I ship everyday to my customers and anyone can set up a USPS dot com account to create and print your own labels.
There are discounts available to you if you do this which are not available at the post office counter, besides you don't have to wait in line, just drop them off and go.
Also, you can order usps boxes from them directly, meaning sizes and NON FLAT rate which are hardly available at the PO. The PO wants you to use their boxes, of course, they are mostly flat rate and those are pretty high rates for something light.
Also, you can view online, using what box gives you the price so you can compare, generally box A and box B are the economical way to go but you need to order those.
A flat rate envelope although is sometimes a good thing, I assumed you needed to only put items which are flat in a flat rate envelope, took me a couple months to embrace that it's not true. The envelope contents can be like a bottle of shampoo but as long as it covers the item, so you literally can put a bottle of shampoo in the envelope, roll it around the bottle and get that rate. Hope I'm not confusing anyone.
UPS stores:
There is an adder fee they charge (that's how they stay in business), you are paying for it. If you have a local UPS distribution center near, it's actually cheaper to ship it out of there. The UPS store however is convenient, they do have supplies, pack and ship but that all comes with a price.
If you are shipping UPS, generally box size plays a big role, today I sent a 25# shipment one state over in a 12x12x24 box, the actually billing weight is 39# even though there was only 25# of product in it.
Yes, rates are high and I know UPS gives its' business customers volume discounts, the rates the Q charges and HSN charges for returns are terrific if it's bulky and heavy, if it's lightweight, maybe priority mail is the way to go with a smaller envelope or box.
@homedecor1
Do priority mail but I would actually consider folding those weekender bags in half and repackaging, I'm sure it won't hurt the bag but cut your box size down. OR....have them mailed Third Class box rate, they won't get there in 2 days if you don't care.
I would look into a priority mail flat rate envelope available at the post office and repackage the pics or just mail regular 1st class postage, tell them no priority mail, that will cut down on the dollars spent.
It's crazy I know, I can't believe so many companies are offering free shipping because somebody has to pay for it and overall its being absorbed into the price.
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