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Calico, I figured there had to be others like me, lol!
in that odd between spot of not enough stuff for a POD or Uhaul, but not so little of things that a few suitcases on a flight will work out.
I am likely moving in 4 months, so if that is before your move, check back, I'll post what I went with, about how much it cost, etc.
I will be calling Fedex in the next few days, as well, to make sure size of the box doesn't crank up the price a lot like with USPS.
Calico, I figured there had to be others like me, lol!
in that odd between spot of not enough stuff for a POD or Uhaul, but not so little of things that a few suitcases on a flight will work out.
I am likely moving in 4 months, so if that is before your move, check back, I'll post what I went with, about how much it cost, etc.
I will be calling Fedex in the next few days, as well, to make sure size of the box doesn't crank up the price a lot like with USPS.
I'm also in the same boat as you are. I have some vintage things that are important to me that I don't want to leave behind but not enough for a POD. Besides, POD won't ship directly to where I want to move to. I have to go to one of their facilities several towns away, rent a truck and then bring the stuff back myself. It makes no sense with the $2500 cost to do that not to mention the hassle involved. I'd rather spend $1000 in shipping fees via Fed Ex and have the stuff brought right to my door.
Last edited by marino760; 04-21-2019 at 07:15 AM..
Calico, I figured there had to be others like me, lol!
in that odd between spot of not enough stuff for a POD or Uhaul, but not so little of things that a few suitcases on a flight will work out.
I am likely moving in 4 months, so if that is before your move, check back, I'll post what I went with, about how much it cost, etc.
I will be calling Fedex in the next few days, as well, to make sure size of the box doesn't crank up the price a lot like with USPS.
Something else to consider - anything over 150 pounds is considered "freight" vs "package". The main difference is that freight is palletized. If there is any way to palletize your boxes and stretch wrap or tie them down, it's more cost effective than shipping individual boxes. Of course this doesn't work very well if you're on the second story of an apartment or something, but I thought I'd add that to the discussion in case it's relevant to anyone looking at this. Here's a great website that describes what's needed to move LTL (less than truckload) freight for residential.
Since I first saw this thread I did some research on the FedEx and UPS websites. I found that UPS will ship just about anything, including furniture (including even a piano). They have not only boxes but IIRC they have wooden crates.
I think with both you can set up a pickup at your home and delivery to your destination. I'm 66 so while I can pack and unpack, I can't lift and load or unload.
I'm also in the same boat as you are. I have some vintage things that are important to me that I don't want to leave behind but not enough for a POD. Besides, POD won't ship directly to where I want to move to. I have to go to one of their facilities several towns away, rent a truck and then bring the stuff back myself. It makes no sense with the $2500 cost to do that not to mention the hassle involved. I'd rather spend $1000 in shipping fees via Fed Ex and have the stuff brought right to my door.
Right? I'm hoping to stay under $1,000, but it'd still be way better to spend that and have it come straight to me than deal with a POD for more than twice the amount. They often don't ship to small towns or small cities and I might move to one.
I had been worried because I had been quoted a really high amount for a box in a fedex location, but then I called and it seems like it was wrong. If you make a profile on their site and go to "create a shipment" under shipping at the top, I like the "Lite" version of the shipment manager, you can enter dimensions and weight and play around a bit with seeing what will be most cost efficient. I did get quoted $75 with signature confirmation for 30, up to 60 pounds and a huge box of 28 x 20 x 18, which is pretty good.
I am worried it could be wrong and something else in person, so I am considering getting a box together, taking it across the street (luckily I live right across from a Fedex location!), and having them weigh it and give me a quote just to be sure before I start thinking this approach will save me money haha. I can't lift over a certain amount, though, and certainly not 30-60 pounds, I have a wagon I think I'll ask my roommate if he can put it in the wagon for me and then the fedex people can lift it after that.
How I plan on fitting so much in weight is to use vacuum storage bags, not for everything because I don't want to mess up some delicate fabric, but for sweaters, sheets, basic clothes? It's fine. I have some from GMVPplus and they are pretty good. It's quite annoying and a pain to try to get as much as possible into larger boxes, but it should save quite a lot of money if I can do that.
Otherwise....it's around $25 for a 10 pound box around 11 x 11 x 11, and a few other sizes, but dimensions do count which can be a little confusing. So if I can't fit more than 30 pounds in a large box...might as well do three 10 pound smaller boxes so I can lift them. *shakes my head* See what I mean about complicated?
The USPS boxes are nice because they are flat rate, you know exactly what you will be paying for each package, but they would cost more if I used only them.
Since I first saw this thread I did some research on the FedEx and UPS websites. I found that UPS will ship just about anything, including furniture (including even a piano). They have not only boxes but IIRC they have wooden crates.
I think with both you can set up a pickup at your home and delivery to your destination. I'm 66 so while I can pack and unpack, I can't lift and load or unload.
Now I'm off to look at Moonlady's link!
How did it go? Take a look at my last reply, it might be somewhat helpful. (I hope haha). Still figuring it out myself.
Something else to consider - anything over 150 pounds is considered "freight" vs "package". The main difference is that freight is palletized. If there is any way to palletize your boxes and stretch wrap or tie them down, it's more cost effective than shipping individual boxes. Of course this doesn't work very well if you're on the second story of an apartment or something, but I thought I'd add that to the discussion in case it's relevant to anyone looking at this. Here's a great website that describes what's needed to move LTL (less than truckload) freight for residential.
I'm still uncertain how much stuff you have, but this was my thought too. Get a pallet, and have it shipped by freight. You can pick up a pallet from almost any business that ships goods, (they might charge you a few bucks). They do weigh about 40lbs. If you can lift every box you pack, you load up the pallet yourself. You then wrap it with shrink wrap so nothing falls off.
If you have any trouble lifting any of the boxes, or getting/moving a pallet, or just want someone else to do it for you, you can always hire someone for an hour off craigslist, or IMO even better; https://www.uhaul.com/MovingHelp/
Once you know how much stuff you have to move, whether or not its a pallet or two, you need it shipped. You should be able to find a much better deal than $1,000 or the several thousand it is for a pod (after dropoff, transporting, delivery charges). I would look here: https://www.uship.com/
Obviously, you pay a little more for it, but you will have the option to have it delivered door to door.
A few years ago I had smaller antique furniture pieces (chairs, side table, desk) shipped greyhound freight several different times after purchase from a dealer in New Orleans. I had to pick them up at the dock of a freight dept of a greyhound depot.
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