What method do you use to ship?

oops, I forgot to add, the one thing I do not like about FedEx already is this. You cannot bill the receiver UNLESS they have a FedEx acct. THis can be tough because there is not a "specific" flat rate for boxes. Unlike Airborne, who charges extra for not using their boxes, FedEx does not have boxes large enough (or at all for that matter) to ship snakes. On the other hand, if you know what box you are going to use, you can go to the part of the website (already played with it a bit) where you can calculate the shipping costs. It asks weight, dimensions, etc.
Buyers are going to have a rude awakening if the majority of us get on board with FedEx, that it does NOT cost $30 to ship over night. It is considerably more.........CLOSE to Delta same day in some cases.
My point is, it can be tough to give an exact shipping cost unless you know exactly what size/weight box you are going to use. That is what I liked about Airborne (just used them today in fact) you can just check that box that says 'bill receiver'. I just cannot afford, as anyone else for that matter, to lose money on shipping an animal......in otherwords take money out of the cost of the sale to put towards any possible mistake made by quoting a charge.

Follow me?!

Brian,
What I mean by legal is that the carrier is aware of what's in the box. Shipping in unmarked boxes is illegal. It violates the Lacey act. That said, I'll be very interested in hearing how they deal with your packages once you have the paperwork in hand. In my experience, every person you talk to at these companies has a different story to tell. Most of the counter people don't have a clue, so they just say no. Most drivers could care less what's in the box, evidenced by the way they treat them. I'm sure that you will get some calls to come and get your animals, because they don't ship them. Keep us posted on how this goes. Maybe there has been a policy change at FedEx.

Brian,
I have a UPS account and I use the same size boxes for most of my shipments. So the charge is usually within a dollar or two. I charge a flat $35 which is usually enough to cover the shipping. Anything under that falls into the catagory of handling. Which covers the cost of hot or cold packs and the box itself. I just use my pre-printed labels, fill them out and take the boxes to the UPS store and drop them off. So far that has worked great. The drivers pick them up at the end of the day and no one is the wiser. Knock on wood. I used to have to drive 30 miles, one way, to drop them off at the UPS Counter. That was a real pain in the....You know what!!
Rick
Renegade Reptiles

I am not sure in which thread I poted this on, but it is looked at on a 'case by case' basis. My approval letter, from the Packaging Design and Development states the approval of such shipments. I have also talked with their Legal Dept. during all this and got the same exact instructions as far as who to contact.
I am not sure what the challenge is here. You were asking how to do this and I am telling you. I just got an email from Rich Z (owner of this site) and he got his letter today as well.
The Packaging Depratment is also within the "legal Dept" of the company (if I understood their structure correctly) and clearly state "APPROVED".
Not sure what else I can say. I am just following the steps that their "higher ups" told me to take. Only now am I dealing with a "sales rep." to get the final paperwork.

OK, I just got my boxes back with the approval forms enclosed. I sent two different sized boxes, since both need to be approved separately. Here's what the returned approval forms look like:






Please note where the product description on page one says "LIVE HARMLESS SNAKES", as well as the Inner Description recognizes the contents of the deli cup and bag that were enclosed as examples of how the snakes will be contained within the box itself.

Now I have to fax this off to my sales rep to be forwarded to their legal department.

I would say this pretty much shows that FedEx is open to provide us a shipping avenue for live harmless snakes.

Brian,
I get what you're saying. I'm just not sure that they will follow through. Please keep us posted on how this turns out. Especially how the first few shipments are handled....Thanks,
Rick
Renegade Reptiles

How about cost, Rich? As stated above this is much more expensive?

Quigs

Rick,
You said you have a UPS acct. Do they know what you are shipping?

On my end, being that I have to sign some paperwork, like Rich also mentioned, that comes form the "Legal Dept", this will be a contract between the two parties. I have seen them before from another individual who posted his right here on the BOI. They must have some system in place to identify me and my approval to ship snakes as they would obviously not want to be in "breech of contract".

Brian,
No, they do not know. If they did, they wouldn't ship them.
I'm encouraged by your progress so far. Lets just hope that this will be the way to ship in the future. Maybe if FedEx starts shipping them, UPS will follow suit. We can only hope!!
Rick
Renegade Reptiles

Not sure what it is with Fed ex, but I know UPS has a set dimensional weight.

I have found with UPS if you charge 35$ for shipping you should be ok, assuming your box is NO LARGER THEN 12" x12" x 12". Smaller boxes are the same price, but larger and your gonna pay. I did a 16 x 12 x 20 box ups a few months back, it was almost 70$ (bummer as I quoted 30$....lol)

I have not checked, but does anyone know what the general cost would be on a 12 x 12 x 12 box Fed ex (est 2lbs).

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles