Priority Mail

Any ideas why vendors don't use the Post Office Priority Mail Boxes?

They can ship up to 70 lbs if it fits in the box for $14.95

Post Office will even come and pick it up.

I don't think it will fit in the box....grains are light and bulky.

You can't track USPS-PM - at least not to the detail level that you can track UPS or Fedex. I've heard that dealing with insurance claims is easier with UPS and Fedex too.

Not sure on the insurance claims, but I have to disagree on the tracking... I also belong to a cigar message board, where guys send cigars back and forth all the time in the small USPS Flat-Rate boxes - about $5 shipped, and that includes tracking. Lots of guys make a game out of sending out stuff to unsuspecting people, posting only the tracking number and nothing else, so everyone can see if something's headed in their general direction...

But broadbill is absolutely onto something - the grains (or DME/LME) required for any given 5 gallon batch are certainly going to be light enough, but they'll be too bulky to fit into most of the flat-rate boxes.

I dealt with this at Christmas time. Stuff I ordered via PM, you could track when it left the sender, and find out if it had been delivered (or attempted), but no detail on the waypoints in between. And even though it's "priority," "two days or so," they wouldn't post an ETA.

Lots of guys make a game out of sending out stuff to unsuspecting people, posting only the tracking number and nothing else, so everyone can see if something's headed in their general direction...

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WTF? I have no concept of what you are talking about here.

It's a thing they do on several cigar boards - they call it "cigar bombing". Package up 5 or 6 nice sticks, send them off to some other member on the board who you think is deserving - whether they deserve it because you want to completely surprise a noobie, or someone give you a particularly good bit of advice, whatever. Occasionally these bombs get very elaborate and over the top.

In short, many people on cigar boards appear to be completely insane. And yeah, "unsuspecting people" was definitely a little confusing - maybe "unsuspecting members of that same cigar message board" would be more clear.

It strikes me that "beer bombing" could be fun - except shipping beer gets a little more dicey than shipping a handful of cigars...

bargainfittings.com uses USPS flat rate boxes, love it, even though he's not that far away from me!

Out here in Hawaii we get killed by shipping
I started an order for a $24 kit and the UPS/FEDEX shipping was like $35.
Can't brew for those prices.

Did get a shipping free order off from Amazon for a Coopers "Complete" IPA kit for something like $34 but the choice is limited.

I work in shipping and I have a couple of points to this. it's not a bad deal as long as it fits in the two size boxes they want you to use. The post office is trying really hard to be right up there with the big kids since traditional mail is on the out. On the other hand, I can't trust the post office worth anything. BUT, they are starting to use fedex to move the stuff across the country.

Comes down simply to reliability..USPS you may or may not receive your delivery on the required date and tracking the shipment is not there. I can tell you for sure FedEx is the way to go, I maybe am abit bias as that Ive been with them for 19 yrs but the service is second to none.

upperNY01brewer said:

Comes down simply to reliability..USPS you may or may not receive your delivery on the required date and tracking the shipment is not there. I can tell you for sure FedEx is the way to go, I maybe am abit bias as that Ive been with them for 19 yrs but the service is second to none.

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I agree on all points, but the cost is killing here in the islands.

I don't mind waiting an extra few days or a week to save $20.

Guess I'll have to live w/my LBSS (or whatever that abbreviation is) and keep checking Amazon.

upperNY01brewer said:

Comes down simply to reliability..USPS you may or may not receive your delivery on the required date and tracking the shipment is not there. I can tell you for sure FedEx is the way to go, I maybe am abit bias as that Ive been with them for 19 yrs but the service is second to none.

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Meh; Fed-Ex was supposed to deliver my chest freezer on Wednesday. They finally called Friday and promised delivery between 3p -6p. It's still not here; no call or nothing...

AZ_IPA said:

Meh; Fed-Ex was supposed to deliver my chest freezer on Wednesday. They finally called Friday and promised delivery between 3p -6p. It's still not here; no call or nothing...

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I think there was a cloud in the sky in Memphis which caused shipments to be delayed.

