Outrageous Shipping Rates

markz

100 TW
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
12,179
Location
Canada and the USA
From USA to Sweetgrass, Montana right on the US/CDN border for $12
or $45 to Canada (Coutts, AB) which is 200 meters north.

I really want to try the Mail/Package forwarding service offered by numerous companies.

A few questions I ponder myself are;
1) I wonder how much money I will actually save?
2) How much more time will it take for me to get my purchase(s)?
3) Which city is the best for this service?

For #3, perhaps I have to think in terms of where the parcels actually go when dealing with FedEx, USPS, DHL, UPS. Where would their hubs be, that is the best way to think. Another option which is possible for people who live close to the border, which I dont, is to get a P.O. box nearest your home on the American side.
Sometimes I wish I lived close to the border. So where would these hubs be?

FedEx -

DHL - 28 May 2008: DHL Express announces the restructuring plans for its United States network, including terminating its business relationship with ABX Air and entering into a contract with competitor UPS for air freight operations.[15] Its cargo hub shifts from Wilmington to Louisville. June 13, 2013 in Erlanger, Kentucky, USA – Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear joined DHL and local officials to unveil the company's newly expanded and upgraded global hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) The expanded global hub sits at the heart of the DHL U.S. network, with flights connecting customers from more than 220 countries and territories worldwide to every corner of the United States. In addition to global hubs in Hong Kong and Germany, the CVG hub completes the backbone of the DHL intercontinental network.[23] The European hub is in Leipzig, Germany.

UPS - UPS Worldport Air Hub at Louisville International Airport. Worldport serves all major domestic and international hubs.

Nashville is right in the middle for the UPS and FedEx hubs.


Now I wonder about sales tax on a state by state basis,
sales tax.jpg
salex tax 1.jpg

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Well I figure its about time to give it a go, and if I am going to do it I might as well pick a "low sales tax" state. And figure out if distance from "hub" to my American P.O. box makes a difference in shipping price or not.
I will do some tests, because there are about 4 or 5 states that have ZERO sales tax. Which is quite a bit of savings, $5-$8 per $100 spent.

I will get delivery prices from varying sending locations (Stores), to the destination which of course is my location in Alberta Canada.
Perhaps the best way to go about it, is to pick one address in all the 4 corners of the USA. For the Sending Location.
However not have any sending locations that are remote, like Alaska, Hawaii, Florida Keys or places like Eastern parts of Maine.


1) Seattle, Washington (NW Corner)
2) San Deigo, California (SW Corner)
3) Jacksonville, Florida (SE Corner)
4) New York City, New York (NE Corner)

I have read that some of these forwarding companies will repackage orders from multiple into one box. This might be great for multiple purchases, but I am a random, occasional buyer.

Here is a quick search,
parcelsforwarding.com
parcelbound.com
outpostsvc.com
shipsus.com
parcelzoom.com
shippshop.com
usa2me.com
outpostsvc.com

From some random top 5 guide online,
Borderlinx - Uses DHL

ComGateway / HopShopGo

vPOST - vPost however only ships to 5 countries: Singapore, Australia, India, Malaysia and Thailand.
shipito.com - They will keep it for 90 days max and will send it to you as individual packages or consolidate a few before shipping them based on which service plan you opt for. Consolidated packages can earn you savings so although it costs $50 a year or $10 a month, it is probably more worth it if you have a lot of purchases.

5. MyUS.com - MyUS has 3 types of accounts consisting of a standard (for the occasional buyer) and 2 premium (with monthly fee) accounts (one for consolidating packages, the other with mail and catalogs included). With the standard account you can’t chose for when the packages are shipped – they are shipped automatically by the service. With the Premium accounts you can ask them to hold shipping. To buy, just put their address as the secondary ship to or billing account, or get a Personal Shopper to do the buying for you.
 
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