Shipping is a rip-off.

[Robyn@SYR]

Hey Ryan, thanks for your support of PE. It has been a tough couple of weeks, but we appreciate your support.

As for shipping...



I think it is pretty amazing that you can drop off a package in Butt Knuckle Montana at 5:30 pm and have that package safely delivered to the top floor of the Empire State Building by 10:30am the next morning. The logistics of that are incredible. Any domestic address, to any other domestic address, in a day.

Add to that we are shipping live reptiles, and they make it healthy and safe. That is super amazing. If FedEx charged $100 for a small reptile box, that would still be an amazing accomplishment.

Fortunately, they don't charge $100 for a small box

Ryan, I understand the confusion and frustration, but I think you are missing the nature of shipping costs.

MOST reptile packages are small, and light. The most common box sizes we see are the 12x9x6 and 15x11x7. They often weigh less than 2 pounds.

But dimensional weight is used by every shipper and freight service. UPS and FedEx calculate it the same way. You posted the equation above.

Dim weight for a 1 pound 12x9x6 box- 4 pounds
Dim weight for a 1 pound 15x11x7 box- 7 pounds

FedEx (and UPS, and Delta) charge you actual weight OR dimensional weight, whichever is greater. This is covered in detail in the FedEx TOS, and also a number of times in the Get Help section of ShipYourReptiles.com.

Obviously it costs FedEx more money to move a HEAVIER package, but it also costs more money to move a LARGER package. That is the dimensional weight.

Light packages that are larger (like typical reptile shipments) occupy more space in the truck, and on the plane. There is finite room in each, obviously, and that is why all shipping services account for this dimensional weight issue.

FedEx and UPS scan and audit packages going through the system. Their conveyor belts have a scale system, as well as a 17 laser visual system to audit the packages. When they find a package that is larger than the label indicates, they charge the customer the difference.

If you book direct at FedEx.com, they do this and charge you directly. When you book with ShipYourReptiles, they still do it, but they charge SYR instead. Then we have to shake it out of the bill, and charge the customer.

It isn't a "gotcha" type charge, nothing like that.

You can enter a 7x10x12 package as 1 pound. Ok. But our system and the FedEx system look at the dim weight of that package, and it is, according to the industry forumula- 5.06 pounds. That is AWFULLY close to 5 pounds, but it is always rounded up to the nearest whole pound, so 6 pounds. If you enter those dims and 1 pound, it bills at 6 pounds. If you enter it as 4 pounds, it bills as 6 pounds. If you enter it as 7 pounds, aha, it bills at 7 pounds. Whichever is greater.

We didn't charge adjustments on these types of issues at first. But that was costing thousands of dollars out of pocket. If you didn't pay the $12 dimensional weight adjustment, we still HAD to.

It really became a problem because we found some customers taking extreme advantage. A number of folks entered everything at 1x1x1 and 1 pound. Got the cheapest rate possible. But wouldn't you know it, they weren't shipping a 1 inch square box. We were eating adjustments of $100 or more in those cases. Again and again.

We try to educate folks on dim weights on our site. In the booking process, in the Get Help section, by email and by phone. We get questions on it every day. I am sorry if it wasn't clear to you. I hope that this makes more sense.

Thanks!


Oh, and Adam, there is a reason that the US Postal service is bankrupt. It is a subsidized service that the country supports. It is like the whole $5000 toilet seat deal for Nasa. US Postal charges inexpensive fees to delivery packages because "it has always been that way". It costs them more to deliver a package than they are charging. FedEx isn't getting "crazy rich" off of the US Postal business, US Postal is just losing their butts in shipping/delivery, which is the very nature of their business. That is insane, indeed, but not for the reasons you mentioned.