How to Lower the Price of Shipping Holiday Gifts

None of us like to pay shipping and handling fees, but the reality is that it's expensive to send stuff in the mail. The postage is bad enough, but when you include the cost of the box, insurance, the price of the packing material and peanuts, it's no big surprise that the cost of shipping ends up exceeding the value of the item itself.

Sending gifts in the mail doesn't have to be expensive, but it does take a little foresight and planning.

Lowering the cost of postage

Most of us are so used to sending things priority or first class mail, we often forget that there other classifications of mail as well.

For my relatives, I use U.S. parcel post. Parcel post, also know as ground, is the least expensive way to ship anything around the United States. Shipping time takes between 2-9 business days (longer in the month of December) but the savings can be significant, especially if shipping heavy parcels or parcels to rural areas. When I owned an on-line store, parcel post consistantly was the cheapest method of shipping, even when compared to UPS.

For books, videos, or sound recording devices, US. Media Mail is a great way to ship these heavy items. You can't be tucking in a box of cookies or a bunch of letters however! To reap the best savings, ship the media in one box, and send the card and Christmas goodies in another.

Free packing material and boxes

Peanuts and bubble wrap are expensive to buy. However, with some advanced planning, you usually can scrounge enough to safely mail those parcels.

Neighborhood dollar stores, thrift stores, or gift stores often have more air pouches, shipping material, and boxes then they know what to do with. I used to hit the dumpsters in the afternoon and find incredible quantities of packing material. If you can't bring yourself to dumpster diving, go around to the front and ask if the clerks for their unneeded packing material and boxes.

In addition to hitting the dumpsters for packing peanuts, why not begin saving that shredded paper? Shredded paper makes great packing material, along with the styrofoam forms that come with new electronics, and cardboard pieces folded into wedges. Newspaper will also work, but only for lightweight, non-fragile items.

If your parcels are between 13oz and 4 pounds, priority mail postage costs aren't that much more than parcel post. However, the real advantage of shipping priority mail is that priority mail boxes, labels, and packing tape are all free from the US Post Office.

Most Post office kiosks have a pretty limited supply of envelopes and boxes however, by visiting the US Post Office web site at www.usps.com, you can order boxes in a variety of sizes. Best of all, the post office will deliver these boxes directly to your doorstep at no cost. Box sizes range from shirt boxes, to shoeboxes, square 12 x 12 inch or 7 x 7 inch, tube, video sized, lightweight tyvec and so much more.

By shipping early and taking advantage of free packing material, you will be pleasantly surprised to discover that mailing those Holiday gifts doesn't have to be expensive.