r/shipping

Hey everyone,

I have a few colleagues flying into Bangkok over the coming months and I'd love to surprise them with a small welcome package waiting at their hotel when they check in.

Nothing crazy — think a bottle of water, some local snacks, a small practical item or two (mosquito repellent, that kind of thing). Something that says "welcome to Bangkok, here's what you need for your first night."

The tricky part is I'm not based in Bangkok myself, so I need someone local who can:

• Source a few simple items
• Pack them nicely
• Drop them off at a hotel reception before a given date, addressed to the guest's name

Has anyone done something like this before? Is there a local service, a gifting company, or even just someone reliable who handles this kind of thing?

Happy to pay fairly for the sourcing, packing and delivery. Ideally looking for something that could work repeatedly since I have several colleagues coming throughout the year.

Any recommendations welcome — companies, freelancers, whatever works!

Thanks 🙏

Is there anyone who has a CFR map? I’ve heard some schools give out cheat sheets to find the info you need or some ditty to help you remember. Any advice in general for hawsepipe would be great. I have Upgrade U, and the Practical Navigator bundle. I will get Lapware in a couple of months.

The default assumption in ecommerce is that sea freight wins on cost and air freight is for urgent restocks or high-margin exceptions. The more we've modeled this out across different product scenarios, the more conditional that turns out to be.

For air freight, the per-unit shipping cost is higher, sometimes significantly depending on product weight and destination, that part is accurate. But sea freight carries costs that are less visible in a standard rate comparison: ocean transit runs 4 to 6 weeks, customs clearance adds time, domestic trucking from port to 3PL adds more, and capital is sitting idle through all of it without generating revenue. That idle capital has a real cost even if it doesn't show up on a freight invoice.

For electronics brands like ours, there's an obsolescence risk layer that sea freight comparisons rarely account for. A 2 to 3 month pipeline means making product bets 90 days before they generate revenue, and in a category where a competitor launch can shift the market mid-transit, that lag should carry a cost in the model.

Portless and similar China 3PLs ship from China using air freight to customers, with delivery to the US at 5 to 8 business days on standard and per-order cost running about 20% higher than domestic ground from a US 3PL, while ocean freight, domestic receiving, and long-term storage costs drop from the model entirely.

The math on air freight for ecommerce depends on product weight, margin, and how you value the capital sitting idle in your supply chain. Brands defaulting to sea without modeling the full cost often aren't as far ahead on unit economics as they think.

i’ve come across myus .com - havent used them so unsure

would appreciate any advise for companies that you can ship from a US store to them and then they ship to UK 🤞

Hi and thanks for reading/commenting. So I've decided to use Chitchats Shipping to export some items that I've sold from Canada to the US. I'm in Canada. My question is: is there anything other then just the standard address label that needs to be affixed to the package? It always says somewhere "All Packages to be imported into the US needs to have country of origin" That info isn't on the shipping label so how do I get the package to include that information?

I really appreciate all the help.

Will be moving across states - anyone have recent experience with pirateship? will be packing large boxes from home depot with house hold stuff and clothes. Are they reliable?

Need to get a Yamaha xt250 from Sioux Falls SD to Hood River OR. It is available immediately- open trailers or however is easiest works for me. Poor college student who needs some help on short notice, can’t afford 1,000+ to have it shipped.

So idk how I’ll be able to do it but my bfs bday is coming up and I need help to ship his gift so he’s in Belgium and I’m in Pakistan I asked chat gpt and it said I can ship it through Pakistan post office for like 3000 but it arrives late honestly that isn’t a problem the problem is I ordered the perfume of his choice and I can’t ship the perfume because like it is labelled as hazardous and I don’t know how else to ship it because like I have to ship it I have ordered it already. I’ve paid everything and I can’t keep it to myself. I have to give it to him and another way is that I send it through his mother who is like sending him a PS5 through like their relatives and I think that’s a good thing, but I’ll have to sacrifice my privacy but there is no nothing private about this but I’ll have to justify why I’m sending it and I don’t know it’s like weird maybe like I won’t be able to send it through that way as well because like I’m not that closer to his mother and also that ChatGPT told me that I cannot send perfumes through the Pakistan post office because it is not allowed so what should I do? And honestly dhl costs an arm and a leg I don’t have that sort of money so help me.

I've heard of people getting 2 day down pretty low, kind of irritating because I got my guy to get me down to about 8.50 then the prices went up for FedEx and now it's like 9.75 and also next days went up a bit. I'm trying to see if there is more wiggle room my FedEx rep isn't giving to me. I do about 40-50 packages a day Mondays usually 60-80. Half are 2 day and the other half is next days. I know it's not a ton like some places but it's alot for a small buisness like mine. So just was curious if anyone doesn't mind giving out their pricing.

Ordered clothes from a Japan proxy, sent it through Speedx, read all the horror stories on this thread.

I got my package in a timely manner. Shipped out May 4th, at my doorstep by May 14th.

Unfortunately reaching out to their chat or escalating a delayed packaged or creating a ticket does absolutely nothing. It's just luck that i got it, but wanted to let others know that Speedx doesn't lose every single package. sometimes it does just show up.

Hello. I recently ordered an exhaust system for my car. package is still in transit, shipped via UPS Ground. The tracking states it will deliver tomorrow, but that the package has been damaged. This item requires a signa in person.

Whats making me nervous is that on the sellers site it states : “When receiving a shipment, please inspect packages immediately in the presence of the delivery person. Damage claims must be made with the freight carrier within 3 (three) days of receiving items. (We) insure all orders over $100 and are not responsible for any damages incurred in transit.”

How can I be responsible for damage incurred in transit? Especially if I end up refusing delivery? Isn’t it the seller who entered into a “contract“ with the carrier?

Has anyone dealt with anything like this?

thanks!!

Hi guys, I've just started my small business in selling furniture, any recommendations for local/international/3PL shipping companies? I've used Fedex but 2/3 orders were damaged T.T

#furniture #shipping #US

Moving from Washington DC area/Maryland to Newcastle Uk. I realize there are companies that have been recommended through this subreddit, but I’d love guidance on moving options.. pods, pallets, containers etc. We are not taking any furniture and plan to sell most of our stuff. Family of 4 with a 5 and 7 year old. Clothing, 2-3 boxes of kitchen pots that are pricy, a few toys, books, a few decorative items and frames (3 boxes). Depending on options, maybe their bike/scooter and a piano (I know!) but also happy to do without. We are wondering if shipping containers are the only reliable option, or are there other options if we really whitttle down what we take. Also, we’re looking to move by end of June and I realize that’s a little rushed. Thanks for any and all guidance!! If you have specific companies to recommend/avoid, that’s also much appreciated.

I’ve been trying to understand how shipping actually works in India for small sellers especially the difference between using Shiprocket and directly using India Post.

When I click ship order on Shiprocket I’m still a bit confused about what actually happens in the background like how the courier is assigned, how pickup works and whether it’s reliable for someone just starting out. Also wondering if it works smoothly in smaller towns or if it’s mainly built for metro cities.

I would love to hear real experiences from people who have used it.