# Cost to ship wheelset



## aruyt (Jan 7, 2015)

I know this has been asked before, but the last thread I found by searching was a few years old. I want to sell and older set of Zipp wheels (so I can free up more cash to buy another set!), and I'm trying to figure out the most it might cost me to ship them. I'm in CA, and using both FedEx and UPS's shipping calculators, shipping them to the east coast is almost $100 for the cheapest method!!! I have a hard time believing that's correct, but I contacted UPS and asked them to verify and they came up with the same thing. 

However, every post I have read from this website and others in regards to people shipping wheels say it should be around $25-$40 depending on distance, size, weight, etc...

So...has anyone RECENTLY shipped out a set of wheels and can verify what kind of cost I could be potentially looking at? 

Thanks!


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## aruyt (Jan 7, 2015)

I did some digging and found out that for FedEx, starting Jan 1, 2015, they started charging based on "dimensional weight", which has nothing to do with actual weight. Therefore, prices to ship a large, but lightweight box have skyrocketed. Using their calculator, the "dimensional weight" of a typical wheelset box is over 44 lb!!! It's teh same policy at UPS too. So anyone who wants to ship a bike or wheels is going to pay through the nose now. :mad2:

Seems like a ridiculous scam to me, and pretty much kills the idea of shipping. Guess it's Craigslist for my wheels...


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## junior1210 (May 2, 2013)

Have you tried asking at the Post Office?


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## CrankyCarbon (Dec 17, 2014)

I haven't shipped, but I've received a few recently.
I had a Mavic Comete disc shipped to me (SE Michigan) from Utah. The Fedex packaged the entire thing up, box filling and all. Cost was $72.
A Campy Ghibli from france was $100 via the slowboat.

Another standard Mavic/Campy wheelset was $35 from New York to SE Michigan using UPS just a couple weeks ago.

Alot depends upon the dimensions of box that you use.
Shipping has gone through the roof recently.


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## aruyt (Jan 7, 2015)

duplicate post


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## J.R. (Sep 14, 2009)

Use this link for UPS calculate time and cost.

https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?loc=en_US&WT.svl=PNRO_L1

Or USPS here.
Postage Price Calculator


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## CrankyCarbon (Dec 17, 2014)

aruyt said:


> .... but it makes me wonder about online retailers who send out multiple large boxes daily...cost is going up for everyone now.


Yeah, some online places do free shipping.
I had to balance the price of something new versus something used + high shipping cost.


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## aruyt (Jan 7, 2015)

Well I used USPS' calculator as well, and their price was even higher. I don't think Postal is a great choice for larger packages. It's not going to be a big deal to me, since I'm just one person trying to sell one set of wheels, but it makes me wonder about online retailers who send out multiple large boxes daily...cost is going up for everyone now.

EDIT: If you can keep the box total size under 108" (Length + girth), then there are more options and it's definitely cheaper than UPS or FedEx. Not a fan of USPS, but that might be a viable option.


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## ibericb (Oct 28, 2014)

For both UPS and FedEx, the cost to ship varies greatly with distance (zone).


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## aruyt (Jan 7, 2015)

ibericb said:


> For both UPS and FedEx, the cost to ship varies greatly with distance (zone).


It's the whole new "dimensional weight" policy that just went into effect Jan 1. It's just another scam to squeeze more money out of us. A wheel box has a "dimensional weight" of over 40lb, so they charge you based on that weight. Even though the actual shipping weight is maybe 6 lb at most. It's a brand new policy which will come as a shock to a lot of people trying to ship lightweight, large packages.


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## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

I have shipped a few wheel sets in the past year from California to the Midwest via FedEx Ground. In each case, the total cost was under $50. The key is using a correct wheel box (get one or two from your LBS), and not shipping unnecessary items (like tires and tubes).


