Printing FedEx shipping lable from home - weight?

Actually, it's not that expensive. If you have ever seen the inside of a sort facility, it's just conveyor belts and rollers. A line of track with robust strain gauges and a barcode scanner is all it would take to verify weight. But they aren't really concerned with the weight of the package as long as a high enough percentage of packages survive their journey and arrive intact.

 

I've reached an effort/ethics happy medium by just guesstimating my boxes. I'm usually within 2 pounds plus or minus, and I find Fedex actually re-weighs 4 out of 5 boxes anyway. In fact, I've gotten in lower on the reweigh a couple of times, so their reasons for re-weighing are more complex than simply thinking you're lowballing them. Much easier than doing the whole scale song and dance thing.

I will say that 1 pound boxes are quite prevalent though.

 

It's an interesting phenomena watching beer geek ethics arguments. It's obviously stealing, but apparently if it's a big company it's OK?

 

I put 5 lbs on all my boxes. I don't have a good scale, and my branch always adjusts it. If they ever miss it, it won't bother me.

 

Would it be stealing if you walked into Walmart and they handed you a price gun to use for whatever you wanted to buy and you marked a TV $10?

 

The better analogy is bringing a tv to a self checkout and scanning an HDMI cable instead of the tv.

 

No, it's not. You're not "stealing" anything, you're paying less for a service than the advertised rate. There's no useful analogy to think of because IT IS the analog, some business charges you based on information you provide to them and doesn't always double-check it. Giving them inaccurate information isn't stealing, you haven't taken any of their property, it's providing them inaccurate information.

 

Not scanning the TV at all is straight up theft, so I am not a fan of that analogy. Fedex/UPS is asking you to price your shipment. What if I put my shipment weighs 100lbs but it really only weighs 50lbs...do they reweigh it and refund you the difference?

 

I think this will help you: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/steal

 

But they're never asking you to price it, which is why your analogy doesn't work. They're asking you what you're shipping. If you put down 1 pound, you're not honestly telling them what you're shipping. Likewise, if you scan in the wrong bar code, you're not honestly telling them what you're buying.

And yes, if you overweight, they do refund. As I pointed out earlier in the thread, it's happened to me a couple of times.

 

But you're also not stealing by the technical definition of the word in my scanning analogy either. You're paying something for the tv.

It's technically not "stealing" in either case, it's something else. "Fraud" is probably a better word.

 

I've been putting weights that I feel are close, but on the low side. I also have recently employed a strategy of using fractions in my weights like 7.8 on a box I thought was around 9-10 pounds. These seem to be making it through weight adjustments and has saved me a few bucks here and there.

I'll give you a decent analogy. I regularly purchase fresh herbs at my grocery store. I almost always buy a bunch of organic flat leaf parsley. Flat leaf parsley looks quite similar to another, yet cheaper, herb named cilantro. I package the bunch of herbs myself in the produce section, I do not alter any of the packaging that holds the herbs and designates the PLU code, and take it to the designated checkout stand where the item is inspected and rung up for purchase. My bunches of parsley cost $2, but 9/10 times the clerk rings it up as a $.59 bunch of cilantro. I do not correct them. Would you?

 

No, it's still stealing with the TV. You have taken a TV from them that they can no longer sell. You haven't taken anything from FedEx. (You've caused them to use slightly more fuel than if you had shipped the lighter package, and I guess some dudes burn more calories, but neither of those things become your property at any point.)

 

Dude, quote the whole thing:

<a basketball player adept at stealing the ball> <stole the election>

That sense doesn't apply here.

 

Literally, every time. Those examples of loading in the car and finding uncharged items in my bag, I walk back in. If I am driving home or arrived home, maybe not. Where do I draw the line? I don't know.

 

Your comment doesn't match your avatar. Not very "Dude" of you.

 

I do enter the box dimensions correctly since I got them from the Uhaul website. I estimate the weight. I am sure I estimate low, but nothing too crazy.

 

I simply cannot believe all the people who are putting 1lb on these huge boxes... when they could be putting 0.1lb

 

The Dude would say "Hey... man... I'm just tryin get some vodka, Kahlua, and cream to some dudes across the country. How am I supposed to know how much it weighs? Some guy pissed all over my scale. That scale really tied the bathroom together, man."