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Best way to ship corals


castlet67
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I wanted to start a thread on shipping of corals. Everyday you look into a coral purchase you cant help but notice the shipping being anywhere from 35.00 to 50.00 for an over night shipment.as with many, i frag my corals in hopes of selling a few at a reasonable price to offset some of my needs for my tanks. When i look up overnight shipments, i am seeing anywhere fron 80 to over 100 dollars for over night shipments. So how are they only charging 45.00? 35.00? 50.00? Share how you do it. It just isnt reasonable to travel a long distance to pick up a couple frags sometimes.Give your tips.

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Yes,i was quoted dropping off the overnight package.the discounts dropped a shipment to SC to 78.00. Im sure i may be missing something. I figure i will take a box weighing 5 lbs and walk in to see if it makes a differance. Im sure someone in the club has shipped that may give some insight.

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17 minutes ago, castlet67 said:

Yes,i was quoted dropping off the overnight package.the discounts dropped a shipment to SC to 78.00. Im sure i may be missing something. I figure i will take a box weighing 5 lbs and walk in to see if it makes a differance. Im sure someone in the club has shipped that may give some insight.

Yeah unfortunately I think in this case you are kinda sunk, at least from what I can see. If you go to Fedex website they are gonna gouge you beyond belief, especially shipping that far. You might be able to use a website like Shipyouraquatics.com, but they are only going to give you a slight discount because they are a third party business and you are using their volume discount. However, they are still out to make some money off of your business too. 

Here is what I found: From 45255 to 27606

  • Fedex Priority Overnight - $96
  • Shipyouraquatics.com (Fedex Priority Overnight) - $67
  • My companies shipping - $21 

So you can see how having a business with a large volume account will get you a lot better rates. Unfortunately for us little guys, we get the bad end of the deal. 

 

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  • 8 months later...
3 hours ago, Sevitz5 said:

Since we are on the topic, aside from pric, what is the best way to ship as far as packaging, heat source, insulation, etc?

I use an insulated shipping container, no specific brand. As far as packing I tend to use bags rather then cups, and double bag. Packing peanuts and wrap a heat pack in newspaper and pack it up. 

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  • 1 month later...

Well I think I’m getting brave enough to try my first Coral shipment. I’m a little worried about the people out there buying.......being trustworthy as far as DOA and all. In the event that there is a problem that’s beyond my control (flight delays, driver error, etc) what am I responsible for? All of it? Any of it? What about shipping on a DOA.....do I eat shipping or is the shipping the buyers responsibility no matter what?

 

 Thanks 

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This is my biggest worry on the receiving end too!  I would say start out shipping to people you trust, maybe a few test runs around the local club here, especially since next day shipping can be done much easier.  I don't know how it is always done but I would expect vendor to repay shipping if I did nothing wrong, however buyer should be able to prove they acclimated immediately based on receipt time and when they report a problem. I still hold out hope most people are honest.  If I lost a piece out of 5 say I would be content working out a deal on say buying some additional product and splitting the shipping to make it easier on what I perceived an honest mistake.  If I really feel like I was getting boned I would obviously be less likely to help.

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22 hours ago, Sevitz5 said:

Well I think I’m getting brave enough to try my first Coral shipment. I’m a little worried about the people out there buying.......being trustworthy as far as DOA and all. In the event that there is a problem that’s beyond my control (flight delays, driver error, etc) what am I responsible for? All of it? Any of it? What about shipping on a DOA.....do I eat shipping or is the shipping the buyers responsibility no matter what?

 

 Thanks 

I think I have done two purchases off of independent sales from other forums. Both went pretty well. UPS messed up on the shipment from Cali, and two of the four zoas I bought didnt make it. I had messaged the sender, as soon as I was aware of the UPS mess up, and we were able to agree on how things turned out. Basically he gave me three days, and if the zoas didnt make it, he would send new ones. I offered to pay for shipping on the second package. In the end he ended up sending me a few more zoas and everything worked out well, and I was satisfied. 

I would plan for the worst, and have a backup plan just in case things go south. My offer to pay for the second shipping is not the norm, but I think a 50/50 split is acceptable. You just have to come up with an agreement with the purchaser in these situations. Most people are reasonable, but there are always those select few that are looking for something, for nothing. 

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