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## SauronHimself (Nov 21, 2012)

aruyt said:


> I did some digging and found out that for FedEx, starting Jan 1, 2015, they started charging based on "dimensional weight", which has nothing to do with actual weight. Therefore, prices to ship a large, but lightweight box have skyrocketed. Using their calculator, the "dimensional weight" of a typical wheelset box is over 44 lb!!! It's teh same policy at UPS too. So anyone who wants to ship a bike or wheels is going to pay through the nose now. :mad2:
> 
> Seems like a ridiculous scam to me, and pretty much kills the idea of shipping. Guess it's Craigslist for my wheels...


USPS is losing money, so they have to make it up somehow. As ludicrous as it may appear, they're telling you up front how they will base the new prices, so technically it isn't a scam.


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## aruyt (Jan 7, 2015)

SauronHimself said:


> USPS is losing money, so they have to make it up somehow. As ludicrous as it may appear, they're telling you up front how they will base the new prices, so technically it isn't a scam.


Actually, I did some more calculations, and USPS is the cheapest of the 3 major shippers, so if I do ship them, it will be by USPS.

Like I posted earlier, it's FedEx and UPS that are scamming people with this new bogus "dimensional weight" pricing. If I ship a big box of feathers, they will charge me as if it was 50 lbs of lead weights (they actually tell you the "billable weight", which is TEN times what the actual weight is). Their excuse is "how much room it takes on the vehicle", which apparently just dawned on them in 2015. 

Look, I understand everyone is losing money (so am I, but no one cares about the consumer), but there is no legitimate reason why it used to cost $25 to ship a relatively lightweight (though large) box of wheels, and now they want $80 because the calendar turned to 2015.


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## Blue CheeseHead (Jul 14, 2008)

CrankyCarbon said:


> Yeah, some online places do free shipping.
> I had to balance the price of something new versus something used + high shipping cost.


Don't be fooled; NO ONE ships for free. The cost is built into the sale price. You are paying for shipping one way or the other.


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## changingleaf (Aug 20, 2009)

Shipping the wheels in separate containers is less expensive than together.


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## jackmen (Jul 24, 2007)

I shipped a couple of carbon wheels in a wheel box (1700 G wheel weight) from middle Missouri to new jersey on FedEx ground AND INSURED THEM FOR $800 and it cost $39. Delivered in 3 days.


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## CrankyCarbon (Dec 17, 2014)

Blue CheeseHead said:


> Don't be fooled; NO ONE ships for free. The cost is built into the sale price. You are paying for shipping one way or the other.


Yes, but when they are the cheapest price versus others that are higher selling price plus shipping .. overall it's still lower.
You have to look at the overall cost.


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## coachboyd (Jan 13, 2008)

ok, I am sharing pretty much the biggest trade secret I have ever found.

Make sure your box is 32X6X26. If any one of those dimensions is even a quarter of an inch larger you'll pay double (or more) for shipping wheels. If you are at that dimension or less, shipping wheels is very inexpensive and it falls under the new dimensional weight restrictions from UPS and FedEx.


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## November Dave (Dec 7, 2011)

Our boxes are 32x7x26, so 1" bigger than Boyd's on sum of dimensions, but yeah. The most we pay to ship anywhere in the 48 is about $45


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## aruyt (Jan 7, 2015)

Hey, cool the wheelbuilders are checking in! CoachBoyd, still loving my Vitesse wheels, better than my old Zipps . And Dave, I really really want a set of Rail 34's...maybe when I get my tax refund, it's always an excuse to spend money LOL!

But a serious question for both of you. I assume you know about the new "dimensional weight" pricing policy of both FedEx and UPS?

https://www.shipwire.com/w/blog/fedex-ups-dimensional-weight-changes/

This is a new thing that started Jan 1, 2015. Has this affected your shipping costs? I don't know what kind of deals you have with shippers since you ship more in bulk than just a Joe like me. I think I paid $25 for the Vitesse wheels to be shipped a few years ago, though I don't know how much of that was subsidized.

Thanks for any advice, and if I end up shipping, I'll do what I can to find a 36x26x6 box. Stupid me I kept my Boyd box forever in the garage thinking one day I'd sell a set of my older wheels, and just recently I tossed it. It always happens like that!

