Regional Rate Boxes, Explained - Save on Shipping Costs

[Deleted]

Here's an article all about USPS Regional Rate boxes, when and how to use them: 


www.flippertools.com/articles/regional-rate-usps-priority-boxes-explained.html

[kritter]

Great reference tool. Thanks for posting it.

[Shirley U Geste]

Thanks, that's a great article.

[Deleted]

Funny, I just used a Regional Rate A box tonight to ship a 3lb. sale to TX (I'm in NY). Couldn't fit it in a PFRE, though boy did I try...

[Deleted]

Thanks. I especially like the shipping calculator. I saved it for future use.

[sunsetpainter]

I use the RRA box quite often. I'm in the Midwest and sometimes it's cheaper for me than the PFRE or regular PM.

[zoesam]

That article does a great job of explaining it, esp love the little chart. Sadly, I've never once been able to use one. I simply don't have items that weigh > 3 lbs.

[Shirley U Geste]

I love the size A RR boxes for shipping heavy shoes like Danskos. They are just the perfect size and save a bundle on shipping costs.

[Deleted]

I don't have much use for the B, no reason at all to use C. But the RR A could be one of my favorite shipping methods in winter. If it was on the drop down on the SYI form. If I'm going to sell internationally (using FCI) I need to use calculated shipping. So if my actual item weight is 2+ pounds, domestic buyers are paying more than necessary since there is no way to cap the cost at 2 lbs. But being on the east coast, I prefer not to do a flat rate. An RR A to CA from my location on the east coast is $10, to PA it's $6. I could just charge $8 across the board, but why would I want to turn away buyers from PA and the entire eastern seaboard who might think $8 shipping is too high?

So I've recently stopped offering items internationally when I plan to use the RR A box. Which is kind of frustrating when that involves shipping things like ski suits which could be selling to Canadians.

I used an RR A last week to ship a small pair of Danskos. Saved the buyer a lot of money and I knew I didn't need international exposure to help me sell those. But all that bulky winter stuff, and it's cold in Canada....

[Deleted]

I've complained to ebay about the inability to choose RRA boxes to offer to buyers since they first came out. I think I'm the only one who did/does cause last time I complained (maybe 2-3 months ago) they said there were no plans to add it - and for the life of me I can't figure out why not.

I don't use B or C either but both sized RRAs are great; I use to use the flatter shaped ones for a mans sportcoat.

[Deleted]

Elly, I could've written your post. Most of the time, I keep international and just go ahead and put 3 lbs. If it ends up being a big difference in postage with a US buyer, I refund the difference, but it stinks.

unknown, what's really baffling is that they list the RRA box as an option when you print a label through Ebay.

[jandsknight]

When I list something that I plan to ship in a RRA I put in 2# Priority when listing. I've recently noticed that the cost goes up some when I change to RRA just before printing the label. It used to be the same. So now I try to use the small priority box that is almost the same size as the flatter RRA when the weight is between 1 & 2#.

[Deleted]

Yes. If you have the TRS shipping discount, it's more expensive to use the RRA than it is to use a regular Priority Box if the package is 2#'s or less. The cost difference varies depending on zone.

[jandsknight]

Thanks for that clarification, classring. I didn't know the cause.

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2015 18:28:16 GMT @classring said:

Elly, I could've written your post. Most of the time, I keep international and just go ahead and put 3 lbs. If it ends up being a big difference in postage with a US buyer, I refund the difference, but it stinks.

That's probably a better solution than blocking international. I think I worry too much about people hitting the back button over shipping costs. And like you said, it just stinks. Either way.  I'm using the RR to give them a better price - be nice if they could know that before making the purchase.

[thekloset]

So I've recently stopped offering items internationally when I plan to use the RR A box. Which is kind of frustrating when that involves shipping things like ski suits which could be selling to Canadians.

I use 2lbs (or 4 for B) calculated for domestic and just use the flat rate box choice for international---I've never had a problem. if someone wants it enough, they wont even blink.

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2015 18:28:16 GMT @classring said:

unknown, what's really baffling is that they list the RRA box as an option when you print a label through Ebay.

I know, I mentioned that several times. But their whole setup is borked up (that inability to change things I hit last weeknotwithstanding).

What nobody at ebay or paypal did was actually take a look at the click'n ship website, see what they did and why they did it. SCAN forms are not just for multi-order shipments and I have no idea where paypal got that idea from but ebay copied that while USPS automagically prints it even for just one unless you 'uncheck' the include the scan form thingie. Dunno that you can selectively choose what you want on the scan form but USPS has that. Let's you choose your closeout time, print multiple labels multiple times before having to print the scan. All kinda stuff is borked.

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2015 17:22:01 GMT @elly said:

I don't have much use for the B, no reason at all to use C. But the RR A could be one of my favorite shipping methods in winter. If it was on the drop down on the SYI form. If I'm going to sell internationally (using FCI) I need to use calculated shipping. So if my actual item weight is 2+ pounds, domestic buyers are paying more than necessary since there is no way to cap the cost at 2 lbs. But being on the east coast, I prefer not to do a flat rate. An RR A to CA from my location on the east coast is $10, to PA it's $6. I could just charge $8 across the board, but why would I want to turn away buyers from PA and the entire eastern seaboard who might think $8 shipping is too high?

So I've recently stopped offering items internationally when I plan to use the RR A box. Which is kind of frustrating when that involves shipping things like ski suits which could be selling to Canadians.

I used an RR A last week to ship a small pair of Danskos. Saved the buyer a lot of money and I knew I didn't need international exposure to help me sell those. But all that bulky winter stuff, and it's cold in Canada....

what are SYI and FCI ?

[Deleted]

Sept 19, 2015 13:23:15 GMT @unknown said:

Sept 18, 2015 18:28:16 GMT @classring said:

unknown, what's really baffling is that they list the RRA box as an option when you print a label through Ebay.

I know, I mentioned that several times. But their whole setup is borked up (that inability to change things I hit last weeknotwithstanding).

What nobody at ebay or paypal did was actually take a look at the click'n ship website, see what they did and why they did it. SCAN forms are not just for multi-order shipments and I have no idea where paypal got that idea from but ebay copied that while USPS automagically prints it even for just one unless you 'uncheck' the include the scan form thingie. Dunno that you can selectively choose what you want on the scan form but USPS has that. Let's you choose your closeout time, print multiple labels multiple times before having to print the scan. All kinda stuff is borked.

Why do you want a scan form for shipping one item? 

I looked at the USPS API documentation for how to generate a scan form if you are selling postage like ebay/paypal and it made a little more sense why it works the way it does, but pretty much they just don't want to put the money into making it more useful.  I use the free Ebay seller version of Stamps.com and find it's far better than Ebay labels.  I looked at paypal labels recently and that thing is garbage as far as I could tell.

[Deleted]

Sept 18, 2015 21:42:02 GMT jandsknight said:

Thanks for that clarification, classring. I didn't know the cause.

It's in the article ^

[Deleted]

Sept 28, 2015 4:30:35 GMT @imjosh said:

what are SYI and FCI ?

SYI = Sell Your Item form (the standard eBay listing tool, as opposed to using a bulk lister or third-party program)

FCI = First Class International shipping