Shipping Books Across the USA

[YudiG]

Anyone have experience doing so and can recommend a company?

Anyone know the approximate cost for 450 pounds of books from NY to LA?

TIA

[AJK]

Try USPS media mail.

[Dan]

Try USPS media mail.

+1

[YudiG]

thanks...problem is everyone seems to ask for dimensions of boxes...i only have the weight at this point as I havent packed it up...is there any way to just get a price per pound?

[Saver2000]

thanks...problem is everyone seems to ask for dimensions of boxes...i only have the weight at this point as I havent packed it up...is there any way to just get a price per pound?

IME, Dimensions don't make the price change unless the package is oversized.
(My experience is with priority mail and regular mail. I've never used media mail.)

Try entering a few different dimensions and see if the price  changes.

[Name Changed]

Media Mail wil deff be the cheapest

Keep in mind:
The maximum size of an item in combined length plus girth (distance around the thickest part) is 108 inches.

[ordinary joe]

You may want to consider paying a bulk skid rate and having the items ship via freight. I would be quite surprised if you were to find competitive rates with either of the regular carriers including UPS, FedEx or USPS for this much weight shipping ground etc whereas with a freight company you can pay per skid and perhaps even take advantage of that by shipping additional stuff as well.

Another thing worth considering is if you know anyone in your area that owns a business - family, friends etc that do a lot of shipping they will have special rates for these types of items and you may be able to save a bunch by shipping under their account.

Btw as a side note if you are looking for packing supplies - i believe someone requested this earlier try this company theboxery.com. They have a few location but main is in NY for all those NY people out there.

Best,

[madopo]

I've used Media mail from NY to San Diego and paid approx. $30 a box (I'm quite sure the weight limit for the boxes I used which were the "standard" size egg/ challah type grocery boxes was 30 pounds) after taxes arrived in 1 week. You might want to look at some moving companies though with that weight. also try posting/looking on hillygram.com if anyone is driving/has a lift coming from Ny, this happens more often than you would think.

[YudiG]

I've used Media mail from NY to San Diego and paid approx. $30 a box (I'm quite sure the weight limit for the boxes I used which were the "standard" size egg/ challah type grocery boxes was 30 pounds) after taxes arrived in 1 week. You might want to look at some moving companies though with that weight. also try posting/looking on hillygram.com if anyone is driving/has a lift coming from Ny, this happens more often than you would think.

thanks...would those boxes fit books?...seems like you're from LA if you're reccomending Hillygram ...i've got an ad running so we'll see what happens.

[ordinary joe]

While technically you can use any size box when mailing books the recommended book size that movers typically use is approx a 16''x12''x10''. An egg box is approx 24x12x12. One other thing to consider is the larger the box the heavier it will be due to more books fitting inside. Standard boxes can hold approx 40-45lbs so if you feel your box will weigh more you may want to pack in a heavy duty box maybe even a doublewall corrugated box. Standard egg boxes you get at the groceries are not the best choice as they are not designed for cross country shipping.

[madopo]

thanks...would those boxes fit books?...seems like you're from LA if you're reccomending Hillygram ...i've got an ad running so we'll see what happens.

Yes, shipped sforim etc. be careful though they can fine you HEAVILY if you send even a few papers. Only Books CD's tapes. Stop by any post office,they'll give you the standard dimensions (as it needs to be under a certain size) and pick up boxes elsewhere! also try advertising on luach.com