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Hey All,
So I've been buying/selling wheels for a bit now, and always scoffed at the enormous shipping costs. -eek-
So I did a little research, and I just wanted to share it with the rest of the Lotus community, because we are burning ourselves using the standard shipping methods to ship wheels/tires (250-350!!! ARG! The price of a wheel!)
These methods claim you can ship for < $100, a full 60lbs+ wheelset.
I will be giving this a shot soon, for the buyer of my LSS wheels.
Two links I read, and I'll post excerpts from both:
#1 Ship Wheels Cheaply - How to ship a set of wheels on the cheap!
#2 How To Ship Car Wheels With Rims and Tires On
[link no longer valid]
***
Excerpt #1
Have you ever seen one of those awesome deals on a slick set of wheels with tires on them – damn near brand new, no curb rash, 90% tread left on the tires – selling for about two-thirds of what they are truly worth? You get all excited about it, right? Start asking the seller if he will ship them to you because you live 1500 miles away. Then you get the shipping quote, $300.00! Man, now it’s not even worth it, you could get the same wheels brand new down the street at that price.
This begs the following questions:
Why do people charge so much to ship wheels?
Why do they charge even more when there are tires on the wheels?
How can I ship wheels for less than what UPS quotes me?
Let’s start at the root of the problem – The Carrier (typically UPS or Fed-Ex):
Most shipping companies will make you pay extra if they know you are shipping wheels. They justify the price increase by saying that an automobile wheel is odd-shaped and easily damaged, they call it an insurance charge. They will charge you even more still if there are tires on these wheels because of added weight and the probability of a punctured tire. I’ve even had a sales representative at a UPS store tell me I need to remove the valve stems from the wheels before I could ship them. I never got an explanation as to why, but I’m sure it made no sense.
Because of the difficulties when trying to package and ship wheels/tires at carriers' stores, people tend to get discouraged. Most sellers will refuse to ship their wheels because of the hassle involved. Some will just jack the price way up to compensate for all the extra work involved. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Here is a step-by-step method for shipping wheels AND tires (with the valve stems still on them) for under $100.00 And just to further prove my point, I am going to make my example wheels a little heavier than normal. I’m also going to ship them a long distance, from Indianapolis to Sacramento. I will be using UPS to ship my imaginary wheels.
The first thing you need to do is secure a commercial address that has a daily pickup. This is a simple task. You can ship them from your place of work, which is what I do. Most businesses have a daily UPS or FedEx pickup/drop-off. You just hand the packages to your driver and he takes it from there. If you don’t have a daily pickup at your place of employment, bring your packages to the UPS distribution center closest to you. DO NOT BRING THEM TO A UPS/FEDEX STORE! If you do this, you will screw yourself and end up paying big money. Distribution centers have customer service buildings that will take your packages as long as they are 100% ready to go, this means sealed up and labeled. It will also help if your buyer has a commercial address they can pick the wheels up at. UPS charges less to ship to a commercial address than they do to a residential address.
Next, you need a UPS online account. Go to UPS.com to sign up. Also, you will need a place to print off your labels, so, if you don’t have a printer, head for the library!
Now that you got the particulars out of the way you are ready to package up some wheels and tires! Damn, these wheels are heavy bastards – 55 pounds a piece. You will need four boxes, one for each wheel. You can get these for FREE from a local tire store – They typically throw them away! Just make sure you get some that are close to the size of what you’re shipping. Also, you can buy them from a mover (U-haul sells boxes) U-Haul: Moving supplies: Medium Moving Box
for less than 3 bucks each. Staples and Office Max also sell boxes for around that same price. Make sure your wheels fit snugly inside the boxes, don’t pick huge boxes for your wheels. I am using 18x18x16-inch boxes. I am going to cut the height down to about 10 inches so my wheels fit more securely in the package. So far I have spent around $12.00 to package up my wheels. I just used old newspapers to fill in the empty space inside my boxes. Also, don’t worry about deflating your tires all the way, just bring them down to about 10 psi.
Now that I’ve got my boxes all weighed and measured, I can get my labels printed off at UPS.com. Four boxes at 60 lbs a piece, and I am shipping them from Indianapolis IN, 46228 to Sacramento CA, 95843. I packaged them up myself and I am using UPS ground to get them there. My cost is $56.52 and it should only take 4-6 days for them to arrive at their destination.
It’s a little more if they are going to a residential address, but not much. About $64.53 to ship to someone’s home.
