Cardinal Sins of UPS Shipping
Q) Should I wrap my package in brown paper before bringing it to the store to ship?
A) NO, NO, NO! Brown paper is cardinal sin #1 in UPS shipping. The ONLY thing on the outside of a box should be the label that we print in the store with the "ship from" and "ship to" information on it. If you wrap a package in brown paper, and the package goes along the conveyor belt during the sorting process in several hub facilities, it has the potential to be bumping against packages that are up to 150 pounds next to it. All of this bumping tends to tear the brown paper. By the time your package arrives at the end of the assembly line, it has no paper on it and therefore no label. Now we have a box at the end of the line and we have no idea to where it should be shipped.
Q) Should I place string around the box to keep it sealed tightly?
A) NO, NO, NO! Tying packages with string is cardinal sin #2 in UPS shipping. There should be a corrugated box on the outside of the items being shipped and nothing else but the shipping label. Cross out the bar codes on any other labels on the outside of the box (no need to remove them - it hurts the integrity of the corrugate when you pull labels off the box).
Q) Can I use a shirt box or shoe box for shipping?
A) NO, NO, NO! Shirt boxes and shoes boxes, although they fit the shirt or shoes that are inside perfectly, are NOT for shipping. The ONLY type of box for shipping is a corrugated box with a certification seal on the bottom of the box (we'll cover the seal information in a future post).
Q) Can I send wrapped presents?
A) YES and NO. If you package the wrapped presents in a corrugated box, they are fine for shipping. If you bring a wrapped present to The UPS Store for shipping and we offer packaging service to have the item shipped, don't be offended... see answer #1 for an explanation.
Q) Can I ship the product back in the envelope in which it was shipped to me?
A) YES, if you seal the envelope tightly and there are no tears in the envelope, feel free to reuse it.
Q) Doesn't UPS provide FREE supplies for shipping items?
A) YES, but only if you are sending the items via AIR service (Next Day Air or Second Day Air). Free supplies include letter size envelopes, legal size envelopes, bubble mailers, and small, medium, or large boxes.
A) NO, NO, NO! Brown paper is cardinal sin #1 in UPS shipping. The ONLY thing on the outside of a box should be the label that we print in the store with the "ship from" and "ship to" information on it. If you wrap a package in brown paper, and the package goes along the conveyor belt during the sorting process in several hub facilities, it has the potential to be bumping against packages that are up to 150 pounds next to it. All of this bumping tends to tear the brown paper. By the time your package arrives at the end of the assembly line, it has no paper on it and therefore no label. Now we have a box at the end of the line and we have no idea to where it should be shipped.
Q) Should I place string around the box to keep it sealed tightly?
A) NO, NO, NO! Tying packages with string is cardinal sin #2 in UPS shipping. There should be a corrugated box on the outside of the items being shipped and nothing else but the shipping label. Cross out the bar codes on any other labels on the outside of the box (no need to remove them - it hurts the integrity of the corrugate when you pull labels off the box).
Q) Can I use a shirt box or shoe box for shipping?
A) NO, NO, NO! Shirt boxes and shoes boxes, although they fit the shirt or shoes that are inside perfectly, are NOT for shipping. The ONLY type of box for shipping is a corrugated box with a certification seal on the bottom of the box (we'll cover the seal information in a future post).
Q) Can I send wrapped presents?
A) YES and NO. If you package the wrapped presents in a corrugated box, they are fine for shipping. If you bring a wrapped present to The UPS Store for shipping and we offer packaging service to have the item shipped, don't be offended... see answer #1 for an explanation.
Q) Can I ship the product back in the envelope in which it was shipped to me?
A) YES, if you seal the envelope tightly and there are no tears in the envelope, feel free to reuse it.
Q) Doesn't UPS provide FREE supplies for shipping items?
A) YES, but only if you are sending the items via AIR service (Next Day Air or Second Day Air). Free supplies include letter size envelopes, legal size envelopes, bubble mailers, and small, medium, or large boxes.
posted by Shipping Information at 8:17 AM
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