How I ship frags....

[rebelprettyboy]

Thanks for the info to the container. Im about order 50 and give them a shot

 

[oceanparadise1]

i did, tehy are awsome u will love them

 

[EliteReefs]

So your saying you charge MORE then actually shipping cost?

yes i do make a few bucks

I get huge shipping disscounts with the various shippers due to my high volume of shippments. I take that and pass that to the customers. even with my industry low shipping price i have no problem admitting that i still make a few bucks on shipping. this helps cover packing charges. even with the few bucks i make i STILL charge FAR LESS then any other vendor for over night FedEx. I ship any place in the united states for 21.00 over night flat rate. Not only that my coral prices are also FAR below any other vendor. I have no problem with my prices and anyone would be very hard pressed to argue them

 

[ofblong]

nice. Ill have to remember this thread if there ever comes a time where I start fragging and shipping .

 

[revhtree]

This is good info! Stickied!

 

[Paintguru]

Anyone use cooling packs in the summer or heat packs in the winter? If so, do you have a source?

 

[Who Dah?]

I received a package that a frozen Capri-Sun was used as the cold pack. Thought that was interesting.

 

[EliteReefs]

I received a package that a frozen Capri-Sun was used as the cold pack. Thought that was interesting.

hehehe ice is ice i guess right. and you can get them 4 boxes for 10 bucks on sale this week lol

 

[H@rry]

Actually, heat is seldom a problem. I use styrofoam lined boxes and pack later in the afternoon and overnight shipping is usually delivered before the heat of the day. If it's going to be real hot at the destination I try to have it held at the local FedEx facility for pickup. That saves it from riding around in the FedEx truck during the hot part of the day.

If it was going to be *real* hot at the destination (over 95) and the package couldn't be held, I have simply put a bag of ice cubes in the box (don't try to make it any harder than it is). If you do that, make sure you wrap it in bubble wrap to keep it from coming into contact with the frag bags. Also label it "ice" because when the box is opened it will be a bag of water and the customer will be wondering why it does not have a frag in it.

 

[Reef Pets]

I am curious to know the size of the cup. I see that they are 4.5oz. but does anyone have the diameter and heigth? Kind of a crazy question, just trying to figure out how many will fit in the boxes that I ship in.
Thanks!!

 

[CoralGeeks]

This is good info! Stickied!

Supa Dave, I meant to ask you to make it a sticky...

I am curious to know the size of the cup. I see that they are 4.5oz. but does anyone have the diameter and heigth? Kind of a crazy question, just trying to figure out how many will fit in the boxes that I ship in.
Thanks!!

The cap is just under 2.5", the bottom is just under 2" and they are just under 3"tall, hope that helps!

 

[Pufferpunk]

I'm gonna hit up my Dr for some specimin cups. He owes me a favor.

 

[Reef Pets]

I ship a lot of coral so I thought I would give the specimen cups a try. I think they are great for softies, zoas and palys but have found them to be bad with SPS and Acans. As we all know, shipping can be rough on coral depending on how they are handled throughout the shipment. With using the specimen cups there is no cushion for the coral like a bag offers. If the package gets tossed around during ths shipment the coral are beating on the sides of a hard plastic cup. For SPS and some LPS like acans this makes the shipment rather hard and has caused receeding of the tissue. Again, I continue to use them for zoas and palys.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I find if you can loosely place some pieces of plastic bag around the the SPS, it will keep it wet & act as a cushion from the hard plastic walls of the cup.

 

[Reef Pets]

I have tested that way also. If you place a SPS frag in the cup with a loose plactic bag, tun the cup upside down a couple of times and at some point the plasic bag will keep the SPS from staiyng in the water. So, if it got turned in this position while it was loaded on the plan and stayed this way the whole flight there is a right of the receiver get a DOA coral. Everything that I use I test the product and proceedure over and over again before using it. This has kept DOA's from happening.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Even if the cup is filled 80-90% with water? I ask, because I plan on shipping some pretty expensive montis this week. What about bagging it & then putting it into the cup?

 

[Reef Pets]

Yeah, even if filled 80-90 percent. But, if you are shipping montis I think you would be just fine. When I was refering to SPS I mainly had branching acros in mind. With them being pretty long when mounted to a plug they were sticking out of the water at times.
For shipping frags I have been using 6 mil. bags that are 2 inches wide. This way I can fit 9 seperetely packed frags into a 7X7X6 inch shipping box. That is the outside dimensions of the box. With 9 frags the box is around 3 pounds or so. This keeps the shipping cost way down for the buyer and it only takes a tiny heat pack to keep that small of a box warm.
But again, with Montis I believe that you would be just fine with the cups and a small amount of plastic in the cup.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Well, wish me luck... last 2 attempts didn't turn out so good.

 

[Reef Pets]

Ouch! I have shipped thousands of coral and believe only 2-3 of them were DOA. I see that you are in IL. So you will need a well insulated box and depending on the size of the box depends on the size of the heat pack. If you need any help please let me know.

 

[Pufferpunk]

What about the cheapest place to get heat packs? How many hours do I need for overnight shipping?