The Locals HINTS AND HAULS THREAD

3 cubic feet is the point where the price changes on shipping.. but supposedly both FedEx and UPS are revising their shipping policies starting January 1 to keep thing slightly more aligned with weight as opposed to volume...

 

I did some trial and error and if I recall I found it to be, in practice, even larger. That said, if anyone has ever seen a 18"x18"x18" box, it's gigantic, so this really shouldn't be an issue for our purposes.

 

Happy to see Drew win some beer, he is deserving of it.

 

Thanks -- but I understand that -- and even though I try to use small boxes, I don't skimp on the wrapping/padding (it's more that I have a big selection of boxes to choose from). As a matter of fact, one other thing I do (when I remember) is put the more valuable beers closer to the center of the box. It's more that I don't like to have any empty space and try to avoid having any shifting of contents, that's easier with tight packing. The only box I've ever received with a damaged was to a bottle that was wrapped fine, but in a box with lots of room to move.

 

Both of these are good points. I was a shipper for a couple years when I helped run an internet import video game store (back when that was a thing) and worked in the logistics area (i.e. the people that sort and move the mail around) at HQ of USPS and Royal Mail for years as well.

Both things can cause breakage so I try to avoid both. You have to have ample, crushable (otherwise it isn't actually helping) padding on the outside and the bottles have to not be able to move. If you have a hard-sided box then you don't need to worry about the outside padding so much, but few people use those. This is why I agree with @Ncpogs and try to use shippers as much as possible as they satisfy both requirements well. You have to assume that you'll have a box indentation of at least a couple inches at some point and that it'll be shaken as hard as you can possibly shake it with your arms, possibly for an extended period of time.

 

This is essentially what I was getting at; "tight" is not necessarily good, but neither is "loose". Apologies if this is splitting hairs, but I generally go for "snug"; nothing is bouncing around by any means but there's some give. My most recent Locals BIF box to @blackcloud was an exception since I couldn't fit a single damn thing more than was in there in the first place, and it was the largest box I had.

 

Sorry -- one other clarification -- you are right about 3 cubic feet, but 18 x 18 x 18 is actually a LITTLE bigger than 3 cubic feet. That being said, while I'm pretty sure they usually reweigh packages (and a pound or two won't make a difference), I don't know that they go to the effort of remeasuring.

 

You do a really good job at packing IMHO.

 

Thanks for the kind words Mike. Look forward to having a few beers EBF weekend!

 

Ill be shipping soon.

Hint#2 My target updated his wants and happened to include some items that were already in his box.

 

Speaking of EBF, who's planning to go, and which session? Pretty sure myself, @kgncfl and @UcDru are hitting the Saturday afternoon session.

 

They do reweigh packages, but not all the time. I've gotten away with some pretty sizable discrepancies on occasion.

 

Which session are you going to? I think we are doing the Saturday night one

 

Wife and I will be at the Saturday afternoon session.

 

Double box with peanuts in between is all I really like to do. 12x12x10 and 14x14x14. Can pack as tight as you want in the first box long as it's wrapped well. try not to have anything other than swag outside of inside box. costs a bit more but I've sent 50+ packages and no breaks yet (knocks hard on desk)

 

I prefer this method as well, though I can't say that I ship everything this way. I also use shippers when possible, but buying new is fairly expensive...

 

I have never actually seen a styro shipper...

 

http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail...5OK91xPxTsX23RP0bGrTaRoCM4Xw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Just a heads up for everyone especially @kgncfl and @I_BYE_MI_BEER kegs of CBS are being distributed in Michigan for sure and rumor Is other states also. I know for a fact that one was tapped in East Lansing today. I've never had this beer before but I'm told it's made from unicorn tears so I will definitely be on the lookout for it.

 

I bought a 4 pack of those a while back, I wish they sold with a brown box without the fragile wording on the outside. Still throw in another box as would prefer to not draw any more attention than I have to.