fit in a priority medium flat rate box, though it's tight. Regular priority should max out at $19.05 (much less if in the same zone), and that's before the ebay discount, using them to print your postage. Just keep the weight under 3 lbs. USPS retail ground is about $16 cross country.

I guess you mean the 14 x 12 x 3 1/2 size box. A slab is 13 tall so you have a 1/2 inch top and bottom for protection. I may see what I can come up with and use that size.

[rjpb]

4 minutes ago, Ride the Tiger said:

I guess you mean the 14 x 12 x 3 1/2 size box. A slab is 13 tall so you have a 1/2 inch top and bottom for protection. I may see what I can come up with and use that size.

Inside length is only 13&5/8" so I would recommend wrapping the slab in small size bubble wrap, to protect the slab edges, and use several pieces of cardboard cut to the full 13&5/8" to add rigidity, so that impact to the box edge is less likely to crack the slab. Remember the weight limit is 70 lbs, so you can fill up all the extra space with rigid cardboard if you want. However, it can still be cheaper to ship short distances regular priority. I just shipped a slab in state priority mail (my box) for less than $8. 

 

[faster friends]

Flat rate priority box should be $14.35

[MGsimba77]

There's usually very little difference in using a USPS priority flat rate box vs a box of your own in similar size. I've tried cutting corners with slabs a couple of times using padded envelopes and the results were not good! The savings weren't even that much anyway. My experience with non priority is they're typically not as careful with those packages. I've gotten packages from non priority look like they were drop kicked a few times. The cheapest way is to safely ship a slab may be registered mail but only because there's no definitive timetable for delivery. But registered requires you to use the thicker tape that has to be glued on all over the box. UPS FedEx are more expensive and you can't insure anything worth more than 100 dollars.

Unfortunately there's no cheap way of shipping fast and safe. Best thing you can do to save a little is print your label through Ebay or PayPal. You can also use the shipping calculator on USPS website to have a better idea 

[lizards2]

15 hours ago, faster friends said:

Flat rate priority box should be $14.35

$12.80 if you ship using Paypal, pal.

[Logan510]

If you're shipping from the CON US in the CON US it shouldn't cost more than $10-$11 if you're shipping to the furthest zones from you. I use the free priority boxes the USPS supplies and buy my own bubble wrap. Generally the cost of shipping a single slab using that method through eBay costs me between $7-$9 via USPS Priority.

[the blob]

Cereal boxes work best. But eat the cereal first. And then put a few plastic grocery bags in for padding. Seal it with scotch tape. Ship it media mail. But don't forget to write "Fragile Handle With Care" over Captain Crunch's face.

 

[the blob]

2 hours ago, Logan510 said:

If you're shipping from the CON US in the CON US it shouldn't cost more than $10-$11 if you're shipping to the furthest zones from you. I use the free priority boxes the USPS supplies and buy my own bubble wrap. Generally the cost of shipping a single slab using that method through eBay costs me between $7-$9 via USPS Priority.

Whenever I offer free shipping on a cheaper slab it is always someone in Hawaii or Alaska who buys it.

 

[Ride the Tiger]

3 hours ago, Logan510 said:

If you're shipping from the CON US in the CON US it shouldn't cost more than $10-$11 if you're shipping to the furthest zones from you. I use the free priority boxes the USPS supplies and buy my own bubble wrap. Generally the cost of shipping a single slab using that method through eBay costs me between $7-$9 via USPS Priority.

What size box are you using? I was shipping all sorts of sizes for $11 with USPS Priority but now the prices have doubled for me.

[justafan]

On 1/4/2020 at 9:30 PM, Ride the Tiger said:

I've shipped many slabs in the past using USPS Priority and my own boxes and its been 11.95 all the time. Boxes were about 12 x 16 x 5.  Just this past week they want over $20 to ship the same size packages. Same thing at FedEx. So what service is everyone else using? Not really worth spending $20 to ship a $100 dollar slab after ebay and PayPal fees.

$20 wtf?  did prices go up? are you shipping to/from Alaska or Hawaii?  The standard USPS box in a box method shouldn't cost more than $11-12 on ebay unless you're adding insurance, signature confirmation, etc.

The cheapest but most unethical way to ship a slab is via media mail with bullet proof packing.  You're simply playing the odds and 1 in 10-100 packages may get flagged and charge you for shipping.  The upside with a slab is the unpacking and repacking won't damage the book like a raw comic might get damaged from the postal inspector's man handling trying to open and inspect the contents then repackage  Not recommended for anything requiring insurance especially a high dollar comic. ~ $3

The next cheapest but slightly less unethical yet highly risky way is to use a legal flat rate cardboard envelope.  You can even peel back the sides of (disassemble) the envelope to squeeze in a slab with some extra cardboard and bubblewrap and then reseal the sides using USPS packing tape as long as it completely covers the slab.  I've actually received a package like this.  The comic survived and its more of a gamble in that often these envelopes are shipped with other envelopes and less prone to being crushed by heavy packages.  However, I'd imagine they may suffer SCS a lot more from being tossed around the sorting facility. ~ $7.68 from DC to LA. -Please don't do this.

The next cheapest would be using  a comic slab mailer.  The ones that mycomicshop and the other grading compyany used to use to ship books in.  They are about 2" longer than a slab with just enough room for some bubblewrap along the long side.  This will get you possibly the lowest priority rate package price.  This method is cheap but you're almost asking for a cracked slab and SCS is high with this method. ~ $13 ($10 on ebay) from DC to LA

Lastly would be the 1092 inside of a 1095 box in a box method.  It works out to be just cheaper than the slightly more secure ComicLink method of shipping which is the slab in a padded envelope placed inside a 17x13x6" box filled with packing peanuts.  ~$ 14 ($12 on ebay) from DC to LA

You can also check for Regional Rate Box B options which used to be cheaper than the box in a box method to certain (close by) zones.  However, the downside is those boxes are too small to fit another 1092 box into so you're going to have to make sure you pad it extra good.

OR just factor in the $20 shipping and handling into your price and offer free shipping.

 

[ygogolak]

On 1/4/2020 at 9:30 PM, Ride the Tiger said:

I've shipped many slabs in the past using USPS Priority and my own boxes and its been 11.95 all the time. Boxes were about 12 x 16 x 5.  Just this past week they want over $20 to ship the same size packages. Same thing at FedEx. So what service is everyone else using? Not really worth spending $20 to ship a $100 dollar slab after ebay and PayPal fees.

Medium Flat Rate Box — 1 (top-loading)	$12.80 Commercial Base $14.35 at Post Office & Online	Outside: 11 1/4″ x 8 3/4″ x 6″ Inside: 11″ x 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″	Office Supplies Shoes

 

https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail.htm

 

But I don't ship slabs Flat Rate. Flat Rate is more if you are shipping something heavy so you don't get upcharged for the weight.

[Logan510]

1 hour ago, Ride the Tiger said:

What size box are you using? I was shipping all sorts of sizes for $11 with USPS Priority but now the prices have doubled for me.

I use a double box method, it's a USPS  Priority Mail Box 1092 inside a PMB 1095.  With bubble wrap it's about 2 lbs for a single slab and depending on the shipping zone it's a little over $7 to almost $11. $7 would be near me, $11 would be California, New York is a bit over $9.