Does anyone ship Discus via Priority?

[secuono]

Just wondering, don't freak on me, does anyone here who hobby breeds, ever ship via 3-5 day Priority? So many other fish are shipped like that, even Rams who are also sensitive fish. I've gotten and shipped many fish this way and had little to no losses.
I know that if the shipper is clear across the country, Next day air is really the only way to go, but 1-3 states over shouldn't need such special shipping. Maybe in extreme heat or cold, but otherwise...

This is not up for discussion and arguing like children. It's a simple question, Yes I ship them in This and That instance or No I never do.

[Discus-n00b]

Short answer: Yes, you probably COULD....blind squirrels find nuts every now and then and you might get a lucky experience, but hardly anyone if anyone ever does that. Overnight is the heavily preferred method to assure the quality and health of the fish stay high. I would never recommend that shipping option for discus. And I would never buy from someone that ships that way.

[DiscusDrew]

I am just starting to ship fry, not willing to take the losses, or the complaints and low quality for the fish. I will ship FedEx overnight by 1030 delivery only for my customers.

[lipadj46]

There is a breeder on aquabid who ships nickel sized fry priority. They each come in individual breather bags. He ships low quality/unculled fish though

[Skip]

There is a breeder on aquabid who ships nickel sized fry priority. They each come in individual breather bags. He ships low quality/unculled fish though

i would not call them low quality.. at dime size.. its hard to ever know how they will turn out later..

however, yes.. Joe Gargas.. does ship priority..

i have received 3 packages of rams.. NO DOA's.. always sent a couple extra.. INCASE of DOA..

now.. sending a 5" discus.. i would never pay nor even consider that for adult fish.. they are too big and PUNCTURE the bags way too easy.. 3-5 days.. no way

tiny ones.. maybe.. but then.. 4 days of no eating for a dime size.. i would hope they would not stunt

[secuono]

I got 5in Angels by 4 day priority once, they all did great.
I'll agree, dime size fish are so small...I got 3 tiny angels a few days ago, been watching them like a hawk. They worry me so much...

[Discus-Hans]

OP = better not, I only ship priority overnight, normal delivery before 10:30am

Now for some area's they guarantee delivery before 4:30pm those I ship with more water and lesser in a bag. I guarantee only Priority Overnight, if you want 2 days (not that I would do it) don't expect guarantees.

We had a few shipments delivered 1 day to late, still fine, but slow shipping on customers request......... no guarantee.



i would not call them low quality.. at dime size.. its hard to ever know how they will turn out later..


Bull $hit and you know it!!!!!!!!!!! that's why they are sold at dime size.......... so you don't know ............ you find out after they grow a little............ to late to complain.........

Hans

[mikula fronts]

[QUOTE=Discus-Hans;912782]OP = better not, I only ship priority overnight, normal delivery before 10:30am

Now for some area's they guarantee delivery before 4:30pm those I ship with more water and lesser in a bag. I guarantee only Priority Overnight, if you want 2 days (not that I would do it) don't expect guarantees.

We had a few shipments delivered 1 day to late, still fine, but slow shipping on customers request......... no guarantee.




Bull $hit and you know it!!!!!!!!!!! that's why they are sold at dime size.......... so you don't know ............ you find out after they grow a little............ to late to complain.........

Hans[/QUOTE http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?89957-my-new-discus-from-joe-gargas&highlight=
These turned out pretty good imo of course they were in good hands

[ZX10R]

Long story short sold some wild discus shipped USPS overnight they ripped the top of the box off lost the package found out 4 days later what happened to it now dealing with them trying to get our money refunded because we insured the package. Never again!!

[BobDaniel]

When we were moving from Westford to Lowell, the wife would ship groups of fish Delta Airlines from Boston to Nashville. To make a long story short, something happened and I'm in Nashville freight and I'm told my fish are not on the flight and they don;t know where they are. I waited four hours then went home. The next day a currier brought them out to my house. I ripped into the boxes and had some dead fish, others barely alive. I threw the live ones straight into an aquarium. It seems I lost five adults....so please, djust ship overnight.

