Shipping trees

[rodeolthr]

I've been selling several trees on ebay and continue to be shocked by what buyers end up paying for shipping. I opted for FedEx ground/home delivery because I believed it was the best option to get trees to their destination in a timely manner. However, I'm thinking that there must be a cheaper way to go. All of the trees I'm selling are smaller in size, fitting into boxes 20" tall or less. An auction that just recently ended had the buyer pay $50 plus for shipping from the west coast to the east coast. Does anyone know if this is just how it is? I'd really like to be able to offer my buyers a more affordable option, but still have the trees arrive within 4-5 days.
Thanks for any advice

 

[rockm]

I've been selling several trees on ebay and continue to be shocked by what buyers end up paying for shipping. I opted for FedEx ground/home delivery because I believed it was the best option to get trees to their destination in a timely manner. However, I'm thinking that there must be a cheaper way to go. All of the trees I'm selling are smaller in size, fitting into boxes 20" tall or less. An auction that just recently ended had the buyer pay $50 plus for shipping from the west coast to the east coast. Does anyone know if this is just how it is? I'd really like to be able to offer my buyers a more affordable option, but still have the trees arrive within 4-5 days.
Thanks for any advice

Box SIZE is only a single factor. WEIGHT is the biggest factor. TIME is another. I would NOT want my live tree sitting in a box for a week in August on a mail truck just to save me $10 in shipping costs.

If I've paid over $100 for something alive, with some branching, I don't want something dead with broken branches being plopped on my front porch by a contract delivery guy on a deadline to get his next load.

 

[Pitoon]

Shipping is expensive these days. USPS is setting to introduce another increase this year. Unless you ship out in bulk and sign up with FedEx or UPS to get a discount it will never be cheap.

 

[Sn0W]

People inflate shipping costs because ebay used to not take 10% off of shipping, only the item price. Not sure if it's still that way but old habits die hard.

 

[penumbra]

Size is relevant, especially shipping coast to coast. I sold many traditional bows online and shipping to the West Coast has been over $100 a few times. These were boxes that weighed less than 5 pounds but were 6 feet long. And of course rates go up faster than is logical. I have been shipping many things across the country and around the world for the past 20 years and I have seen many increases.

 

[BuckeyeOne]

Be careful of free flea-bay shipping! I'm waiting on procumbens nana's from Florida and it's going on 5+ days! Figuring I'm gonna get some dead trees!

I've found over the years, that if you want something bad enough, pay the fee. Usually you can find suppliers that are geographically close to justify the cost and reasonable expectation of them arriving in good health.

Not trying to discourage your clients, but there is always a risk with the couriers today

 

[rodeolthr]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I've decided to order boxes that are closer in size to the actual trees I'm shipping (large shohin), rather than using FedEx boxes.....which aren't cheap either. Perhaps that will bring the prices down a bit. I just feel like these shipping companies are making plenty of money, so if I can save the buyers a few $$, I'm happy to try another route.

 

[JEads]

I have shipped 50+ trees this spring trying to trim down my collection to get for a move. I can say that size is honestly the largest factor. Usually weight is secondary, because at the size we are talking about they assume a minimum weight and charge a base rate. So by trimming size by even a few inches in any direction can sometimes make a huge difference.
UPS is offering a limited time discount for some shipping, but honestly up to a size USPS is usually the best deal. I think over 20" in any direction is where it gets worth looking in to FedEx or UPS.
UPS and USPS have easy to use estimators online that i use to get an idea of price from . Then i can see if trimming the size a little to get a better deal.
I agree with rockm that you should ask a little more and get faster shipping. Better to arrive alive than dead. The shipping company will not usually reimburse for dead trees because you failed to provide a suitable shipping environment for the shipment.
Good luck and wire them down to the box like you wire a tree into a pot so that it does not move around.

 

[rockm]

Size is relevant, especially shipping coast to coast. I sold many traditional bows online and shipping to the West Coast has been over $100 a few times. These were boxes that weighed less than 5 pounds but were 6 feet long. And of course rates go up faster than is logical. I have been shipping many things across the country and around the world for the past 20 years and I have seen many increases.

It's not all that relevant for trees under a certain size. yeah it is if you're shipping big and huge trees. I've had four foot, 100 lb trees shipped by air a couple of times. Not cheap, but better than having the same thing crushed or dehydrated on a mail truck. I've also shipped bonsai pots and other stuff via UPS/USPS many times. Weight had a lot more to do with it than the size of the box.