Clearly Stating Packing Costs In UPS Stores

Kim,

Best thing to do is always ask and then you won't feel you got ripped
off.

I just did a search for Saddles at Auction.
One states $59 Shipping and Handling.
That being said your cost of $45 looks pretty good,IMHO. ( Not
scientific but it will do. )

BillR.

I think it is valid to suggest that they post the prices in the store.
But it may not be feasible to do so- especially for unusally shaped or
sized items.

I also think it was rude for the clerk to reply with "It depends" and
walk away from you. She should have estimated the cost as best she
could for you.

Personally, I would not have allowed her to pack the saddle until she
gave me a price or at least an estimate. The meaning of "small fee" is
completely subjective.

I am sure you looked at many saddles and priced them before deciding
on the one you chose.
So why should packaging be any different. You are still purchasing
something and when we make purchases we would like to know, as closely
as possible, what the price will be.

You're talking about a saddle - - that is used with a horse - - right?
The UPS website states that "Large or odd-shaped items often require
specialized packaging" and I would certainly think a saddle fits into
that category. Considering the wide variety of items UPS ships (both
in terms of weight and size) I would think it would be impossible to
"have packaging service costs clearly posted."

Common sense says that you were paying for the box, packing materials
(which could be substantial) and the labor to have someone perform
this service.

You should have clarified what the "small fee" was prior to letting
them pack the saddle - - in fact, you should have demanded a quote for
the total price of packing and shipping the item before proceeding.

Before the person packed your item, did you ask how much it would cost
to package the saddle? If no, then it is your own fault for not asking
first. What the clerk may consider a small fee, may be different than
your opinion.

The $17.00 probably included the cost of the box plus any packing
material and maybe even a service charge for having the employee do
it.

The difference here is that the Post Office only sells you the box,
you still do the packing and supply the packing material.

Since you were shipping a saddle, I would assume that, although the
box was large, there was a lot of dead space and therefore a lot of
packing material was required. Try purchasing them on your own, the
box, the packing material (peanuts or air bags), and the tape and it
can quickly add up. The store also has to pay the employee who packs
it for you.

My UPS Store has a sign up to remind us that if *any* of their packing
peanuts are needed, there *will* be a cost. I also watched someone
with a weirdly-sized object the last time I was in. He wanted to know
how much it would cost to pack. He got a price on the box and an
estimate on the rest, and then decided not to send it. If I were you,
I'd have asked.

There are just so many variable costs involved in packing things. I
do think they could have better signage, but I do not believe that
they could put enough information on signs that we could all calculate
what it was going to cost. And $17 doesn't seem like much to me for a
saddle. There won't be a box that's sized just for that, so you're
going to be buying a big box, and then there's going to be packing
material. And, of course, labor.

Packaging something at the UPS store always costs some premium bucks.
Always has. But when you don't have the right type of box at home,
you don't have a choice now do you? At least you were sending a
saddle. I assume not an inexpensive item. Think how it feels to pay
more for the actual box than what's going into it. I've done that
before. Not easy to choke down. So.........stop complaining and move
on. I'm pretty sure there are more important things to get upset
about than writting a letter like this about.

Peace!

Wow, you guys find fault with anything, don't you?
I think over 1/2 the cost of shipping for packaging is alot. The UPS
store needs to list their prices.

I am mailing stuff around the world all the time. (I have a large set
of extended family, in-laws and friends) and the one thing that I know
is that no one can pack an item for cheaper then I can. Do I package
everything myself, no. I let UPS pack for me what is breakable, heavy
or oddly shaped. You could have bought packing materials, bought the
box, and packed it yourself while you were there, that would have
saved you the $17.
Since you sent a saddle, $17 doesn't sound like a lot to me.

The post office offers a very limited amount of boxes. Listing thier
prices isn't hard, where as The UPS Stores offer fifty pluss different
sizes of boxes and each size has different prices depending on the
materials used inside the box. While the employee could hav been more
forethright about the price this time of the year they are so busy
they don't go into details unless you ask them to. Also the "small
fee" the employee mentioned could be the fee they charge to pack it on
top of the cost of the materials used. I would suggest (as someone
else pointed out) that you ask for an estimate ahead of time, I'm sure
they'd be happy to help.

UPS Stores are not owned or operated by UPS. UPS has licensed their
name.

These stores exist to make a profit by charging for boxes, packing
assistance, and other materials. This is above-and-beyond what UPS
charges to actually mail the package.

The clerk should not have walked away, unless she was in the middle of
helping someone else. In which case, she should have said, "I'm
helping someone else, but I'll be with you in a minute."

Her answer, however, is correct. They cannot assess a total cost
until they know how big a box, what other materials (bubble wrap,
peanuts, etc.), and what kind of other "needs" (e.g., insurance) you
have. They are supposed to walk this through with you.

$17 is definitely a "small fee" when it comes to them packaging for
you. Seems a lot, but that's the cost of you not just going to
Staples and buying the supplies yourself. Which, if you actually look
into what is costs to buy these materials, isn't a tiny amount.

If people drop stuff off to have it packed it is extremely expensive.
You know that now. The cost may depend on weight and package size, so
it may not be possible to post the rates. I believe UPS stores are
independently owned and operated.

I would NEVER settle for someone saying "a small fee." Even if the
person walked away, I would not engage in the transaction until they
told me. They may not have been able to say exactly, because the
final weight might be unknown. However, they should have been able to
tell you this would be $15-20.

I once bought something on ebay and the guy said he charged "actual
shipping costs". He wanted $40 to ship a laptop computer. The
reason? Packing by a UPS store was $18. I told him I agreed to pay
for shipping, not packing.

You could have asked what the box cost. I would have.