Give me an education about this "PIRATE SHIP" method that has been discussed here.

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hemi71x

hemi71x

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For those of you that have used this PIRATE SHIP method to send out your packages, how exactly does this work, if you don't mind me asking?
I have been giving a quote to get a 29 pound package to an east coast state and both the USPS, and FEDEX, want anywhere from $85.00 to $92.00 to send it out.
Checking out the Pirate Ship site, they will do it UPS, for $45.00.
That's quite a bit of a difference.
But they pretty much give me the same quote that USPS, and FEDEX gives me.
So they must have a contract with UPS.
So what do you do, after signing up with them?
Do you bring the package to a UPS terminal, or can you bring it to a UPS Store?
UPS stores are independently owned, and not by the parent corporation.
You print out a shipping label, on your printer, and bring everything to the store?
Do you get a "tracking" number for the package, when you do it this way?
Any insight any of you can give me, will be appreciated.
Thank's a lot.
Jim V.
hemi71x
 
Yes, yes, yes and yes.

Basically, you are using their commercial account. They charge you a small fee. Like minimal.

Make an account at pirateship.com. Box it up, weigh it, fill out the info on their site, print the label, tape it to your box, drop it off at a ups store and let it go. My local CVS accepts UPS drop offs as well. The last one I sent out, I knew I had a delivery coming in and left it outside with a large note "UPS please take" You will get the tracking number when you print the label.
 
I do have a postal scale, so that's how i know how much my parts weigh in at, before giving a buyer a shipping quote.
And also a good, decent printer, for all my computer stuff.
 
It's pretty simple. All you do is enter the shipping info, they give you the options, you choose which shipping option you want and print the label. Then just either drop it off at the respective shipping company, or schedule a pickup. Easy peezy.
 
they covered the basics up there. but to answer one of your specific questions: yes, you can take it to an independently operated UPS store. tape your label to the box and just drop it off at the counter-- mine will even print a receipt for me. for smaller boxes, sometimes i'll hand them off to my ups guy if i happen to catch him.

you get tracking, and a tracking number when you purchase the label thru them, it's there when you print off label, but also they provide a link. however, you don't get delivery confirmation. you can check through the UPS site for specific tracking and delivery-- or sign up there for notification.

one thing to note is that they only cover basic insurance on packages and it's only $100 so if you need more insurance than that, you'll need to find another option. also, all of their shipping and insurance claims are handled via email, there is no call center/customer support. you will not get somebody on the phone no matter how hard you try.

also, make sure you have a good shipping/postal scale and your measurements are spot on. if you're off on dimensions or weight they will come back and charge the difference to your account.
 
Jim.... @ragtopfury explained it perfectly in post #2. I did it the exact same way when I shipped the 4 piston brake setup I PM'd you about a while back. USPS wanted $62 each for two 43 lb boxes and Pirate Ship was $30 each. I printed the label, taped it to the box, dropped at UPS terminal and tracked them as they went. Texted the buyer as soon as they said delivered.
 
20171221_153803 (1).jpg


:lol:
 
A member on here turned me on to pirate ship...only way I ship now. Usually around 50% cheaper than conventional. With the cost of shipping thru the roof, I was losing sales. Now everyone wins. Perfect
 
Dutchrebuild said:
A member on here turned me on to pirate ship...only way I ship now. Usually around 50% cheaper than conventional. With the cost of shipping thru the roof, I was losing sales. Now everyone wins. Perfect
Click to expand...
Ya, me too, in the loosing sales department, when giving shipping quotes to folks up and down the East coast states, with the control arm, and brake parts that i rebuild, and sell.
 
I signed up with Pirate Ship awhile ago, when members on this forum were beginning discussions on shipping costs, and mentioning this Pirate Ship company.
BUT, i never gave them a payment method, when signing up, figuring i probably never will be using them.
I got back into my account, and my primary payment method will be Pay Pal.
I always keep a balance in Pay Pal, so telling Pirate Ship was so simple easy to do.
Anyone reading through this posting, and thinking about signing up with Pirate Ship, go and do it.
Super easy, and don't put it off any longer.
Jim V.
hemi71x
 
hemi71x said:
For those of you that have used this PIRATE SHIP method to send out your packages, how exactly does this work, if you don't mind me asking?
I have been giving a quote to get a 29 pound package to an east coast state and both the USPS, and FEDEX, want anywhere from $85.00 to $92.00 to send it out.
Checking out the Pirate Ship site, they will do it UPS, for $45.00.
That's quite a bit of a difference.
But they pretty much give me the same quote that USPS, and FEDEX gives me.
So they must have a contract with UPS.
So what do you do, after signing up with them?
Do you bring the package to a UPS terminal, or can you bring it to a UPS Store?
UPS stores are independently owned, and not by the parent corporation.
You print out a shipping label, on your printer, and bring everything to the store?
Do you get a "tracking" number for the package, when you do it this way?
Any insight any of you can give me, will be appreciated.
Thank's a lot.
Jim V.
hemi71x
Click to expand...
In a nutshell, you’re getting their bulk shipping discount. The UPS stores typically get a tiny bit of a discount vs online for the same reason but they charge you most of the discounted rate as their cut
 
ragtopfury said:
Yes, yes, yes and yes.

Basically, you are using their commercial account. They charge you a small fee. Like minimal.

Make an account at pirateship.com. Box it up, weigh it, fill out the info on their site, print the label, tape it to your box, drop it off at a ups store and let it go. My local CVS accepts UPS drop offs as well. The last one I sent out, I knew I had a delivery coming in and left it outside with a large note "UPS please take" You will get the tracking number when you print the label.
Click to expand...
So this is trustworthy?
 
Dang, and I thought ebay shipping was the ****! I do have a FedEx account and when I ship under my account its usually about 30% off list rate. Ill definitely look into this.
 
hemi71x said:
I always keep a balance in Pay Pal, so telling Pirate Ship was so simple easy to do.
Click to expand...
Is there an option to link it to other pay sites like Venmo or Zelle?
 
go-fish said:
Is there an option to link it to other pay sites like Venmo or Zelle?
Click to expand...
That i didn't pay attention to, since i don't subscribe to those sites, but it's easy enough to find out on their web site and looking.
I quit looking when it said your credit card, bank account, Pay Pal.
 
pittsburghracer said:
So 100.00 is the max amount on insurance.
Click to expand...

NO!!!
You can insure it for any amount you wish (I've gone up to $2200). You just need to specify how much insurance coverage you want and pay the nominal extra amount.
UPS includes $100 in insurance with every shipment; last I knew, the USPS only includes $50 with Priority Mail.
Look under Extra Services and check the box. There you can fill in the amount you wish.
 
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