A news story about UPS adding 50,000 employees to help with the holiday season reminded me that I better get my Christmas shopping (and shipping) started soon. Living in Alaska, I normally just ship with the US Postal Service because the rates are usually less expensive than others, but I thought it’d be worth a search to see what their competitors were charging these days.
I found several free online tools that can help save time and money when you want to compare shipping costs and delivery speeds among the most popular carriers. I did a test run on several sites, and below are the two that I was most impressed with for ease of use.
Shipwizz.com
I really liked the simplicity (and look) of this site. Enter your shipping zip codes (where you’re shipping from and to), your package dimensions and weight, click “Get Rates” and the rates for same day, next day, 2-day, 3-5 days, and one week delivery are shown for major carriers. And yes, “they have an app for that.”
If you do a lot of shipping throughout the year, shipwizz.com offers shipping analytics reports that can help you evaluate shipping costs and distribution centre performance, identify bottlenecks and improve rates negotiations.
Shippingsidekick.com
Clicking on this link takes you to a page to select whether you’re a business customer (who ships 2 or more times a month) or a personal customer. I chose the personal rates page since I wanted to compare them to shipwizz.
You have to enter a little bit more information than shipwizz.com, such as whether you’re shipping in your own packaging material (but it didn’t ask for dimensions) and the drop off/pick up method, but the form is still fairly simple and quick to fill out. Rates and delivery times for UPS, USPS, and FedEx® shipping are calculated based on the information you provide (shipping prices are shown for domestic shipments only and are retail list shipping rates).
One caveat I’ll throw in here is to always double check with the carrier for any restrictions. You’d hate for your freshly baked fruitcake not to arrive at its final destination in time to be enjoyed this holiday season!
I found several free online tools that can help save time and money when you want to compare shipping costs and delivery speeds among the most popular carriers. I did a test run on several sites, and below are the two that I was most impressed with for ease of use.
Shipwizz.com
I really liked the simplicity (and look) of this site. Enter your shipping zip codes (where you’re shipping from and to), your package dimensions and weight, click “Get Rates” and the rates for same day, next day, 2-day, 3-5 days, and one week delivery are shown for major carriers. And yes, “they have an app for that.”
If you do a lot of shipping throughout the year, shipwizz.com offers shipping analytics reports that can help you evaluate shipping costs and distribution centre performance, identify bottlenecks and improve rates negotiations.
Shippingsidekick.com
Clicking on this link takes you to a page to select whether you’re a business customer (who ships 2 or more times a month) or a personal customer. I chose the personal rates page since I wanted to compare them to shipwizz.
You have to enter a little bit more information than shipwizz.com, such as whether you’re shipping in your own packaging material (but it didn’t ask for dimensions) and the drop off/pick up method, but the form is still fairly simple and quick to fill out. Rates and delivery times for UPS, USPS, and FedEx® shipping are calculated based on the information you provide (shipping prices are shown for domestic shipments only and are retail list shipping rates).
One caveat I’ll throw in here is to always double check with the carrier for any restrictions. You’d hate for your freshly baked fruitcake not to arrive at its final destination in time to be enjoyed this holiday season!
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