With my older car, I buy a lot of parts to make it nicer through guys in group chats that go to junkyards for me, they get the part, box it and I create a label for them.
I just used pirate ship for the first time, and for a 49x33x5 package weighing in at 6 pounds, through the UPS site I was quoted $102. Through pirate ship it’s $49 through UPS.
I was expecting no more than like a 6 percent discount but not 50% !?
How can this be ?
I'm shipping a box 8x8x3 and 12.3 ounces from Ohio 45044 to Wisconsion 53010. The usps cheapest price is $6.35 while pirateships lowest price is $6.07. Is that it? Is that the best discount you can get from pirateship? It's almost not even worth it.
I don't have any time to waste and need to ship today but I would like to know what others know about this.
Videos
I hear a lot of people say good things about Pirateship on this thread, but I don’t see how it’s any cheaper than regular USPS. I’m based in the US and only shipping to the US. I’ve tried both rates from USPS and Pirateship and it seems identical. Is it just me?
They seem to have the best rates, but I can't figure out how they make money. Do they sell your data?
I used to be really excited about Pirateship - it seemed to give better prices that the eBay shipping calculator. Just today I shipped a 30#, 20x20x20" box and the rates were identical. And Pirateship only offers Priority Mail or First Class packages, not Media Mail or alternative shippers. For private shipping it IS better that the USPS online rates. Thoughts?
EDIT - OK IT DOES HAVE MEDIA MAIL. Now I know where to look. Thanks
If you ship things, you've probably noticed how the major shippers (USPS, UPS, FedEx...) have jacked up the retail rates to the moon. I've also noticed that eBay shipping on sold items was noticeably cheaper, so it got me looking around at the wholesale/negotiated rates end of things. That led me to Pirate Ship.
I've used this free shipping service a few times now and have been very happy with the ease of use, cost, and results. It's also great to be able to see your options between shippers and their various service levels. I have to say I'm very pleased so far and it's saving me a lot.
So my account has been flagged for review by security and they're asking for a photo of me holding my ID. Has anyone encountered this problem using this website? I don't feel safe giving them a photo of my face and ID when i've already given them my bank infromation. For the record all I've done is made an account and I haven't been able to purchase anything.
Edit: Ok so I sent them the photo of me and my ID and nothing has happened so far and I was able to make my purchase so they seem pretty legit
2nd Edit (August 25, 2025): Still nothing has happened to my account. Pirateship seems to be legit
I’m seeing mixed reviews— mainly that it tacks on all these fees/charges after the fact. I need to ship some stuff as cheaply as possible— but I also want it to arrive safely
Edit: link to site
They claim to sell postage at USPS rates without any markup. They also don't have any subscription fees or advertising. So how do they generate any revenue at all, even enough to run the website?
I'm getting a bit suspicious about their intentions. As the saying goes, if you get something for free, you are not the customer, you are the product being sold.
Does anyone have any insight into their business model?
pirateship # shipping# nocustomerservice # avoidatallcosts
So I’ve paid thru pirate ship multiple times and on occasion I’ll pay for overnight shipment and things will get delayed. Every company I’ve felt with other wise has given a refund since they didn’t fulfill their promise. I’ve literally been flat out told to go shove it and that they DO NOT GUARANTEE ARRIVAL TIMES BO MATTER WHAT YOU SPEND!! Insane right? How can a company legally charge you for overnight shipping then have it arrive whenever it does and do nothing to compensate you since overnight was close to $200 and 2nd day which I’m still hopefull it shows up was like $75. I don’t get it. I’d never do that to my customers. It’s hurting my reputation and the difference comes out of my pocket as I refund my customers and I’m a much smaller business where this makes more of an impact to me than to them and they’re the ones complaining???
Ok here’s the literal conversation just be warned. They’re customer service is non existent and could care less if your package makes it on time but will always take your money. SCAMMMMMMMMMERS!!!