EDIT: Just tried again using FedEx and UPS shipping calculators with the 36x26x6 box, and shipping from west coast to east coast (for the maximum possible charge). The cheapest method was $56 from FedEx, and $72 for UPS! UPS shows the "billable weight" was 34 lb, again because of their new "dimensional weight" shipping policy. Still seems cost prohibitive to me.


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## ergott (Feb 26, 2006)

My boxes are 28X7X28. USPS Express to CA (opposite direction) is about $60 insured. I like Express since the box is in fewer hands on the journey.

Just checked and Boyd's box would cost the same. This assumes you create and online account with USPS.


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## ergott (Feb 26, 2006)

changingleaf said:


> Shipping the wheels in separate containers is less expensive than together.


What size are your individual wheel boxes?


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## coachboyd (Jan 13, 2008)

hmm, I've been checking in online and it does look like even with our box size on UPS the rates have changed. However, we use Shipworks software to do all of our labels and I know the pricing in there is not matching what is being showed on the UPS website right now.

Of course I have to wait til Sunday for this week's invoice to come to me so I won't know until then what my actual negotiated rate charges were per box. On the calculate time and cost tool with UPS if I enter my shipping number it cuts the price by over half vs if I were to just print a label online.


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## November Dave (Dec 7, 2011)

Rates have changed a little but dimensional weight isn't anything new, and it makes sense - something in a huge box, even if it's light, is going to displace other boxes on every leg of its journey. You just have to play the game as well as you can, but most proper wheel boxes have long since been engineered to respond to dimensional weight.

We ship domestically with UPS, while we almost always use USPS for international.


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## junior1210 (May 2, 2013)

I've no proof, but morally certain that their 'new' pricing is heavily punitive on the single package customers (Ebay, family, etc), but either won't affect or only slightly affect regular customers (businesses, schools, etc). I FEDEX'd my father his cell phone last year when he dropped it in my driveway and drove away. Overnight but delivered before end of business cost $75, and if I wanted it delivered before 10am it would have cost over $100 ($127 IIRC). That was for a package the size of a paperback novel.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

changingleaf said:


> Shipping the wheels in separate containers is less expensive than together.


^ This ^ I shipped a pair of road wheels to Hawaii and used 2 single wheel boxes. The total of the 2 boxes was well under what a larger pair box would have been. 

UPS has been using dimensional weight for ages, this is nothing new. Fed Ex maybe, but we don't ship w/ them so I don't know. It also seems like if you ship them someplace in the middle of nowhere that isn't near a hub it will cost more than a major population center. The more the item needs to be transferred from vehicle to vehicle seems to bump the price up. 

I'm in nor-cal very near a hub. It's cheaper to send a bike to an east coast city than to Durango, CO for me. Twice the distance, 2/3 the price.


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## Jwiffle (Mar 18, 2005)

You must not ship often. Dimensional weight has been around for longer than I've shipped bikes, over 10 years.

I try to avoid UPS. They do try to pull a scam. If your box is within a couple inches of the size limit, they charge you the oversize rate. But when you call to complain, they take it right off, saying maybe their laser measurement device had come out of calibration. This has happened to me multiple times; there is obviously nothing wrong with the machine. They just hope you'll pay without question.

FedEx and USPS have never pulled this nonsense on me, so I stick with them now.


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## aruyt (Jan 7, 2015)

junior1210 said:


> I've no proof, but morally certain that their 'new' pricing is heavily punitive on the single package customers (Ebay, family, etc), but either won't affect or only slightly affect regular customers (businesses, schools, etc). I FEDEX'd my father his cell phone last year when he dropped it in my driveway and drove away. Overnight but delivered before end of business cost $75, and if I wanted it delivered before 10am it would have cost over $100 ($127 IIRC). That was for a package the size of a paperback novel.


Totally agree with your first sentence. Businesses can subsidize their own shipping costs, but a person like me just doing a one-time shipment is going to either have to pay big bucks, or attract less buyers with the shipping costs being a turn off. 

So, any update with anyone with regards to the new pricing policies? Have prices gone way up, or manageable? USPS still the cheapest way to go?


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