It's a great place to get stuff packaged up — they're very professional and know what they're doing — but I feel sorry for anyone who actually ships things from there.
I packed up and shipped most of my stuff yesterday. It came out to six large 60-70 lb boxes and one poster tube. For your edification and amusement, I will list the prices The UPS Store quoted me for shipping via USPS, along with the prices that the USPS charged me for the same services when I loaded the boxes back in the minivan and took them directly to the Post Office.
| Box # | Weight | Service | UPS Store | USPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 67 lbs | Parcel Post | $ 58.46 | $ 35.07 |
| 2 | 60 lbs | Parcel Post | 57.39 | 34.17 |
| 3 | 68 lbs | Parcel Post | 58.61 | 35.07 |
| 4 | 66 lbs | Priority Mail | 152.78 | 86.95 |
| 5 | 57 lbs | Priority Mail | 132.93 | 79.05 |
| 6 | 50 lbs | Priority Mail | 117.50 | 67.20 |
| 7 | (unknown) | Priority Mail | 20.11 | 11.90 |
| Total | 597.78 | 349.41 | ||
I'd say $248.37 is worth the trouble of carrying the boxes over there myself.
Now all the big stuff has been shipped, my luggage is packed, and I'm just waiting until noon to head to the airport. Last time I tried to ship a computer (an old incarnation of BinRock), UPS thoroughly destroyed it, despite being very well packed. In light of that, this time I instead opted to take my computer with me as a carry-on (I laughed about the carrying strap it came with, but now I guess the carrying strap has the last laugh). I already called the airline to be sure it's OK, but it will be fun seeing how much crap they give me about it anyway. I'm taking the power cable, in case they want to see it power on, and a tape measure, in case they try to claim it's too big. Fortunately, I only have one non-stop flight, so I won't have to repeat the charade at each connection.
Posted by Antonio 1 hour, 39 minutes later
Now I KNOW you shipped all your books and CDs/DVDs using the USPS media rate. It saved me an assload of money when I moved.
Posted by Dan 10 hours, 59 minutes later
Ah, damn, I forgot to do that. We arrived at the post office 10 minutes before they closed, so I was rushing trying to get everything into the building and on itsway. Fortunately I haven't shipped any of my books yet, but I did ship all my DVDs. You're right, media rate is so much cheaper. I made good use of that two years ago when I moved down to PR. I'll be sure to use it when I ship my books on my next visit down to PR.