post office "flat rate" boxes...

[KelseyLaPerle]

can I put food in them? I was going to ship a package to our resort with some breakfast foods, mostly canned or long shelf-life ones, so we can use our CS credits on lunch/dinner. What do you ship to yourself? What kinds of foods have you found to work best in your room. We'll be in a family suite at All Star Music so will have a fridge, but obviously can't ship anything cold. I thought about shipping cereal and buying milk there.

 

[becky1960]

We ship Flat rate almost daily and they ask everytime if we shipping any Liquids, chemicals, or anything dangerous. I am not sure about canned food, you might call the PO and ask.

 

[mafibisha]

We ship Flat rate almost daily and they ask everytime if we shipping any Liquids, chemicals, or anything dangerous. I am not sure about canned food, you might call the PO and ask.

Ok, what is this flat rate thing? The bigger boxes at the PO that they advertise? We usually ship everything UPS. Is this a better deal? How does it work?

 

[bzkds]

I use the Priority Mail flat-rate boxes to ship goodies to ds at college all the time. I've never been asked what is in the box. I ship him granola bars, oatmeal packets, fruit cups, applesauce, raisins, etc. The box I use costs $10 to ship.

For eating in the room, I usually take bagels, bananas, granola bars, oatmeal packets and small single-serve cereals. We buy small containers of juice, milk and cream cheese in the gift shop to keep in the mini-fridge. But that's when we drive and can carry food in the car. I probably wouldn't ship fresh fruit through the mail.

Beth

 

[hrslvr142]

These boxes are used far and wide for those of us that have deployed military in Iraq & Afghanistan. We have to fill out custom forms for those since they are going out of the country and that is where they ask what we have in them. Perhaps they don't ask if they are staying in the US. There is not a limit for weight-my highest is about 14 lbs. You should be fine with what you are suggesting to ship.

Mafibisha-these are the flat rate boxes at the post office. I think they are around $11, I believe so don't know what you are used to paying at UPS. If you go pick them up at the post office make sure you get the right one, they are a couple that look similiar and I have had to take a box back out to my car and repack it when I got the wrong one (it would have cost over $30 for the other one!). Just ask for the "large one price priority one" and the PO will point you in the right direction.

 

[Dani C]

Flat rate boxes are wonderful if the items are heavy. If they aren't, you can usually ship them cheaper by putting them in another box, going by the weight and proportions. I am generally able to ship alot more in a bigger box for a lower cost. (Flat rate boxes, even the large ones, are really quite small.)

If you are shipping APO, ignore the above as the flat rate box rates are lower for shipping to such military addresses in most cases.

 

[TaraPA]

I shipped flat-rate today (non-military or APO) & they asked if there was anything fragile, liquid, hazardous or perishable in the box.

 

[msmayor]

I shipped flat-rate today (non-military or APO) & they asked if there was anything fragile, liquid, hazardous or perishable in the box.

They ask that question regardless of the shipping method.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Not to hijack this thread but I have to know. I am so tempted to ship items ahead of time but I am so scared of it getting lost or having the CMs not know what the heck I'm talking about. I know that you are supposed to put all your info (name date of arrival and ressie number) but I am still worried. Has everyone that shipped a box ahead received it?

 

[GraysMom]

Not to hijack this thread but I have to know. I am so tempted to ship items ahead of time but I am so scared of it getting lost or having the CMs not know what the heck I'm talking about. I know that you are supposed to put all your info (name date of arrival and ressie number) but I am still worried. Has everyone that shipped a box ahead received it?

We shipped a box about 2 years ago to OKW and it worked out great. We were there for a week and traveling w/DS2 (at the time) plus his carseat, so we wanted to carry as little weight as possible in our suitcases. We shipped diapers, juice, glow bracelets and goofy little toys, larger bottles of shampoo, sunscreen, etc, wipes (Lysol and antibacterial hand wipes), snacks, umbrellas, ponchos, misting fans, and a few other heavier items.

I had called the front desk at OKW to find out exactly how to label the box, and I labeled 2 sides, the top, and put a paper inside with our info (I also bagged everything that might spill in ziplocs and then put everything into a garbage bag, just in case it sat on the tarmac in the rain or someone else's luggage leaked). I also included clear packing tape, scissors and a thick black permanent marker to repack the box and ship it home at the end of our vacation. I sent the huge box UPS about a week ahead of time. I called to make sure it had arrived a couple of days before our vacation (giving me time to pack another suitcase if the box was lost). It worked out really well, and at the end of our vacation we just repacked the box with dirty laundry and souvies, relabeled it and took it to the front desk to have them ship it back to our house.

 

[jsmith]

I dont know what you would ship to yourself at WDW but i have sent something on the order of 500 of them to Iraq, Afghanistan and North Africa in the last 8 years-you can get a ton of stuff in them-ive had them weigh 23 or 24 lbs for the same rate. They will always ask you about liquids, fragile and and hazardous materials.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

We shipped a box about 2 years ago to OKW and it worked out great. We were there for a week and traveling w/DS2 (at the time) plus his carseat, so we wanted to carry as little weight as possible in our suitcases. We shipped diapers, juice, glow bracelets and goofy little toys, larger bottles of shampoo, sunscreen, etc, wipes (Lysol and antibacterial hand wipes), snacks, umbrellas, ponchos, misting fans, and a few other heavier items.

I had called the front desk at OKW to find out exactly how to label the box, and I labeled 2 sides, the top, and put a paper inside with our info (I also bagged everything that might spill in ziplocs and then put everything into a garbage bag, just in case it sat on the tarmac in the rain or someone else's luggage leaked). I also included clear packing tape, scissors and a thick black permanent marker to repack the box and ship it home at the end of our vacation. I sent the huge box UPS about a week ahead of time. I called to make sure it had arrived a couple of days before our vacation (giving me time to pack another suitcase if the box was lost). It worked out really well, and at the end of our vacation we just repacked the box with dirty laundry and souvies, relabeled it and took it to the front desk to have them ship it back to our house.

Thank you so much. Where can I find the list of phone numbers and/or addresses for the resorts? We are staying at The Poly

 

[Sal]

If you go to usps.com, you can see the different sizes of flat rate boxes that the Postal Service has. You can also have some shipped to you at no cost, not even postage. They are a great value for heavy items. There is a small box (think VCR tape size) that costs $4.95 to mail, two medium size boxes (11 7/8 x 3 3/8 x 13 5/8 & 11 x 8 1/2 x 5 1/2) that cost $10.95 and a large box ( 12" x 12" x 5.5" that costs $13.95 ( 11.95 APO). These can also be used for international mailing, but at higher rates.

The questions being asked about fragile, perishable, liquid or potentially hazardous contents are to protect your package from damage and protect the people handling the package.

Sal