Shipping from HI to Continental U.S.
 

Hi all,

We're going to be in Oahu next week and it's probably going to be a big shopping trip for us. We're staying at the Moana Surfrider and will be renting a car for a couple of days in order to drive the island and do some shopping.

Is there somewhere that you would recommend that could pack up our purchases and send them back to the East Coast? There won't be any urgency in receiving the items back quickly. Although there could be a few fragile items and/or alcohol. ;) (Sam's in Oahu sometimes has great deals on fancy tequilas!)

Thanks for any assistance.

Shipping out of HNL is grossly expensive, whether it's FedEx, UPS or USPS.

I don't know about the fragile items on this one, but you can always try using the USPS Flat Rate Priority boxes at $8.10. You may need to use a few of them, but they are the best in cost for shipping heavier and bulkier items weighing over 2 lbs (the break-even point since anything over a 1 lb needs to be sent priority). Plus, the Post Office provides these boxes free of charge.

Otherwise, if you decide on going with either FedEx or UPS, make sure you go with FedEx Kinkos as they're the only ones that will acknowledge ground shipping out of HNL. It is greatly more expensive than Ground on the Mainland (and takes a long time), but it does the trick and is insured for your goods.

In the end, if you have a LOT of stuff, you may just consider picking up a cheap duffel in HNL (or bringing one along with you) and paying an extra $50 for the bag. It might just be cheaper than having to send anything out. Remember that anything going out of HNL sans First Class mail will go out with some type of priority shipping. It's just part of the cost of living in paradise, I guess...

I shipped back a pile of stuff using the flat rate boxes. They come in 2 different sizes and in a few cases, we saved a bundle.

For example, my husband loves Hawaiian Sun drinks. We used to buy a case and ship it home priority at a cost of around $35.

We mailed back the same case for $16.20 in 2 boxes. One of them holds 2 six packs perfectly.

I also shipped back 2 quart bottles of shower gel in another. I won't even get into all the other stuff.

Those little boxes are great if you can't get stuff into your suitcase or don't want to check luggage.

Great ideas already.

I don't find that many deals worth shopping for here in Hawaii. In fact we (2) typically bring 300 lbs of things (mostly food) back from the mainland each trip.

If you don't have a way to weigh, we love our Magellan's luggage scale. It allows us to go right to the weight limit on all luggage.

FWIW, check the USPS site. You'll see there isn't a huge price difference between 4-6 week parcel post and 3 day priority mail.

I sent stuff back from Honolulu via FedEx Ground when I was there earlier in the year. I found that it took about 6 days to get back to the East Coast, but it was cheaper than the Post Office for large packages.

If you can get the stuff into the Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes, then by all means, they are probably your best deal. However, large and/or fragile items don't fit in there too well. You may end up wanting to use a larger box and more packing material and for that FedEx is cheaper.

At the Kinko's on King Street (which is open 24 hours and pretty close to your hotel, parking available in back) you can get boxes, packing material, etc. and also drop off the FedEx Ground packages there.

One thing I always recommend is that people open a FedEx account. It's free to have the account and you get lower rates than the "counter" rate (which is what you pay if you walk-up to the counter at a FedEx or Kinko's and don't have an account number).

To open the account go here and then once it's open go here to add FedEx Ground.

For example a 20 lb package from Honolulu to DC is $34.60 at "counter" rates but $29.85 if you bill it to a FedEx account. That same 20 lb package is $38.35 using Priority Mail from the post office (unless it is something very small and heavy, like a brick, in which case you can cram in into one of the $8.10 flat rate boxes).

Great suggestions all. We do find some deals and with it being the holiday season, it's nice being able to find some unique items for Christmas presents. Although, the world keeps getting smaller and the items are getting less unique.

Does anyone know where the nearest post office is to the Moana Surfrider?

Any more suggestions are greatly appreciated.

There's one in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Ctr, or at least there was before they started construction.

The only other one I know of is near the Hilton Hawaiian Village. And it has a parking lot, too!

I have found that UPS Ground from Hawaii is cheaper and faster than FedEx Ground. To the East Coast, UPS Ground can be as much as 2 days faster than FedEx Ground.

But, in order to get the cheapest rates from UPS Ground, you have to pay and print your tracking labels from ups.com and affix them to your package(s) before you drop them off. If you pay at the UPS counter, it will be more expensive (and don't even think about "The UPS Store" counter service, which has very inflated rates).

You can drop off your packages at the "The UPS Store" in Waikiki on Kalakaua, or you can go to Office Depot at Ward SC if you need a receipt.

The closest big post office by the Moana Surfrider is on Saratoga Road (330 Saratoga Road). When you are heading down Kalakaua Avenue towards your hotel, it's the first street after Ala Moana Blvd.

I ship by USPS all the time. There is no price difference shipping from Hawaii to the East Coast as from the West Coast to the East Coast. Lovely thing about USPS. Love the flat rate boxes especially for heavy items.

Of course, I have to echo Slippahs and say that a cheap piece of luggage from the swap meet and checking it on the plane with you is probably the preferred way to go if you are going straight home.

TF:cool: