Shipping discussions

[twgrosmick]

Yes it is. Nobody is going to pay that when they can just go to the next guy who's charging $40 for shipping. And as far as FedEx certification goes, I already looked into that long ago. You can only ship to a business.

Correct. That means you can ship to a FedEx hub and have it held for pickup

[MCwyo]

You know what. Nevermind. You go ahead and buy, trade and sell your pugets and concinnus' and all the while, you preach about following the rules. Nevermind how they got to be available in the first place. Everyone's jumping down my throat but it never occurred to people that there is no legal way, and never has been one, to get either of those species. That includes their captive descendants. They're all illegal if you want to get picky and follow the letter of the law, and I'm pretty sure that doesn't just apply to those two.

Sorry, don't want to get back off track, but I just saw this and am now kind of (VERY) worried... concinnus, illegal???!!!

[ConcinusMan]

Ridiculous. If I am to follow the rules, I can't use them either. I'm not a business. Never claimed to be, and I don't do enough selling to even have to register as a business. According to fedex's rules, I gotta have a business. I know, people just cheat and put in a fake business name, but that's still cheating, now isn't it. And now, you not only want my customers to pay a ridiculous amount, but also have to go pick it up. Like I said, might as well just stop doing it and let the next guy who's only charging $40 for door to door, get all the sales because I'm not going to sell jack **** if I do what you're suggesting.

[guidofatherof5]

With respect to the creator of this thread why doesn't this conversation move to somewhere else. If a new thread title needs to be created I'm sure a moderator would create it and move this conversation.
Just a suggestion.

[twgrosmick]

With respect to the creator of this thread why doesn't this conversation move to somewhere else. If a new thread title needs to be created I'm sure a moderator would create it and move this conversation.
Just a suggestion.

I agree, I think all that needed to be said has been. Thanks Steve :-)

[mikem]

Perhaps this is a question for another thread, but I'm sticking it here

The few times that I've shipped reptiles, I've always used SYR and with my last shipment, I tried ReptilesExpress. If I ever decide to become a certified shipper, I would only be allowed to ship to other businesses? My reading comprehension may not be up to par this morning, but that's how I read it from this thread. What are the advantages of being a certified shipper versus just using SYR or ReptileExpress?

[EasternGirl]

Wow...I had to scroll through a lot of pages of arguing...just saying....anyway, I just got shipping materials from SYR...who have a license to ship through Fed ex. From what I understand, it is not illegal to ship non-venomous reptiles...but Fed ex and UPS will often refuse to do it unless the shipping co. has a special license to do so. With that being said, many people ship without using a company such as SYR. I am using them because it is my first time shipping and I wanted all of the shipping materials and so forth. I appreciate your first post, Richard, as I was wondering about SYR telling me to poke holes in the box and through the insulation foam. I was also wondering whether or not I should use the heat pack they provided. SYR will not ship if it is below freezing...so I think I am going to simply pack the snakes up in the insulated box inside the snake bags provided...put some packing peanuts around them so they can't get jossled around, and then seal up the box without poking holes or putting in the heat pack. I know that my main breeder, Jason, packs using insulation...and he doesn't poke holes in the box or insulation. He only uses heat packs if absolutely necessary...but he does not use the oxygen activated ones like SYR supplies. I like SYR because they will come to your house to pick up the package, and they are allowed to mark the package "Live reptiles"...so I know that care is being taken when handling the package. Anyway, thanks for the info.

And OMG...Mike...I just read your quote on your signature line! Too monkey fighting funny!!!!

[twgrosmick]

they are allowed to mark the package "Live reptiles"...so I know that care is being taken when handling the package.

Unfortunately this isn't always the case. I know people who have shipped both ways with live reptile on the side and just perishable on the side and occasionally the reptiles ones would get thrown around more...

Just like at an airport you can mark something fragile, but if someone is having a bad day...

[ConcinusMan]

they are allowed to mark the package "Live reptiles"...so I know that care is being taken when handling the package.

You're kidding right? I used to work for FedEx transferring the packages from plane to truck and visa-versa. They treat the packages the same, regardless of the "fragile" or "live" labels and I gotta tell you, they are far from gentle. Packages get thrown, dropped, slammed on the floor, etc. every day. Quite often, packages bust open and we would have to re-tape them. They don't care about careful handling. Moving them swiftly is all they care about. And yeah, there's even a-holes that will treat a package worse if it says "LIVE" anything on it.

[Robyn@TRR]

You're kidding right? I used to work for FedEx transferring the packages from plane to truck and visa-versa. They treat the packages the same, regardless of the "fragile" or "live" labels and I gotta tell you, they are far from gentle. Packages get thrown, dropped, slammed on the floor, etc. every day. Quite often, packages bust open and we would have to re-tape them. They don't care about careful handling. Moving them swiftly is all they care about. And yeah, there's even a-holes that will treat a package worse if it says "LIVE" anything on it.

This is absolutely correct. There is NOTHING you can write on the box that gets you "preferred" treatment. No one is going to deliver your box on a goose down pillow.

But that's ok.

You can ship reptiles because they do well in the shipping process. You can't ship puppies the same way, because they don't. The reptile packaging protects the animals from the inevitable jostling, tumbling and conveyer belt madness that they WILL be subject to. And if the animal is packaged properly, it will be fine.

A FedEx handler or driver handles a thousand (or ten thousand) packages a day. They want to get their job done quickly and efficiently.

What you really want is NO special attention. Let the proper packaging do its job. Just get the package to the destination on time, that is the only goal. CM is correct, raising eyebrows with big red garish labeling that says "BE CAREFUL OF MY SNAKE!" is only going to attract negative attention, and reptile phobic attention. You ARE required by federal law (the Lacey Act) to properly label the outside of your box, and we cover that in our Get Help section, but it doesn't have to be in giant red letters, and again, nothing you write on the box is going to get you more "prefered" handling.

If you have appropriate expectations of the shipping process, you give yourself the best chance of success. Time spent worrying about "Fragile" or "Be Careful" labeling is better spent on ensuring the animal is properly protected inside the box, it is taped up well, address is 100% complete, includes unit or apartment numbers, the stuff that really matters : )

When you do YOUR part properly, the booking and packaging, and let FedEx do their part, the transport, your package will be delivered safely and on time 99.99% of the time.