[mmorris]

It's a shame because fedex priority overnight costs a lot and I know I lose customers because of it. It's interesting that USPS describes Express Mail two different ways: 1) Overnight delivery to most U.S. addresses or your money back. 2)This money-back guaranteed overnight to two-day service ... I called USPS about that, and they told me when we calculate a price online, it gives the delivery date so we know if it will be one day or two. They say most are overnight deliveries. I calculated using a zip given to me recently and the calculator said that particular destination was a two-day delivery. Has anyone tried shipping discus by usps express when it guarantees one day?

[Bud Smith]

Based on my experiences - I recieve about 10 deliveries a year on angelfish and 6 deliveries on discus - 2 day ship - yes on angelfish no on discus
USPS options for shipping discus - I would not even consider it

[lipadj46]

I've had many many usps express mail deliveries and never had issues. I live in a next day guaranteed area though. As a seller you will run into issues with express mail eventually. Usps will be good on shipping refunds but eventually you will be blackballed ask msjinkzd

[mmorris]

. Usps will be good on shipping refunds but eventually you will be blackballed ask msjinkzd
I don't understand - do you mean usps will be late so often that eventually they will refuse to guarantee the arrival date?

[lipadj46]

No they would honor their guarantee and refund money but since she shipped so much she had quite a few refunds where eventually they "found" some new rules to enforce where they could choose to delay her delivery for live animals, pretty much took away the next day guarantee. So last i checked she was switching to fedex. There is a thread over on plantedtank.net where she explains it.

[DiscusDrew]

The cost is rather unfortunate but at the same time we have to put the livestock first I feel. FedEx is expensive yes, but also extreemely reliable which counts for a lot in this hobby.

[Elliots]

Do not bother with non-overnight shipping. How much are you spending on the Discus being delivered? How much extra is overnight? If the upcharge for overnight is significant your Discus order is too small. If that is the case visit one of the sponsors of SD even if it is a long drive or start a thread on SD looking for local Discus breeders. If possible combine your order with someone else to split the extra overnight charge. It is not worth the potential personal agravation to not ship overnight!

[mmorris]

No they would honor their guarantee and refund money but since she shipped so much she had quite a few refunds where eventually they "found" some new rules to enforce where they could choose to delay her delivery for live animals, pretty much took away the next day guarantee. So last i checked she was switching to fedex. There is a thread over on plantedtank.net where she explains it.
If you could provide a link I would be interested in reading it.

[lipadj46]

If you could provide a link I would be interested in reading it.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=172323&highlight=usps

[mmorris]

Thanks for the link. The story seems rather odd. I ship cories usps priority and they have given me no problems because I was shipping fish.

[tunerz]

2-3 days would be too much stress on them.

[mmorris]

So why are shippers not using USPS Express to one-day zones?

[xxbenjamminxx]

Thats one question I always had. I have gotten fish overnight via USPS several times without incident and its literally HALF the cost of the FEDEX overnight service. I can honestly say if shipping was less I would be ordering alot more online. Once you add in shipping costs it makes almost impractical sometimes, unless "you have to have it" (IME anyhow).

Just hard sometimes to pay almost the same amount in shipping as the fish when you want to try your hand at growing out some smaller fish.

[DiscusDrew]

I do the best I can safely for people. Though I am new to shipping my babies, I have started looking into other options for shipping. FEDEX is expensive and as our beautiful Martha pointed out, it turns away a lot of potential business, especially when you are selling fry versus selling adult fish, in which case the cost of shipping can be very close to what it would cost for the fish themselves. I have just started shipping through UPS to a lot of local locations such as accross the state or to neighboring states because they still guarantee next day delivery. The thing with USPS seems to be that they are very wishy washy on their "guarantees". Maybe its worth giving a try though after all, Im ALL about the preservation of my fish and this hobby and I will NOT risk a faulty shipment. But I see no reason to not try it if it is listed as a next day zone. After all, the way any good shipper packs their fish they can last much longer than the 14 hours or so they are usually in transit through FEDEX. I know with the way a lot of shippers pack, they could last at LEAST a solid 24 hours in perfect health. For those of us that do this as a small business and such this may actually be something to consider. Reading through this thread has really got me thinking a bit about it.

[Keith Perkins]

I haven't shipped fish yet but I'd never receive them this way. The only fish I had shipped FEDEX I even had it shipped hold at FEDEX location so I could pick it up at 8 am when they opened rather than maybe waiting until 10:30. Call me cautious.

[Elliots]

Keith, I would call you smart. I did not know you can do that. Less time in the shipping container and maybe less shaking up.

