Can I customize a USPS Flat Rate (Large) Box and ship it Priority Mail using weight & dimensions?
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Hi!
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this. I have a long item and the only box I have that fits the item is the USPS Board Game (large) Flat Rate Box. I ended up cutting the box down by 2" in length and I still want to ship this with the priority mail service, just not the flat rate price. I was scanning Google and I found this bulletin: https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2016/pb22435/html/updt_002.htm (where it states, "If an FRE or FRB is presented at the office of mailing and the customer has manipulated or reconstructed it, the container is accepted using weight and zone — not the Flat Rate price.") but I'm not sure if that's still a valid policy. Does anyone know if this still holds true? I'd really appreciate some assistance from someone that has done this, thanks! :)
It seems that most large items won't be able to fit in USPS flat rate boxes, even though the advertised weight limit is 13 ounce - 70 pounds. You will seldomly be able to find items weighing over 10 lb that will be able to fit in those flat rate boxes. However, USPS will only allow you to use flat rates if you are using their flat rate boxes to ship. Am I missing something here, or is this intended?
If you use your own container to ship, the shipping fee can be anywhere from $7.95-$322.25 depending on weight and zone. And zones can make a huge difference in the shipping fee. For example, if you're shipping a 10 lb package, it can cost anywhere from $14.40 to $83.35 depending on zones. Is there any tricks I'm missing here?
So I am trying to sell an item that is about 5 pounds and it fits inside of the USPS Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box. When selling this on ebay, under the shipping service, do I select USPS Priority Mail or do I select USPS Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box? Under the estimated cost for USPS Priority Mail, it says $9.85 - $23.15, while the estimated cost for USPS Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box is $17.40 - $18.90. I am assuming that, on average, the USPS Priority Mail option will be cheaper. Is this correct? Or am I required to use the USPS Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box option if I am using that box that I got for free from USPS? Thanks.