You can calculate your own shipment here:
https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?…&WT.svl=SubNav
Now I just print out my labels, secure them to the boxes with clear packaging tape, and either give them to my daily pick up or drop them off at a distribution center near me. Do not tell them that you are shipping wheels/tires! If the carrier finds out they are wheels and tires, they will hit you with a back charge.
I spent less than $70.00 to ship my wheels, and they were extremely heavy and going across the country!
I hope this helps some people out there when they sell or buy their next set of wheels. Remember, package your own wheels and tires, print your own labels, try to ship to a commercial address, and don’t tell the carrier what is in the box!
***
Excerpt #2
How To Ship Car Wheels With Rims and Tires On
Why Are You Shipping Car Wheels?
You are probably shipping your wheels because, like me, you want to sell your stock wheels so you can get better custom wheels. Selling your stock wheels can be tricky because unless you are selling them at a garage sale, or on Craigslist, you will probably need to ship your wheels to the person who buys them from you. Selling car wheels on Craigslist can be sketchy. Beware of the lowballers and tire kickers out there looking to rip you off so they can resell them for what you wanted to sell them for. You can sell them yourself right from your cell phone (computer at home). eBay and Car Forums are the best options to sell your car wheels. Why? Because it's a larger market where supply meets demand, and if you have stock wheels in good shape, someone around the country would want to get their hands on them.
How To Ship Wheels
Cut the Box In Half
Cut the Box In Half
Source: How to Ship Wheels
Cover Rims with Dish Foam
Tape the Dish Foam to the Wheel Face
Tape the Dish Foam to the Wheel Face
Source: How to Ship Wheels
DIY Shipping Car Wheels
In order to ship car wheels you will have to be savvy with simple automotive tasks like pulling the wheels off your car. If you are unsure how to safely perform this task you may find tutorials elsewhere on HubPages. If you are still unsure how to remove your car wheels, then you probably shouldn't attempt to do it.
In Order to Ship Car Wheels you will need the following items from Home Depot:
2 Medium Size Storage Boxes ($.69 each)
50 Sheets of Dish Foam (roll for $6.97)
1000 Feet Stretch Wrap ($4.97, 1000ft is the smallest size)
Packing Tape ($3.37 for a large roll, you only need 3ft of tape for 4 wheels)
1 Razor Blade with 3 replaceable blades ($1.98)
If you have any of this stuff at home, great!
After Your Trip To Home Depot
I'm assuming you are all jazzed up and ready to work on this project so that you can ship your car wheels today! Now that you are back from Home Dumpo (I mean Home Depot), follow the next 10 easy steps and you will be ready to print your shipping labels to send your fancy car wheels off to the highest bidder!
Step 1. Lay your medium sized Home Depot box out flat. Cut the box in half.
Step 2. Open up the box after cutting it in half, and lay the cleaned wheel on top. Cut the box around the wheel to form a protective cardboard circle.
Step 3. Place at least 2 sheets of dish foam on the face of wheel and tape the dish foam to the tire so it doesn't move around.
Place Cardboard Over Dish Foam
Secure cardboard partitions over dish foam protective layer
Secure cardboard partitions over dish foam protective layer
Source: How To Ship Wheels
Packing Wrap Over Cardboard Layer
Wrap cardboard cut-outs with 100% recyclable packing wrap. The tighter, the better.
Wrap cardboard cut-outs with 100% recyclable packing wrap. The tighter, the better.
Source: How to Ship Wheels
How to Properly Package Wheels for Shipping
Step 4. Secure the large circular cut-out piece of cardboard over the dish wrap to the face of the wheel. Cut excess material into partitions that will be used for the back of the wheel
Step 5. Use packing tape to secure the excess partitions in place for the back of the wheel.
Step 6. Use 100% recyclable packing wrap to wrap the wheels and tires any way you want to. The tighter the packing wrap, the more secure & protected the wheel will be in transit.
Step 7. Repeat the process three more times for your other wheels.
Step 8. Check out ShipNex Worldwide Express for the most cost-effective shipping rates for car wheels. ShipNex is a shipping broker so your wheels will still be shipped via UPS, and quite magically you will pay less for shipping than if you went through UPS.
Step 9. Print shipping labels from ShipNex, and attach them to wheels & tires.
Step 10. Request pickup for $6 or drop off at the UPS store (ShipNex prints out a UPS label).
***
---> I hope these two quick articles are of value to the LT community.
I'm sure there are other links/explanations, but these two seem accurate, well thought out, and articulate the details well.
We should all be trying to save each other shipping costs, it's better for all of us!
