I have been seeing postage prices in GRM NYG photos, so I thought I would pass this on.
pirateship.com is essentially a corporate discount shipping account. By that I mean you get the same 10% off of USPS and UPS that you get as an eBay seller shipping through eBay and other similar things. Some of the "non-standard" shipping sizes can be much more than 10% off for USPS.
Pirateship is (or at least started as) a partnership with Pitney Bowes, which is not a fly-by-night company. Link
The pirateship.com website used to mention Pitney Bowes ownership or similar about this time last year, but no longer does.
Anyways, it is a way to save some money and print your USPS label at home, and not lose your tracking info. I have used them for a couple of years now and have been happy so far, YMMV, but there ya go.
Note: the link is to a Pitney Bowes press release.
I just used Pirateship the first time in Jan. I think I'd heard of it here on GRM.
My sister in law was visiting over the holidays. While here, she bought a college logo sweatahirt. What she didn't realize until she got home to NH was that there was a security tag afixed to the sweater.
She mailed the sweatshirt here. I took it to the store for removal and mailed it back to her.
She paid $10.05 to send it NH to OH. She bought at the USPS counter.
I repacked the same envelope and labeled it off Pirateship... $8.60
I like this. I occasionally sell on eBay, for some reason I thought I was paying more than at the post office if I bought my postage and label on eBay. I'll have to look at both options.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Ebay gives a pretty nice discount, particularly on Priority Mail. I had been running my shipments to the post office, but after I looked at how much cheaper it was to buy postage through ebay, I print it all at home.
Cooter
PowerDork
2/3/22 10:03 a.m.
I tied my eBay account with PirateShip years ago. It's usually the same or cheaper than eBay, and has options that aren't included for eBay shopping. The recently included UPS discounts are nice, as well.
I've used UPS a handful of times recently. If measure & weigh your package at home and print the label through your personal account I've been able to apply 40% discounts to the purchase a few times. It's been much less expensive than expected.
I switched to PirateShip when PayPal moved to ShipStation, which never worked right for me.
PirateShip is awesome. Their rates are great, and the interface is great. I have never looked back.
The integrated pickup scheduling feature is also really nice. I schedule free USPS pickups all the time and it's way faster than having to go through the USPS website. Also, the usual charge for UPS to do a residential pickup is $11. Through PirateShip, it's $3.80. I have taken advantage of that a few times to ship big, heavy stuff, or just to avoid a special trip to the UPS store. Totally worth it.
