s777bg

Hoping to ship a regular suitcase from SFO area to MA. Getting confused after reading the info on their sites and hoping someone with experience to chime in , to my (mis) understanding :

1. shipping the suitcase like it is ( if 50 pounds or less) is whopping 160-180$
2. shipping it with their packaging is 54$ , How that works in practice ? They are not going to take the suitcase , just the content ?

If I do option 2 , could I schedule pick up and how reliable is that ? Staying at Residence Inn by SFO before Japan trip.

Regards,
Stan

guv1976

I don't think that "their packaging" includes boxes large enough to hold a standard suitcase, so I doubt that that would be an option for you. They might charge extra for an unboxed item -- like a suitcase -- than for a suitcase in a large cardboard box. But if you cannot acquire such a box, then you will just have to ship the suitcase unboxed. My suggestion is that you take it to the closest UPS or FedEx customer counter, UPS Store, or affiliated store (like Staples), and ask for the cheapest shipping option. If Staples is the closest, I would call the store first and ask if they will accept an unboxed suitcase for UPS shipment.

Jaimito Cartero

UPS has some discounted shipping rates, I think it’s called Smart Rate, that anyone can use. Much of it is size and weight limited, so the smaller the box it can fit into, the cheaper it is.

Most UPS stores or similar mark up shipping prices, and boxes considerably. Often doubling the rates.

mtofell

U-haul has a wide variety of boxes and I am always shocked at how cheap they are. If you're just looking for a box to put it in you might try there.

guv1976

Unfortunately, Smart Rate is limited to boxes no larger than one cubic foot (1,728 cubic inches). So unless the OP is prepared to ditch his "regular" suitcase, I doubt that his shipment would qualify for Smart Rate.

s777bg

Yes , just checked and indeed it’s too big for their Smart Rate . The regular rate calculates to 138$ for my packaging ( whatever that means ).

guv1976

"Your packaging" means the packaging (box or suitcase) that you provide, as opposed to UPS' branded envelopes or boxes that they make available to customers.

ATOBTTR

Check into �Ship Sticks�. The service is targeted to golfers/golf bags but they have an option for suitcases. I shipped my clubs for just under $75 to my destination (only used it once because I had an international trip right before a domestic one and didn�t feel like hauling my clubs internationally and then to my vacation destination). You order through their website but then ship via FedEx or UPS and you ship it �as is� (I shipped my clubs in the standard travel case I used when I check them on commercial flights).

It�s not �cheap� but it�s cheaper than the $160 you�re quoting.

Soft Top

From my experience I think shipping the case “as is” is the only option. We did this back in 2018 when we picked up bikes in Washington DC and travelled up to Boston, (using a somewhat circuitous route). We couldn’t take our main luggage on the bikes so investigated shipping before hand.

We found the same information as you have and on arrival in Washington we visited one of their offices to make sure our plan would work. They confirmed they could take the suitcases and get them shipped to our hotel in Boston as well as giving us a better price that we had expected but still around $100 each.

What was odd was that we tried to help by packaging the cases up with labels on them to look like large parcels, which would protect them and tell them where to deliver them to. When we turned up with these the lady look horrified and said “We can’t take those”. We asked what the problem was and she said the packaging meant they were not suitcases so couldn’t be shipped. We asked for a pair of scissors, removed all the packaging and put the labels we had made inside the cases for extra security. They then became items that were fine to be shipped! They were tagged with labels akin to those you get with a holiday albeit, (cardboard with string), with some more bar coding or similar then we paid and left them. They were at our hotel 6 days later.

I think the prices you have are about what I would expect for the longer trip and a few years on.

mozilla

"Your packaging" will be your only option as technically, UPS Express branded packaging is only allowed for the much more expensive Express and not Ground. It's rarely enforced, but if it is, UPS will "upgrade" your shipment to Express, and your payment method will be charged accordingly.

You may want to check with volume discount brokers like PirateShip for a better rate. Note that they are very much like the OTA's of the travel industry, if anything goes wrong, you will need to contact them (and they will contact UPS) and not UPS directly. They also don't offer "ship to access point" IIRC (regular ups.com does offer that), you have the option to "delivery intercept" a shipment once it is shipped to have it held at a UPS Customer Center (not an Access Point) but again, you will need to contact their support for that.

During slow months, ups.com offers a discount code on their homepage that may offer up to 50% off, but right now that's not the case.

futuramadramallama

I've shipped a suitcase several times, with contents. The price they've quoted you for "your packaging" is based on the size and weight you've entered into their estimation-engine, and most likely "floored" by dimensional-weight (look it up). A.k.a. The price is primarily driven by volume, not weight. Worth looking into discount methods as others have mentioned upthread.

I purchased a separate plastic shroud/bag for my suitcase to protect it from the elements and scuffs: I think it helped, but decide for yourself. They'll have these suitcase-specific bags at some office supply stores or Fedex/UPS locations, you just have to look. As for the contents, I tried not to include anything too valuable (similar to regular checked-bag rules).

In my case, the label was attached not as a sticker as it would be on a regular box, but more akin to a printed luggage tag you'd receive for a checked bag at the airport. (Similar to Post #9.)

The reliability of pickup depends on a few factors, like whether that location receives a regular pickup (or if they have to request them), whether the Residence Inn employees are familiar with holding luggage and passing them off to a package carrier, etc. You could phone them and see if this is something they regularly do, but the easiest thing is to drop it off yourself (also saves you a potential pick-up fee from the hotel and/or FedEx).

In conclusion: ship as small of a suitcase as possible, but then pack it densely and with nothing too valuable, and tender it to FedEx/UPS yourself.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Look into LugLess or any other dedicated luggage/golf-club shippers (as Post #8 suggests). Pricing and convenience might be to your advantage.

s777bg

Thank you ! I shipped via ship sticks , total of 77$ with 10% discount code , suitcase was exactly 50 pounds , but no one at FedEx /Walgreens weighed it
. The only downside was that to access the shipping labels ( and print out ) from your email , you need to receive a phone code . We were in French Polynesia with local sim so that didn�t work . I used the chat option on their website and they resend the labels as pdf file . After arrival at SFO, grabbed an Uber and dropped off the suitcase with shipping label attached at the FedEx counter in Walgreens (open 24/7) , quick scan and was on my way to the hotel ( Residence Inn - great and looks like brand new hotel ).

Thank you everyone ! Will be back in 2,5 weeks from a Japan trip and hopefully suitcase won�t have any missing items ( mostly souvenirs from SPacific and summer gear we use the last two months while we were there ).

Regards,
Stan

ATOBTTR

Glad that option worked out and glad I could provide the recommendation! Enjoy your trip.

jennywhite

Can you please share where did you find that discount code? Also would be grateful to hear something about the shipping with lugless. The reviews here are very different and i don't understand if i can trust the company. The prices seem to be, cheaper than UPS for example.

guv1976

I wonder if a discount code is the "free gift" which shipsticks.com offers if you provide an email address to receive mailings from them?