Has anyone heard of this?? (Shipping related)

[Kristy]

Ok, without going into too much detail here. I have a person interested in a gecko ( I know this person rather well). I told him my price, then gave him a shipping quote through Fed Ex (which runs about the same for UPS). He responds with $43?? I paid $20 to ship two (some reptile, can't remember) to Wisconsin, from Cali.

Then I was told to call my post office, get a number (probably an 800 number) reserve a flight, and tell them its a live animal. Have them put an extremely fragile sticker on it and a not in the sunlight sticker. Give them the reservation number and it should arrive in two days.

Now to me that sounds like shipping through USPS. However I don't see it costing $20.

Has anyone heard of this method?

Not one that I will be using, either Fed Ex, or UPS and Priority Overnight for me. There are no cutting corners on shipping as far as I am concerned. There are live animals at stake, and the risk federal charges for committing a crime.

[Nate]

as far as I'm aware, you're not supposed to ship snakes through USPS..but geckos could be a different story...may be worth looking in to.

[mlededee]

You can legally ship geckos through USPS, however, I would not recommend it under ANY circumstances. If someone can't be bothered to pay a little extra for the well-being and safety of an animal in shipping it is my opinion that they should not be in posession of the animal at all. If I have a customer insisting that I ship via USPS because it is cheaper I give them the choice of UPS, FedEx or nothing because I do care about the animal.

[Kristy]

You can legally ship geckos through USPS, however, I would not recommend it under ANY circumstances. If someone can't be bothered to pay a little extra for the well-being and safety of an animal in shipping it is my opinion that they should not be in posession of the animal at all. If I have a customer insisting that I ship via USPS because it is cheaper I give them the choice of UPS, FedEx or nothing because I do care about the animal.

Thanks Emily. I wasn't sure if it was legal or not. However I feel the same way you do. It's just too unreliable, even when you get the fastest service. They lose too many things in the mail!

So yeah if he wants the gecko its going to have to be Fed Ex (preferably) or UPS.

Funny thing though, they always manage to get my junk mail to me!

[iluvboas17]

yea i would refuse to ship a live animal wtih a 2-day service, no way!! its either on a plane, or overnight at the very least, nothing more than that.

[mlededee]

And just FYI, $43 for overnight shipping is CHEAP! Most every package I ship costs $60 and up--and that is for the smallest insulated box (7"x7"x6") weighing less than one pound. Go one box size up and put several geckos in it and you are fast approaching $70+. Your customer should be thankful that they must be relatively close to you so that they can get that good of a shipping cost.

[Schlyne]

I have only ever shipped an animal once that was 2 day USPS, and I was not happy about it. I ended up replacing the scorpion, because I forgot to mention that I did not guarantee 2 day shipping. It was early winter in IL and even though it had a 40 hour heat pack, and well insulated, it didn't make it.

[Kristy]

And just FYI, $43 for overnight shipping is CHEAP! Most every package I ship costs $60 and up--and that is for the smallest insulated box (7"x7"x6") weighing less than one pound. Go one box size up and put several geckos in it and you are fast approaching $70+. Your customer should be thankful that they must be relatively close to you so that they can get that good of a shipping cost.

You're right Emily, that is CHEAP!! I wouldn't complain about that at all!

Anyway, I stated how I felt to the person and that I will only Ship Fed Ex Priority Overnight or the UPS equivalent. I haven't heard anything back, but no amount of money or persuasion is going to make me put one of my geckos at risk to save a few dollars!

[mlededee]

Good for you--sometimes a girl's gotta stand up for her geckos!

[joepythons]

You can legally ship geckos through USPS, however, I would not recommend it under ANY circumstances. If someone can't be bothered to pay a little extra for the well-being and safety of an animal in shipping it is my opinion that they should not be in posession of the animal at all. If I have a customer insisting that I ship via USPS because it is cheaper I give them the choice of UPS, FedEx or nothing because I do care about the animal.

Emily i agree .Some moron tried to get me to ship a snake once thru the USPS because they are cheaper.I told him to go jump in a lake