~I618033
So I've been buying/selling wheels for a bit now, and always scoffed at the enormous shipping costs. -eek-
So I did a little research, and I just wanted to share it with the rest of the Lotus community, because we are burning ourselves using the standard shipping methods to ship wheels/tires (250-350!!!
ARG! The price of a wheel!)These methods claim you can ship for < $100, a full 60lbs+ wheelset.
I will be giving this a shot soon, for the buyer of my LSS wheels.
Two links I read, and I'll post excerpts from both:
#1 Ship Wheels Cheaply - How to ship a set of wheels on the cheap!
#2 How To Ship Car Wheels With Rims and Tires On
[link no longer valid]
***
Excerpt #1
Have you ever seen one of those awesome deals on a slick set of wheels with tires on them – damn near brand new, no curb rash, 90% tread left on the tires – selling for about two-thirds of what they are truly worth? You get all excited about it, right? Start asking the seller if he will ship them to you because you live 1500 miles away. Then you get the shipping quote, $300.00! Man, now it’s not even worth it, you could get the same wheels brand new down the street at that price.
This begs the following questions:
Why do people charge so much to ship wheels?
Why do they charge even more when there are tires on the wheels?
How can I ship wheels for less than what UPS quotes me?
Let’s start at the root of the problem – The Carrier (typically UPS or Fed-Ex):
Most shipping companies will make you pay extra if they know you are shipping wheels. They justify the price increase by saying that an automobile wheel is odd-shaped and easily damaged, they call it an insurance charge. They will charge you even more still if there are tires on these wheels because of added weight and the probability of a punctured tire. I’ve even had a sales representative at a UPS store tell me I need to remove the valve stems from the wheels before I could ship them. I never got an explanation as to why, but I’m sure it made no sense.
Because of the difficulties when trying to package and ship wheels/tires at carriers' stores, people tend to get discouraged. Most sellers will refuse to ship their wheels because of the hassle involved. Some will just jack the price way up to compensate for all the extra work involved. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Here is a step-by-step method for shipping wheels AND tires (with the valve stems still on them) for under $100.00 And just to further prove my point, I am going to make my example wheels a little heavier than normal. I’m also going to ship them a long distance, from Indianapolis to Sacramento. I will be using UPS to ship my imaginary wheels.
The first thing you need to do is secure a commercial address that has a daily pickup. This is a simple task. You can ship them from your place of work, which is what I do. Most businesses have a daily UPS or FedEx pickup/drop-off. You just hand the packages to your driver and he takes it from there. If you don’t have a daily pickup at your place of employment, bring your packages to the UPS distribution center closest to you. DO NOT BRING THEM TO A UPS/FEDEX STORE! If you do this, you will screw yourself and end up paying big money. Distribution centers have customer service buildings that will take your packages as long as they are 100% ready to go, this means sealed up and labeled. It will also help if your buyer has a commercial address they can pick the wheels up at. UPS charges less to ship to a commercial address than they do to a residential address.
Next, you need a UPS online account. Go to UPS.com to sign up. Also, you will need a place to print off your labels, so, if you don’t have a printer, head for the library!
Now that you got the particulars out of the way you are ready to package up some wheels and tires! Damn, these wheels are heavy bastards – 55 pounds a piece. You will need four boxes, one for each wheel. You can get these for FREE from a local tire store – They typically throw them away! Just make sure you get some that are close to the size of what you’re shipping. Also, you can buy them from a mover (U-haul sells boxes) U-Haul: Moving supplies: Medium Moving Box
for less than 3 bucks each. Staples and Office Max also sell boxes for around that same price. Make sure your wheels fit snugly inside the boxes, don’t pick huge boxes for your wheels. I am using 18x18x16-inch boxes. I am going to cut the height down to about 10 inches so my wheels fit more securely in the package. So far I have spent around $12.00 to package up my wheels. I just used old newspapers to fill in the empty space inside my boxes. Also, don’t worry about deflating your tires all the way, just bring them down to about 10 psi.
Now that I’ve got my boxes all weighed and measured, I can get my labels printed off at UPS.com. Four boxes at 60 lbs a piece, and I am shipping them from Indianapolis IN, 46228 to Sacramento CA, 95843. I packaged them up myself and I am using UPS ground to get them there. My cost is $56.52 and it should only take 4-6 days for them to arrive at their destination.
It’s a little more if they are going to a residential address, but not much. About $64.53 to ship to someone’s home.
