Hacker News Reader

Comment by justinsb | Hacker News Reader

Interesting - I've always used USPS Flat-Rate Priority Mail: 2 or 3 day service; free boxes; no need to weigh; free pickup at my door. About $5 for small boxes; $10 for medium boxes; $15 for larger boxes.

I still hope that the USPS would build an easier website to use - it's good, but it's not "Uber-easy". Can someone that uses Shyp comment - is Shyp the service I've been waiting for?

View on HN

USPS flat rate is actually only the cheapest USPS option if you are shipping > 11 lbs. I guarantee you that if you use us it will be cheaper (even including our $5 pickup fee) than for you to do it yourself with all free packaging materials. Then factor what your time is worth.

UPS ground and fedex ground are actually the best/cheapest option if you are shipping anything > 3 lbs. We choose the cheapest carrier automatically and create a custom box for each item.

btw CEO of Shyp here.

whats the cheapest if you are shipping 1 lb domestically and need a tracking number?

USPS priority. If it is <= 13 oz you could use first class.

Their price point can't be beat for < 3 lb items domestically.

UPS Mail Innovations beats out USPS First Class for us in price and accountability. Because they push through UPS's system all the way to regional facilities, we're seeing less package claims.

UPS SurePost also can be competitive if you put them through the wringer. From 1-9lbs we're saving between $0.08 to over $22.00 across the Contiguous US.

USPS almost retained our business from 10-15lbs, but we got UPS to match them.

Interesting - I definitely accept the value-of-time argument (that's why I just use flat-rate, rather than going to the effort of weighing the package). Sounds like I should try Shyp next time!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com