FYI: shipbikes.com = FedEx at 50% discount. And it's not just for bicycles.

[Psurfer]

I just FedEx'ed a bicycle this evening and saved more than 50% off the rate FedEx quoted for the same service if charged straight to my FedEx accnt. ($49 vs $112 for a 55" long 30lb box)

Shipbikes gets a much better rate w/FedEx than us regular Joe's, and getting the FedEx airbill from them to print out is painless. You pay them directly, then track using a normal FedEx trkg # as usual, etc.

Here's the secret tip-- it doesn't just work for wheeled things in a bike box. I asked them about that tonight- as long as the box is within max unified 165", and max 60 lbs, shipbikes accepts it.

Large pkgs that get charged dimensional weight rates will have the biggest savings.

So far, the only downsides I see at the ordering stage are minor:
They don't take AMEX.
The insurance amounts offered (priced same as FedEx, $1 per $100 over the 1st $100) are in tiers -after ~$500, it jumps to $1000, then $2000.
There are fewer options available for shipping, other than most of the standard ones.
I don't think I saw an option to have shipping status emails sent to the recipient.

[testcase]

Thanks for the tip!

[Robert M]

Psurfer,

Be careful. This is not necessarily a deal at all. First and foremost, it's Fedex Ground. There is no option for faster service. Second, it's expensive. I ran numbers for a 10 pound shipment insured for $500.00 to two entirely different locations. shipbikes.com was nearly twice as expensive as the standard rates from UPS. I wouldn't use them.

Robert

[Gareth]

Robert M wrote:
This is not necessarily a deal at all. First and foremost, it's Fedex Ground.

Yea, I ran one scenario and ShipBikes was almost 50% more than my FedEx rate (and I only get the standard 10% online discount). I wonder if you actually have to hit dimensional weight rates for the savings to show up.

[Psurfer]

Yes, the real savings are only on the large pkgs that go by dimensional weight, as I noted -sorry, I didn't check the rates for small/light boxes, which I assumed -wrongly- would be about the same price as FedEx.
Under the dimensional wt scenario (like when shipping a bicycle or most anything much bulkier than say, an iMac) the discount can be quite substantial.

I forgot to add that the prices I mentioned included a lot of insurance, which, as I had noted are charged the same by both companies, $1 per 100, -and still I saved over 50%.
--- Had I stuck with a $100 insurance value (so no addtl ins fee), the Shipbikes total would have been only $29, vs $97 for FedEx. One-third the cost!
This was choosing both via Home Delivery (ground) to a residence, plus the extra $4 charge for signature. And I was comparing to my slightly discounted FedEx account's rate.

No question, if shipping a bulky pkg, you really need to get a quote from a company like this first. And USPS is no help, they're usually even a little higher priced than FedEx on these large pkgs.

ps. Robert M, no 55" long box that *I'm* paying the shipping for will be FedEx'd by Any method Other than ground... You'd be looking at a bill in the hundreds of dollars!

[Robert M]

Psurfer,

Trust me. I know. I use small package carriers like Fedex and UPS daily.

Robert