# Costs of shipping a Tivo



## replaytv

I just shipped a Tivo from Denver to Florida, and it was $21.61 with the US Post Office, or over $40 with UPS(I didn't ship with them, but I took it over to a UPS shipper to see how they compared). 
How are people showing shipping charges of $10 or $15 on ebay and not having to pay out of their pocket the difference? And that doesn't take in account my costs of packing and taking it over there!
Am I missing something?


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## whitepelican

I sold a bunch of Tivos on ebay last year. I found UPS to be a little cheaper than the USPS. I usually paid around $15 to ship cross country via UPS Ground. The couple of times I tried to use the post office, it was about $18. You didn't happen to have a couple of gold bars sitting in the bottom of those boxes did you?


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## brettatk

Yeah, not sure where you got your UPS information. I just checked online at ups.com and to send a 7 lb package from Denver to Florida will cost $13 using UPS ground. Were you sending them next day or 2nd day? If so then there lies your answer.


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## replaytv

hmmm.... I don't know what the problem was. I had heard many Tivos were damaged in shipping, so I double boxed it. That made it bigger. 
No, I ask both clerks for the cheapest mode of transport with insurance, so don't know where the problem is. 
I went out and got the receipt, and it shows $21.61 with insurance. Weight is 14lbs 4 oz. 
Hmmm... looks like that double boxing really upped the weight. Do U send the Tivos just in the original box that they come in?
Have U ever had one damaged? Especially the hard drive?


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## gthassell

The other factor that can really cause rates for UPS or FedEx to shoot up is "dimensional weight." Once the sum of the L, W, and H dimension are above a certain total length, most carriers price as if the packaged weighed a higher weight than they actually do, sometimes increasing the cost by a factor of 2 times or more. 

So it may not be about the double boxing per se, but about the size of the second box.

-todd


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## replaytv

The Tivo that I shipped I sold to a fellow tivo community member, and he says that it works fine, so at least the hard drive wasn't damaged. That was really what I was worried about, as I had read about them being damaged from sales on ebay. 
Maybe I will take another Tivo over to UPS without a box and see how much they want to box and ship. Then if it is damaged in shipment they have to pay. 
I did take a unboxed Tivo over when I did ship this last Tivo and I thought he quoted me $40, but the clerk seemed a little 'cornfused', so maybe I will try another UPS location.


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## mtims

I was going to suggest you use UPS is cheaper for me except once, would have been $24 at post office $17 at UPS (the usual difference) but this once there was a $8!!!! area surcharge at UPS store there is always a $1 fuel surcharge. I assume the guy I was shipping to lived in the boonies I asked him he never answered. Double boxing is always better I think what got you was the size of the outer box, it was exceptionally large and like gthassell said may have been bumped higher because of dimension not weight. Was very well packed and that is certainty better than being damaged. UPS seems to be more gentle to packages than USPS as well.


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## shwru980r

replaytv said:


> Maybe I will take another Tivo over to UPS without a box and see how much they want to box and ship. Then if it is damaged in shipment they have to pay.
> I did take a unboxed Tivo over when I did ship this last Tivo and I thought he quoted me $40, but the clerk seemed a little 'cornfused', so maybe I will try another UPS location.


You'll pay through the nose for them to pack the item for you. It's cheaper to get your own box and pack it yourself. Ask a computer store or a consumer electronics store if they have any boxes they are throwing out.


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