You can calculate your own shipment here:
https://wwwapps.ups.com/ctc/request?…&WT.svl=SubNav
Now I just print out my labels, secure them to the boxes with clear packaging tape, and either give them to my daily pick up or drop them off at a distribution center near me. Do not tell them that you are shipping wheels/tires! If the carrier finds out they are wheels and tires, they will hit you with a back charge.
I spent less than $70.00 to ship my wheels, and they were extremely heavy and going across the country!
I hope this helps some people out there when they sell or buy their next set of wheels. Remember, package your own wheels and tires, print your own labels, try to ship to a commercial address, and don’t tell the carrier what is in the box!
***
Excerpt #2
How To Ship Car Wheels With Rims and Tires On
Why Are You Shipping Car Wheels?
You are probably shipping your wheels because, like me, you want to sell your stock wheels so you can get better custom wheels. Selling your stock wheels can be tricky because unless you are selling them at a garage sale, or on Craigslist, you will probably need to ship your wheels to the person who buys them from you. Selling car wheels on Craigslist can be sketchy. Beware of the lowballers and tire kickers out there looking to rip you off so they can resell them for what you wanted to sell them for. You can sell them yourself right from your cell phone (computer at home). eBay and Car Forums are the best options to sell your car wheels. Why? Because it's a larger market where supply meets demand, and if you have stock wheels in good shape, someone around the country would want to get their hands on them.
How To Ship Wheels
Cut the Box In Half
Cut the Box In Half
Source: How to Ship Wheels
Cover Rims with Dish Foam
Tape the Dish Foam to the Wheel Face
Tape the Dish Foam to the Wheel Face
Source: How to Ship Wheels
DIY Shipping Car Wheels
In order to ship car wheels you will have to be savvy with simple automotive tasks like pulling the wheels off your car. If you are unsure how to safely perform this task you may find tutorials elsewhere on HubPages. If you are still unsure how to remove your car wheels, then you probably shouldn't attempt to do it.
In Order to Ship Car Wheels you will need the following items from Home Depot:
2 Medium Size Storage Boxes ($.69 each)
50 Sheets of Dish Foam (roll for $6.97)
1000 Feet Stretch Wrap ($4.97, 1000ft is the smallest size)
Packing Tape ($3.37 for a large roll, you only need 3ft of tape for 4 wheels)
1 Razor Blade with 3 replaceable blades ($1.98)
If you have any of this stuff at home, great!
After Your Trip To Home Depot
I'm assuming you are all jazzed up and ready to work on this project so that you can ship your car wheels today! Now that you are back from Home Dumpo (I mean Home Depot), follow the next 10 easy steps and you will be ready to print your shipping labels to send your fancy car wheels off to the highest bidder!
Step 1. Lay your medium sized Home Depot box out flat. Cut the box in half.
Step 2. Open up the box after cutting it in half, and lay the cleaned wheel on top. Cut the box around the wheel to form a protective cardboard circle.
Step 3. Place at least 2 sheets of dish foam on the face of wheel and tape the dish foam to the tire so it doesn't move around.
Place Cardboard Over Dish Foam
Secure cardboard partitions over dish foam protective layer
Secure cardboard partitions over dish foam protective layer
Source: How To Ship Wheels
Packing Wrap Over Cardboard Layer
Wrap cardboard cut-outs with 100% recyclable packing wrap. The tighter, the better.
Wrap cardboard cut-outs with 100% recyclable packing wrap. The tighter, the better.
Source: How to Ship Wheels
How to Properly Package Wheels for Shipping
Step 4. Secure the large circular cut-out piece of cardboard over the dish wrap to the face of the wheel. Cut excess material into partitions that will be used for the back of the wheel
Step 5. Use packing tape to secure the excess partitions in place for the back of the wheel.
Step 6. Use 100% recyclable packing wrap to wrap the wheels and tires any way you want to. The tighter the packing wrap, the more secure & protected the wheel will be in transit.
Step 7. Repeat the process three more times for your other wheels.
Step 8. Check out ShipNex Worldwide Express for the most cost-effective shipping rates for car wheels. ShipNex is a shipping broker so your wheels will still be shipped via UPS, and quite magically you will pay less for shipping than if you went through UPS.
Step 9. Print shipping labels from ShipNex, and attach them to wheels & tires.
Step 10. Request pickup for $6 or drop off at the UPS store (ShipNex prints out a UPS label).
***
---> I hope these two quick articles are of value to the LT community.
I'm sure there are other links/explanations, but these two seem accurate, well thought out, and articulate the details well.
We should all be trying to save each other shipping costs, it's better for all of us!
~I618033