C-Rider said:

Out here in Hawaii we get killed by shipping
I started an order for a $24 kit and the UPS/FEDEX shipping was like $35.
Can't brew for those prices.

Did get a shipping free order off from Amazon for a Coopers "Complete" IPA kit for something like $34 but the choice is limited.

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Same thing for us in Alaska. Its like we are not even a state to some vendors. I try to only buy from people that ship USPS Flat rate.

Check out Homebrewers.com. They ship Kits in Flat rate boxes

ups for the reliability. fedex for customer service but unreliable because of contracted drivers vs union. usps, horrible tracking system, unreliable.

USPS is more likely to destroy your package, in my experience.

dmcoates said:

Same thing for us in Alaska. Its like we are not even a state to some vendors. I try to only buy from people that ship USPS Flat rate.

Check out Homebrewers.com. They ship Kits in Flat rate boxes

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Took a quick look at their site. Looks like they don't like us ilanders. Wanna charge more. Can't say that I blame them though. Someone has to pay for the shipping.

I just can't afford 35 extra. shoots that's more than the product costs.

here's what I got from USPS the other day. when I picked up the wet box I knew it was going to be bad. seven out of eleven beers survived..

Deuce said:

bargainfittings.com uses USPS flat rate boxes, love it, even though he's not that far away from me!

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It makes sense for bargainfittings to use the flat rate boxes. Most of his stuff he sells is metal...small heavy parts.

ttk420 said:

ups for the reliability. fedex for customer service but unreliable because of contracted drivers vs union. usps, horrible tracking system, unreliable.

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Hear this a lot. But it's not a tracking system. When you mail something, it's "delivery confirmation." USPS doesn't have "tracking" at all.

cricky101 said:

Hear this a lot. But it's not a tracking system. When you mail something, it's "delivery confirmation." USPS doesn't have "tracking" at all.

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Bingo. Just because you might get a location update from time to time with USPS confirmation number, it's not full blown tracking.

USPS only provides hop-details once the item is delivered. It will hang on "received electronic notification" for days after it was dropped off at the post office.

C-Rider said:

Took a quick look at their site. Looks like they don't like us ilanders. Wanna charge more. Can't say that I blame them though. Someone has to pay for the shipping.

I just can't afford 35 extra. shoots that's more than the product costs.

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You have to call them and ask them for a flat rate box. They will do it

C-Rider said:

Took a quick look at their site. Looks like they don't like us ilanders. Wanna charge more. Can't say that I blame them though. Someone has to pay for the shipping.

I just can't afford 35 extra. shoots that's more than the product costs.

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Just checked Northern Brewer, picked a kit, added it to the cart, put in a random Hawaiian zip code (96727) and it gave me Brewsaver Ground flat rate shipping for 7.99 as an option.

dorklord said:

Just checked Northern Brewer, picked a kit, added it to the cart, put in a random Hawaiian zip code (96727) and it gave me Brewsaver Ground flat rate shipping for 7.99 as an option.

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TKs I'll check it out.

dorklord said:

Just checked Northern Brewer, picked a kit, added it to the cart, put in a random Hawaiian zip code (96727) and it gave me Brewsaver Ground flat rate shipping for 7.99 as an option.

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OKay, tried this and got the $7.99 rate after adding zip code.

When I typed in shipping address it jumped to $32 something.

Their $7.99 is not for Hawai`i or Alaska but understanding. They have someone has to pay for the shipping.

Guess I'll stick to my local shop and or Amazon.com

C-Rider said:

OKay, tried this and got the $7.99 rate after adding zip code.

When I typed in shipping address it jumped to $32 something.

Their $7.99 is not for Hawai`i or Alaska but understanding. They have someone has to pay for the shipping.

Guess I'll stick to my local shop and or Amazon.com

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Yeah, I guess it says that on their '7.99 shipping' tab on their website.

If you call them, maybe they'd send stuff priority mail for you? They probably don't normally do that (probably wouldn't work well with liquid yeasts, for example).

