[bikeboy389]

I don't know if anyone else has ever seen this, but it was news to me.

It's not well-known, but UPS actually tries to guarantee one-day delivery of standard ground packages within a certain distance of your location. There are similar zones for 2 and 3 days and up, though I don't know if they're guaranteed.

For me, this means that if I order something from a company in New Jersey, say, I can select UPS Ground shipping and still expect UPS to have it to my house the next day (or worst case, the day after that). I'd be wasting my money to pay for overnight or second day--I'll get that anyway.

But I hear you say, "We love this concept, and you for bringing it to us, but how on earth can we take advantage of this? How are we to know who's close enough to us to get this fast service, oh wise and benevolent one?" OK, maybe those aren't your exact words,but still.

It's SO easy. Go to UPS.com and get the UPS Ground Time-in-Transit Map for your zipcode.

Here's the page:

http://www.ups.com/maps?loc=en_US&WT.svl=SubNav

Fill in your zip and click "shipped to this zipcode,", get your map, and prepare to potentially save some money on fast shipping. Bear in mind, of course, that this will depend on how fast your seller gets the items picked, packed and shipped, and I wouldn't try to hold UPS to their guarantee on this, but hey--overnight shipping for Ground cost! I ordered some guitar stuff shipped ground from a company in New Jersey, and it came the next day. It really, really works!

 

[Bocephus Jones II]

I don't know if anyone else has ever seen this, but it was news to me.

It's not well-known, but UPS actually tries to guarantee one-day delivery of standard ground packages within a certain distance of your location. There are similar zones for 2 and 3 days and up, though I don't know if they're guaranteed.

For me, this means that if I order something from a company in New Jersey, say, I can select UPS Ground shipping and still expect UPS to have it to my house the next day (or worst case, the day after that). I'd be wasting my money to pay for overnight or second day--I'll get that anyway.

But I hear you say, "We love this concept, and you for bringing it to us, but how on earth can we take advantage of this? How are we to know who's close enough to us to get this fast service, oh wise and benevolent one?" OK, maybe those aren't your exact words,but still.

It's SO easy. Go to UPS.com and get the UPS Ground Time-in-Transit Map for your zipcode.

Here's the page:

http://www.ups.com/maps?loc=en_US&WT.svl=SubNav

Fill in your zip and click "shipped to this zipcode,", get your map, and prepare to potentially save some money on fast shipping. Bear in mind, of course, that this will depend on how fast your seller gets the items picked, packed and shipped, and I wouldn't try to hold UPS to their guarantee on this, but hey--overnight shipping for Ground cost! I ordered some guitar stuff shipped ground from a company in New Jersey, and it came the next day. It really, really works!

yup...my dad runs an Interet biz and he taught me this. Good advice for those who son't want to waste their $$ though.

 

[terry b]

I learned that the hard way. I use Excelsports pretty regularly for parts. They're 500 miles up I25 from me. I like to get stuff fast, so for the longest time I'd cough up the extra $5 for 2nd day. On one order, I accidentally chose regular ground. Package got here in 2 days.

Thanks for the link - I'll have to start thinking about the zones with all shipments.

 

[MR_GRUMPY]

"It's not well-known"
.
I knew that.
I've got a map next to my desk that shows how many days from Chicago to anywhere, or the reverse.
(Two days--Atlanta, Three days--Denver, Four days--LA)

 

[bikeboy389]

"It's not well-known"
.
I knew that.
I've got a map next to my desk that shows how many days from Chicago to anywhere, or the reverse.
(Two days--Atlanta, Three days--Denver, Four days--LA)

Not everybody works in the shipping room, dude.

 

[sbindra]

From Where?

You do not always know where stuff is coming from, especially for internet dealers. I ordered somthing from an internet seller located in MN by overnight FedEx to NYC and it was actually shipped from Albany, NY. With UPS, it might have been 1 day, maximum 2, but I thought it was coming from MN.

 

[johngfoster]

"It's not well-known"
.
I knew that.
I've got a map next to my desk that shows how many days from Chicago to anywhere, or the reverse.
(Two days--Atlanta, Three days--Denver, Four days--LA)

I didn't know this. Thanks for the link. I will definitely use it in the future. Thanks.

 

[bikeboy389]

You do not always know where stuff is coming from, especially for internet dealers. I ordered somthing from an internet seller located in MN by overnight FedEx to NYC and it was actually shipped from Albany, NY. With UPS, it might have been 1 day, maximum 2, but I thought it was coming from MN.

There are a couple of things to look at in this instance.

Your item may have been a drop ship item, meaning it came directly from the manufacturer and not the retailer. There are usually three reasons an item is drop ship: It's oversized; it's personalized; or the retailer doesn't keep ANY stock and dropships everything. Typically, though, retailers won't allow expedited shipping on drop ship items, and will say something to that effect in the product description.

More likely is that your retailer's business office is not in the same place as their fulfillment. Many catalog and online companies contract with other companies to warehouse and ship their items. This is what my company does--we have an office in Minnesota where the items are chosen and catalogs laid out, an office in Maryland where we run the website, and our fulfillment/shipping is in Ohio. You might find a MN or MD address for the company, but your package is gonna come from OH.

In that case, you can usually find out where it's shipping from by checking what their returns address is. The vast majority of the time items are to be returned to the fulfillment center where they were shipped from in the first place.

And of course you could call the company and just ask where they ship from. It's hardly ever a state secret.

 

[The The]

It's just too bad UPS screws up so often. Otherwise I'd feel more inclined to use them.

 

[CNY rider]

Similar insight about Amazon.com shipping. You can usually pick the free shipping or the expensive shipping.

Pick the free shipping, and they feed you some BS about when your item will ship i.e. like in a week, then it will take another week to get to you. Baloney. Comes just as quick as any of the more expensive options. My last order was on my doorstep before the date they said they would ship it.