• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

UPS-What am I doing wrong? PLEASE HELP

T

thegeckoteam

New member
Joined
Jun 10, 2004
Messages
56
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
59
Location
Allentown, PA
Hi-

I'm in shock. I just made my first shipment with my geckos last week. I got the invoice this week. I was shipping from eastern PA 18103 to eastern OH-44708, my package was 3 lbs and the demensions were 18 X 14 X 12. We dropped it off at a UPS store, because it was much more convienent for us. This was being shipping Next Day air guarenteed for 10:30 am. O.K., I was under the impression via the book that I recieved from UPS (we have an account) that the charges would be around $20.00 give or take. We were charged $31.27 and then an additional $33.92 for adjustments and other charges??? I called and all UPS said was that was the going rate for a package that size, and it was the same if we had dropped it off at the store or went to the main terminal. Over the phone she even quoted a higher charge of $70 something. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG??? If this is how much it costs to ship why is everyone ONLY charging $35-$40. Is everyone taking a loss these days? Gosh, my geckos are only $25.00. SO, I'm taking a loss just shipping them. Please can someone clarify this for me. I'm very upset and not even sure how I'm going to pay these bills. I shipped yet another package yesterday before I got this invoice today. Help!!
 
What you ended up being charged was what UPS calls Dimensional Weight. It is the width x height x length/ 192. The dimensions you give for the package comes out to a dimensional weight of 16 pounds. This is what you were charged for, even though the package only weighed 3 pounds. The only way to pay actual weight is to stay under 1728 inch for W x H x L. This is about 14 inches x 12 inches x 10 inches.
Hope this helped some.
 
All I can say is use FEDEX the most I every paid was 47.00 for 50 Baby BPS. And the box was just a hair bigger then the one you shipped.

Tom McKenna
 
Hi-

Thanks for clearing that up a little for me. Besides that problem today, I recieved a shipment from another breeder. The address was off by one digit and the UPS driver had to bring the package back out. Even though he had the wrong address on the package he claims he came to my house anyway, claims no one was home and didn't want to leave the box. Well, when he came back with the package my dogs started yapping even before he got to my steps, like they always do for everyone. I went out and told him there was no way he had been there before and he started yelling at me on my porch, to the point where one of my neighbors came out to make sure everything was alright. He was really rude and obnoxious to me. I didn't start by yelling at him. Anyway, I've about had it with UPS today. I'm going to get certified with Fed Ex but that takes time, so in the meantime I'm stuck with UPS. So, I need to keep my package under a certain measurement?? Funny, the women on the phone today wouldn't offer any assistance in this area. I asked her what I was doing wrong, other people ship for much less. She just keep apologizing but wouldn't help me. UGH!! That's what everyone kept doing today, apologizing and offering no help what so ever.

Sorry, for the venting, I've just had a very long day dealing with people who refuse to do anything. Thank you for your help. I'm going to see if I can get some smaller boxes to avoid this problem in the future.
 
The only way to pay actual weight is to stay under 1728 inch for W x H x L. This is about 14 inches x 12 inches x 10 inches
Click to expand...
Has UPS changed their method of weighing a package with a scale. I have sent packages through UPS with dimensions larger than those given at about 52x8x6 and was charged only $18 for the shipment. Granted not reptiles but a rifle. They put all of my packages right onto the scale, weighed them, and charged by weight alone.

I know someone else who recently went to a so called UPS store and they got charged about $20 or $25 more for the service of using the so called UPS store as opposed to going directly to UPS.

All the best,
GB
 
All I know is that UPS told me size didn't matter for Next Day Air, they would charge for demential weight not actual weight. Here I'm told if I get the box down to a certain size it will be charge by weight and not demesions. I wish I knew for sure which way it was. I actually trust the advice here more than the UPS rep. LOL I don't think they know what they are talking about. Maybe I'll try calling the UPS store and see what they say.
 
Ask for the most recent "UPS Rate and Service Guide", dated effective January 5, 2004. On page 16 it explains how dimensional weight is determined. Good luck!
 
Thanks Bryan-

I think I've figured this thing out. I just had no idea about the weight vs. demension thing. UGH!! Now I do and I won't make that mistake again. I found a company that I can buy appropriate sized insulated boxes from and will purchase some to make sure this doesn't happen again. I can chalk this up to a learning experience I guess. :)
 
I get my boxes from Scales several sizes available and look and work very professionally

Tom Mc Kenna
 
My apology, I was not considering you were using next day air, my comments about my shipment were for regular ground UPS. Hope I did not confuse mattes too much for you. By the way all UPS rate info can be found on their web site..
 
shipping

those boxes seem big, how many geckoes are you putting in there?. I'm a first time shipper, do you put anything in the box with the animals. are the boxes vented or just a plain old box?
[email protected] thanks!
 
package size/weight

ups gound is charged by weight only unless its a way oversized item, for airshipments they do it by size and weight because they dont want you shipping something small in a large box because it takes room on the airplane and wastes space. thats what i was told by a ups rep.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top