-me
“So I’ve had delivery issues with things getting delayed and really hurts my small business. I just was told we helped you once before by giving me a credit based on the fact that I didn’t get what I paid for an that your company policy is basically a big oh well then it just makes me start using shippo. I don’t expect anything just can’t understand if you pay a premium price for specific delivery before a certain time and it’s not even getting delivered today is unacceptable. I wouldn’t ever treat my customers this way and it’s like companies can sell or claim anything. Take your money and then do whatever they want. Just severely disappointed as I’m sure you would be too if this happens to you and your small business. “ -me
“Ahoy Casey! Ben had to swim to shore, but I'm here to help 👋 Firstly, I want to apologize for your late shipment. It's always disappointing to see these shipments (especially Next Day Air shipments), not arrive by their estimated delivery dates. Our rates here on Pirate Ship are super cheap. This is because of our partnership agreements with UPS and USPS. Part of this agreement states that, because we are already providing such large discounts for these shipments, UPS will not provide a delivery-date guarantee for their expedited shipments upon late delivery. Since we have educated you on this matter in the past, unfortunately, we will not be able to offer you a credit for this shipment. I'm so sorry about that 🤕 In the future, if you'd rather ship with a service that does come with that money-back guarantee, I'd suggest using USPS's "Priority Mail Express" service. This is the only service on our platform that comes with this guarantee. Again, I'm so sorry for the trouble with this, and I wish you the best of luck in your future shipping endeavors. Don't hesitate to cast us a line if you have any questions at all 🎣 We're always happy to help 💪
RegaARRRRRRds, Anthony the Off-Shore Boar” -them
“This was all sprung on me today. Don’t worry I won’t be back. This is a huge deal if I can’t supply my products to customers on time. In this case it was an order to myself I waited all day for it when I could’ve spent valuable time with my son. Thanks for not caring and showing your true colors. I see now why you’re pirates. I’ll be sure to post this on every forum I can think of. Thanks for the written communication as it’ll be an easy copy paste :). It’ll definitely hurt more than to do the right thing and take care of your loyal customers who typically use you 1-15times a week. Enjoy the honest reviews. “ -me
“Ahoy Casey! I'm sorry about the frustration with the policy UPS has implemented on the platform. We do our best to make our users aware of the policy and even point to the proper service to use if you are expecting a money back guarantee in an effort to avoid this from happening in the future. We still have this set up to be reviewed and followed up with by a manager but if you don't prefer that anymore let us know and we'll go ahead and cancel that request. Once a manager has time to review and go over this chat for you they'll reach out via email. RegARRRds, Sean the Sea Goat” -them
“Ups guarantees shipment even by time… it’s your policy not ups. It’s ok I don’t expect you’ll do the right thing I’d rather help keep as many people aware of your policy as it’s no where on your site when I go to print my labels. Shippo works just fine and I’ve never had issues there.
Bring this to a mgr or not that’s your call you’re a pirate just trying to steal my money.
ITS NOT UPS POLICY! They guarantee everything to arrrive on time! It’s your policy let’s be real. ” -me
No follow up. So now I lost all profit by paying my customer what’s right to correct their shipping issue. Shipper BE WARE!!!!!!!
Starting to flip Pokemon cards, and saw that pirate ship is recommended, if I use that service to print a label I just pay them and drop it off at the post office? I also don’t pay the post office?
I’ve seen this a few times now, where I run the rate in my PS account, and it comes out to say, $6. Pop over to label tab, pull it from eBay, and same details, it’s like $3 higher for GA. It ends up being cheaper than eBay by maybe .20-.50 cents or so in the rate tab, then couple bucks more expensive than eBay in the label tab.
Anyone else?
Ive been selling for a couple of months now and have a little under 300 sales and ive been trying to learn more and more abt just e-commerce in general so I see pirate ship mentioned a lot and ive never understood what’s different between them or the reason is it a price thing?Convenience? Versatility? Id really appreciate any insight!
I have used PirateShip for all of my shipping, and recently tried using eBay and like that it is all integrated. The price on the particular item was very close to PirateShip. I am wondering if sellers generally use one or the other, and why? Do you get a quote for shipping with PirateShip for each sale and compare it to the eBay shipping price (seems like it would be too time consuming)? Do you find one to always be less than the other?
Thanks