Maybe you can have it shipped to someone on the mainland, they'll drop the whole UPS box into a PM flat-rate box and ship you the flat-rate box? If you get together a big order, you could order from Austin Homebrew Supply, they've got free shipping on orders over $100, so then you'd just have to pay the PM shipping.

Plus you'd have to give the your "supplier" on the mainland homebrew, of course, for their troubles. Win-win for everyone...

Plain and simple, USPS is just unreliable and rude. I deal with them on a daily basis at work...Fed Ex and UPS as well. USPS has some of the rudest people on the planet. They whine about everything, it's like they don't realize sending mail and packages through them is keeping them employed. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you...I am sure there are some nice USPS employees but I will not feel sad for the rude ones when the company finally shuts down. Then again, I guess I'd be pissy if my company was in the crapper too...

Do the shipping charges inflate dramatically if you create a much larger order? Like instead of trying to order supplies for one batch, but instead ordered for 3-4 batches planning for your next several brews, does the shipping increase substantially or just a little?


Rev.

Rev,
I use Northern Brewer, who has a flat-rate $7.99 shipping rate. I usually order 2-3 kits at a time with them for $8 total for shipping and get my package within 3-4 days. Haven't had any problems with them yet and it is a great deal for shipping since the box is usually friggin' huge!

superjunior said:

here's what I got from USPS the other day. when I picked up the wet box I knew it was going to be bad. seven out of eleven beers survived..

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Hmm.....that bubble wrap looks very familiar to someone I just traded with in California. It doesn't mention on the outside of the box that there are "porcelain figurines" or "clay statues" inside, does it?

saluki_brewer said:

Rev,
I use Northern Brewer, who has a flat-rate $7.99 shipping rate. I usually order 2-3 kits at a time with them for $8 total for shipping and get my package within 3-4 days.

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Yeah I use them too. But the issue here is the OP is in Hawaii, so that flat rate shipping offer doesn't appear to apply. He said when he inputted his address the shipping went up to $32.


Rev.

When you live Outside the lower 48. Alaska or Hawaii shipping is a big deal. A 7.99 flat rate turns into $32. So for us USPS flat rate boxs are the answer. Yes is service is not as good as USP or FEDEX but the huge cost savings is worth it. I personal have not had any bad or FUBAR'd boxs from USPS

Rev2010 said:

Do the shipping charges inflate dramatically if you create a much larger order? Like instead of trying to order supplies for one batch, but instead ordered for 3-4 batches planning for your next several brews, does the shipping increase substantially or just a little?


Rev.

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Good idea, I should contact them.. But I think getting here to Hawaii it's by weight and that would increase as the order size increases.

Apendecto said:

Hmm.....that bubble wrap looks very familiar to someone I just traded with in California. It doesn't mention on the outside of the box that there are "porcelain figurines" or "clay statues" inside, does it?

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yup, same guy. told him what happened and he's sending me more beers. very stand up person

superjunior said:

yup, same guy. told him what happened and he's sending me more beers. very stand up person

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You should remind him that shipping alcohol via USPS is illegal....

superjunior said:

yup, same guy. told him what happened and he's sending me more beers. very stand up person

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AZ_IPA said:

You should remind him that shipping alcohol via USPS is illegal....

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Yeah, we had a good trade, too. It just seemed too crazy for all that pink bubble wrap going around.

As for the illegal side of things, he just gave me the *wink wink*. To each their own.

AZ_IPA said:

You should remind him that shipping alcohol via USPS is illegal....

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Shipping components to make Alcohol illegal ?

C-Rider said:

Shipping components to make Alcohol illegal ?

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Shipping ingredients is legal of course. If you are being cute and saying the beer bottles are yeast or something, I have a general policy against not cutely breaking federal laws. I wouldn't even want it coming to my house. Just my two cents.

remilard said:

Shipping ingredients is legal of course. If you are being cute and saying the beer bottles are yeast or something, I have a general policy against not cutely breaking federal laws. I wouldn't even want it coming to my house. Just my two cents.

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No, not being cute at all. I didn't see anything in the picture that looked like a bottle of beer. In fact I couldn't identify anything in the picture other than to rotten box and the bubble wrap.