A trick (Was: Re: Please help me clean out!)

From: Mike Ford <mikeford_at_socal.rr.com>
Date: Wed Dec 22 01:13:06 1999

>You might want to note that I found that it costs less to have UPS come and
>pick up the packages from your house/office than to take them to a
>MailBoxes Etc. or other mailing operation.

They hit you 3 times, price of shipping materials, packing fee, higher
rates by a good percentage over UPS "standard" rates. The end result can be
two or three times the self shipping cost, AND you lose a day compared to
over the counter shipping times.

OTOH over the counter is KILLING me. Shipping in general is the most
onerous part of the whole old computer buying and selling thing I am doing.
I've taken the better part of 3 days or more to pack and ship a single
package. Making a few stops to find some "free" boxes, packing materials,
testing stuff, just finding the "whole" order when someone orders
"conversationally" via half a dozen emails. Packing so that 10 year old
computers "might" still work after UPS drops them a few times. Then finish
the whole thing with making it to the counter when its open and waiting in
the lines.

I know my basic problem is doing the whole thing half assed, but doing it
right isn't practical to the cheap side of me at the level I operate.
Received on Wed Dec 22 1999 - 01:13:06 GMT