Trading: How do you justify it?

Do you want to taste brews you'll never see locally? That's why.

 

I justify it like this:
I was never selfish as a kid with my toys.... why would I be as an adult?

Trading expenses sure beats the fuck out of buying some of my knucklehead friends a PBR at the bar..(Not to knock PBR, it did win a blue ribbon, did your beer?)

 

I ask myself why I trade every time I go to the store just to buy $20 in extras. Yet, I can't stop doing it. For one, even if I never initiated a new ISO or replied to one, I have a few great regular trading partners who are awesome people. I feel obligated (in a good way) to hook them up.

As far as shipping goes, my cheapest through Fedex was about $9.50 and the most was $39. The pricey one was a 41lb, 12 - 750ml bottle shipper of Bruery beers. Most are in the $17-20 range.

 

Still have no idea why FedEx is charging me $44 for one (my first) box. Of course it cleared my bank account, but won't show in the FedEx billing section. I am sooooooo over them at the moment!

 

Are you paying for it at Fedex? It's cheaper to get an online account with Fedex, print your label, then just drop off your box. It's also cheaper to ship to businesses than to residences. That's why all my trading partners' residences are mysteriously businesses.

Seriously, it should only be $44 if you're shipping about 50 lbs of beer.

 

Yes, I got an online account, printed the label, and dropped the box off. It was 26.1 pounds

Edit: I did ship to a residence though.

 

It should've been around $20-30. MAX. I sent a 47 lb box to Iowa from California with an account and it cost me $49.xx IIRC. and that was to a residence.

 

<sigh>

Will let you know what FE says when I speak w them tmrw

 

I just shipped a 26.3 lb package from CA to Georgia and it was $31.03. I'd call Fed Ex and find out what's going on. Interestingly enough, I learned something too. I looked at my bills and Fed Ex conveniently added an extra $3 and change when they found out each box was going residential. I'm not as sneaky as I thought.

 

Will do. They're on speed-dial as of late

 

The residential fee is nothing new. If you ship residential, the benefit is that they deliver on Saturdays, so you have a better chance of your box not sitting over a weekend. But if you're shipping on a Monday and don't expect to need Saturday delivery, then choose regular Ground delivery and save a few bucks. Although I've heard that your box has less chance of being broken via Residential, because the residential drivers are handling the boxes.

Regardless, $44 is a LOT. Where were you shipping to? Did you drop off at an actual FedEx store, or a shipping store that is "FedEx authorized"? Was your box unusually sized? I typically box inside a box, and use 14x14 or 16x16 boxes, and havent had "dimension" issues, but I know that can change the price if your box is oddly shaped.

Good luck figuring it out!

 

Actual FedEx store, ground (DC to NJ), residential, and yes - the box was a bit oddly shaped. To me it looked like a regular ol' box, but I remember it being like 14x16x10 or something.

 

DC to New Jersey for $44!?! For a box that size? Wow. Something is really wrong there. Unless DC has some sort of excessive charges that dont exist anywhere else, that is way off. I send to both coasts from TX all the time and have never had a box cost me anywhere near that. Now I'm very interested in what FedEx has to say.

 

DC to NJ?!? Yeah Fedex is doing something wrong there. 14x16x10 sounds like a pretty normal box too so there's no way that can be the issue. Keep us updated.

For a point of reference I sent from SF to Washington recently and it was $17 I think for a 15 lb box. Same price to send a similar box to Chicago for me too. I would guess they overcharged you by about $15.

 

Correction: the box was 26x15x14. (26.1 pounds.)

Odd thing is the estimate was like $18, and that's when I had it as a 30 lb box (estimate).

 

Not getting anywhere with FedEx billing. They're saying it's accurate, and are just repeating what I found on the website:

"We calculated your charges based on a dimensional weight of 33 pounds, 26x15x14, using a dimensional factor of 166" whatever the heck that means. Not sure why I'm paying 'dimensional weight,' when they actually weighed it.

Other charges:
Volume Discount

-1.90​

Residential

2.80​

Fuel Surcharge

1.80​

NDOC P/U- Auto Comm

3.00​

No idea what that last one is.

Their whole system sucks. First of all, there isn't a way to talk to a customer service rep without going through all these crazy steps. "Please enter your tracking number.. that tracking number isn't found.. please enter it again.. it's not found, I'll connect you to a representative." Well, why do you think I'm calling?! It's because the tracking number isn't found!! And then the first thing the representative asks is, "what's your tracking number?"

Also, this was all done (shipped/delivered) last week (even though I started the process a week prior), and then it showed a charge in my bank account Monday (not pending, but an actual charge), and then finally today, I can see an invoice on FedEx. I don't know why it takes so long, and I definitely don't know why it would clear my account before I can see the invoice online. And when I called, they said they couldn't see it either, that I would just have to wait. Doesn't seem right to charge before invoicing.

Grr..

 

The box was too big
The dimensional weight is (L x W x H)/166
Your dimensional weight was more than the actual weight
They charged you based on dimensional weight
They probably added additional charges as well.

 

Oh yeah, that box is too big. $44 still seems a bit high, but I guess that covers the odd size box.

 

$44 STILL seems ridiculously high for a 33# box going from DC to NJ. I've sent heavier boxes than that from TX to Chicago and paid well less (even with all the fuel surcharges, etc.).