[Skip]

Airport to airport is the bomb!

Same day delivery.. My fish from beals were in bags.. 8 hrs tops!

[DiscusDrew]

Yeah ultimately that is truly a very cost effective way to ship, for me its a bit of a drive which is a pain to drop off or pick up fish, and like UPS they use unpressurized, unheated cabins so you have to be careful a bit. Overall though you can get away with much less stress as long as they are packaged correctly because the transfer time is incredibly small, my fish from Beals were only in transit I think 5 hours or so.

[mmorris]

The shipper has to be a lot closer to the airport than the customer has to be, given the number of trips.

[xxbenjamminxx]

I know this thread was started about priority shipping but, if someone would be able tell me what is all involved with airport to airport shipping it would be appreciated. Like do you just go up to a terminal counter where you get tickets or "check in" with your tickets and they bring you your box there? Or do you have to go through security and watch which gate the plane is coming into? I know it may be quite a bit to type out but I have shyed away from this method even though it quicker and sometimes cheaper just for the fact I dont know what to do. I think it may help some others to get an idea of what is all involved when picking them up so maybe they would tend to be scared off if they know what to expect.

Personally I live about 1 to 1.5 hours away from the closest airport that would possibly do that so I have really checked into it much, nor am I used to dealing with airports (only flew like half a dozen times).

If anyone give me a little insight it would be appreciated, Ben

[Skip]

Ben..u go th cargo facility.. Delta or Southwest.. Shipper tella u what flight number and time.. U go and pick ip.. U dont go into passenger drop off pick up.. Or ticket counter.. Its different place

[xxbenjamminxx]

Thanks skip I will have to look into that more. I really like the idea of them only being in transit for a matter of hours. Is that set rate or is dependent on how far and such?

Sent from my Milestone X2 using Tapatalk

[Skip]

Yes.. Set prices on weigjt and box size.. should be a little cheaper.. I live ilke 10 min from austin airport.. So its great for me

[T_om]

Thanks skip I will have to look into that more. I really like the idea of them only being in transit for a matter of hours. Is that set rate or is dependent on how far and such?

Sent from my Milestone X2 using Tapatalk

It is called "Delta Dash". Call them up and get all the info you need.

Tom

[kent1963]

Guy's I drive a semi for a mail contractor I have been in many postal facility's. I would NEVER ship ANY live animal USPS. I have watched them put live chicks on a truck headed out at 8:00am on a day predicted to reach 100+. Inside the trailer temps can reach well over 150. I was told they were supposed to go last night and we guaranty delivery not live delivery! I know many people on the cichlid forums that use USPS but as someone that works there I am telling you its a terrible idea.

[lipadj46]

The best way to ship usps is express to overnight locations and then have them hold it for pickup. They call you and you go pick it up

[CliffsDiscus]

If you ship airport to airport most of these airlines require that you be what they call Known Shipper, otherwise they will not ship.

[secuono]

Guy's I drive a semi for a mail contractor I have been in many postal facility's. I would NEVER ship ANY live animal USPS. I have watched them put live chicks on a truck headed out at 8:00am on a day predicted to reach 100+. Inside the trailer temps can reach well over 150. I was told they were supposed to go last night and we guaranty delivery not live delivery! I know many people on the cichlid forums that use USPS but as someone that works there I am telling you its a terrible idea.

Ordering the chickens is supposed to be hold for pick up, if the buyer decided to have them ship to their house, they better of checked the weather temps before hand. Buyers loss at that point. Chicks/baby birds need to be at 95F the first week.
But that's similar to shipping other fish, plants and inverts. Buyer needs to know the temps they will be traveling through and decide what to do based on that, wait to ship later or hold at PO.

[mmorris]

Guy's I drive a semi for a mail contractor I have been in many postal facility's. I would NEVER ship ANY live animal USPS. I have watched them put live chicks on a truck headed out at 8:00am on a day predicted to reach 100+. Inside the trailer temps can reach well over 150. I was told they were supposed to go last night and we guaranty delivery not live delivery! I know many people on the cichlid forums that use USPS but as someone that works there I am telling you its a terrible idea.
Thanks for the warning. I've shipped hundreds of cories and some rams as well by USPS and I've had almost no problems. I appreciate that that could change. Many people on Aquabid ship by USPS.