What is the best way to ship Lego sets across the US?   By best I mean best combination of shipping cost and packaging for minimal damage.

 

Thanks!

Rick

fedex

All three of the big carriers (FedEx, UPS, and USPS) employ convicted felons with anger management problems and savage chimpanzees who've been kicked out of respectable zoos, so as far as "minimal damage", there's no difference. On the other hand, once you learn how to pack items properly, the vast majority of your packages will get to the recipients just fine, in spite of the package handling employees' best efforts.

 

Cost wise, I hear Fed Ex. 

Depends on too many factors. Size, distance, and weight all play a part. Sometimes it costs the same to ship priority USPS as it does FedEx Shart Post. Ebay makes it easy to shop the carriers at the time of shipping.

If I can't send something via USPS First Class Mail, I look at three factors in deciding how to ship:

 

size: will the set fit in a USPS Priority Mail box, or reasonable combination of boxes?  Not flat rate boxes - 99% of the time, that's a scam.  I imagine that some will say that it's better to spend time or money to get plain cardboard boxes for all shipments, however the PM boxes work for me for most sets, they get delivered right to my door, and they get picked up right from my door. 

 

weight: anything more than 4-5 pounds, and I think FedEx is a better option than USPS Priority (for cost) or Parcel Post (for getting the item to a buyer in a reasonable amount of time, especially during the holidays)

 

value: I don't trust FedEx much more than USPS, however I think they are a little better at not destroying packages.  Plus they have better tracking, and better signature options.  So, for higher-value items, especially where that I want signature confirmation of delivery, I'll use FedEx.  

 

Usually, any set that exceeds any one of those three factors probably exceeds at least one of the others, if not both.  One excellent, recent example is the Architecture Studio set.

 

I admit that I haven't used FedEx Smartpost yet, as I haven't sold anything on eBay since that option became available, and if that is a viable option to USPS PM, I'm all for it.

I usually use USPS unless the box size exceeds their normal shipping rates at which point Fedex is cheaper.  I'm thinking the point at which it changes is when Length + (Width*height)  is greater than 108 inches