I used square tubes but in the last year they’ve tripled, they have gone down a little bit in the last couple months. I did some research, UPS jumps to $21 when you go up to 49″ long, USPS stays the same up to 7′ long

Just wondering where you get your tubes. I will gladly switch to ups, as i find their prices much more attractive, especially on packages weighing more than 2 pounds. But i can’t seem to find reasonably priced shipping tubes.

I made that comment, let me revise, UPS does pick up packages but charges $40 PER week as long as it adds up to over $75 worth of packages. While I was getting the info from UPS there was an actual rooster crowing in the back ground and someone who barely spook English.
A package today measuring 48x4x4, from MO to NC using ebay’s label:
UPS-$8.40
USPS-$23.24
Fedex-$17.88

Adding $15 to the market price of a $20 item is not exactly Marketing 101.

This quote contains a few inaccrate statements. UPS and FedEx will most certainly pickup at your home or business. If it is not an overnight or 2nd day package, there is a charge. Also, there are no “surprise” extra mile fees added into UPS. My bill for picking up my packages is the same, it never changes. The actual cost to ship a packages is determined at the time I purchase the shipping label. It is pretty consistant.

I ship tubes and cubes from 26 inches in length to 38″ in length. I use UPS and have been since the beginning of the 2021 Christmas rush. USPS was destoying 30% of my packages that were shipped in their triangle Priority Mail Tubes. When I switched over to UPS, I rarely get damaged shipments.

For online sellers, there is an easy fix. Use UPS ground, it takes the same amount of time as Priority Mail (I have not had a Priority Mail package delivered in under 7 days since Dec 2021). No surcharges. Tell your customers that use a PO Box, to use the street address of the PO box instead. Then UPS will deliver the package to the post office for you.

This removes the pay raise that Etsy and other online marketplaces get with the new surcharge. I clearly state in my listing, that I only ship UPS. Because I use a flat shipping rate, the new surcharges will not automatically apply to me.

If you find a decent source of non USPS shipping tubes, let us know…..I would gladly ship hiking/ski poles via UPS, but I could not find an affordable alternative to the free Priority Mail tubes that the PO provided. But I am not going to pay $5 or $6 or more for a box….just not worth it.

It is indeed regrettable that the Post Office does not want to deal with long tubes. I have not had any problems with shipping these tubes – the Post Office has delivered them in a fairly timely manner. I understand that they may be a hassle for the PO to deliver, but there are lots of us ebay sellers of hiking/ski poles, fishing rods, posters etc. You would think that the brainiacs at the USPS might try to accommodate us sellers instead of driving down this shipping category.

I pulled 185 fishing rods Saturday morning. A couple of us discussed how busy the boards are going to get this week from sellers that didn’t see the shipping change.