# Cheaper Shipping



## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

Shipping frogs has become so expensive that I've been losing frog sales for the last couple of years. I live in Georgia and I used to sell quite a few frogs to froggers on the west coast. Once the price of shipping began to reach $60, I had to charge around $68 for cross-country shipping plus box fees. Nobody wanted to pay that much in shipping.

Yesterday, I used NEX Worldwide Express (http://www.shipnex.com). They are a domestic reseller for UPS. They claim that they offer discounts of around 60%! They're not lying. I shipped a frog from Columbus, GA to Los Angeles, CA for $34.79 next day air delivery by 10:30 am. For the same shipping, Ship Your Reptiles came in at $59.82 and Reptiles Express came in at $56.94. Shipping with NEX offers an incredible savings that I can now pass on to my buyers.

I did speak to one of the NEX representatives before I shipped with them. After reading their terms of use, I wasn't really sure if they would ship live animals. The rep said that they don't recommend shipping live animals and that they don't guarantee the animals, but they know people ship animals with them all the time and they're OK with it. This is the same for other resellers except that SYR offers the paid option for a timely arrival guarantee.

I've shipped via UPS many times and at least locally, my frogs have never been questioned. I can't say the same for FedEx. They've questioned my shipping frogs even with the printed All Pro Shipping approval taped to the box.

Anyway, if you're looking to save on shipping, you might want to give NEX a try. I've only used them once so far, but both myself and my buyer are happy with the service.


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## thumbnail (Sep 18, 2005)

I use shipyourreptiles and is has been pretty good for me. Glad to hear there is another one out there to choose from.


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## medusa (Oct 30, 2011)

From what I can tell from the website it is a DHL affiliate rather than a UPS one. But if it offers the discounts then its good either way!


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## Tricolor (Jun 12, 2009)

I certainly would welcome cheaper shipping. Are you sure its not DHL. They were a nightmare before they went bankrupt. The website says DHL. I knew somebody that worked for DHL and they were told to hold back packages. slow down deliveries. At least that is what the workers were told to do.


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

medusa said:


> From what I can tell from the website it is a DHL affiliate rather than a UPS one. But if it offers the discounts then its good either way!


DHL no longer operates in the US. They use DHL for international shipping and UPS for USA domestic.


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

Oh, I forgot to mention that you can schedule a pickup for no extra cost. I dropped my box off at my UPS hub though, because I didn't want the box riding around in the truck. I might do the home pickup when the weather is nice, but since my UPS hub is nearby, I'll probably still take it over to the hub if I can.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

Will they ship your animals when they are labeled in accordance with the Lacey Act or are they just looking the other way on packages that aren't labeled that they contain live animals?


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

phender said:


> Will they ship your animals when they are labeled in accordance with the Lacey Act or are they just looking the other way on packages that aren't labeled that they contain live animals?


I marked my box with the words LIVE ANIMALS on each side of the box. The rep I spoke with said that they just want to be sure that I wasn't shipping dangerous animals. If you want to call them, you can do so at 1-888-744-7639. Really, since NEX is just an UPS reseller, they have just cut and pasted the UPS rules. UPS has always been very good about shipping my frogs. The ladies behind the UPS counter know me on sight and they're always happy to see me. They have often held my frogs inside the office rather than put them in the shipping dock where is can be really cold or really hot.


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

Tricolor said:


> I certainly would welcome cheaper shipping. Are you sure its not DHL. They were a nightmare before they went bankrupt. The website says DHL. I knew somebody that worked for DHL and they were told to hold back packages. slow down deliveries. At least that is what the workers were told to do.


DHL no longer operates in the US. They use DHL for international shipping and UPS for USA domestic. If you want to call NEX, you can do so at 1-888-744-7639.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

At the office I work at we have daily UPS delivery and pic up. Are you saying UPS will pick up one of these NEX shipments?


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

gary1218 said:


> At the office I work at we have daily UPS delivery and pic up. Are you saying UPS will pick up one of these NEX shipments?


Yes, they will. The label you print out is an UPS label just like the label you print out from SYR is a FedEx label. So all you have to do, is just hand it to your UPS delivery person!


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

I've also been asked in a PM about how to have a box held for pickup. Here's my answer:

UPS (via NEX) will hold for pickup. In fact, the frog I just sent was held for pickup at a Staples UPS outlet that was convenient to my buyer rather than him having to go to the UPS hub. On the shipping form in section 2, type in HOLD FOR PICKUP in the Organization blank; type in the receiver's information in the Name, Phone & Email blanks; leave the Caption blank empty (unless you want to use the address book option); type in the UPS hold location's name and address in the two Address blanks; and lastly, type in the UPS hold location's city, state and zip code in the appropriate blanks.

The NEX representative did suggest that since the box wouldn't be held at the UPS hub that I call the Staples store to which the box was sent. I did and I let the person at the UPS shipping desk know that a HOLD FOR PICKUP box would be arriving the next day. You don't have to do this, but I did as an extra precaution.


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

yeah, it's odd that shipping has gotten so much more expensive, when recently transportation/gas prices have been really low.


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

Yeah, I've noticed I'm not getting nearly as many request for small orders. I assume that's because people wince a bit when shipping costs make up half of the overall expense. It's about time we get another shipping option.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that you can't really trust what any individual employee tells you about animal shipping policies. I've gotten misinformation from every shipper at one time or another on their policies. It's better to do the research. Many years ago I was shipping snakes via UPS and was given similar "don't ask, don't tell" advice by an upper level manager and it turned out to be false. Someone along the way decided to apply company policy and halt the shipment and I almost lost the animal. They were not nice about it. 

For now, I think I'll stick with SYR personally, but I'll be watching to see how this develops. It would be awesome to have another legal reliable shipping option at a reasonable price. Thanks for the update.


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

hypostatic said:


> yeah, it's odd that shipping has gotten so much more expensive, when recently transportation/gas prices have been really low.


I agree with you. When gas was expensive, UPS & FedEx started adding a fuel surcharge. Then they stopped adding the separate surcharge fee and just bundled it into the total cost. When fuel became cheaper, the price of shipping didn't come down at all. In fact, it became a little more expensive.


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## Loui1203 (Sep 29, 2011)

I used to use Shipnex for shipping geckos all the time and once for frogs. They tend to flipflop between FedEx and UPS though. At one point they used both and you didn't know if it was going through FedEx or UPS until you printed out your label. 

I never had any problems using shipnex although when I was using them I was under the impression you weren't supposed to ship live animals..

Reptiles Express (via FedEx) is also cheaper than SYR (not quite as cheap as shipnex) but they do not insure the packages. For larger packages worth $300+ I like having the peace of mind of insurance in case the package gets delayed and the animals arrive DOA. If you would like to stick with SYR but it is getting too costly you can contact them and explain to them that you found cheaper options and see if they will offer you a discount. The discount usually depends on how often you ship.


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## John1451 (Jun 6, 2011)

USPS Priority Next Day Air,Hold at Depo. Insured and Shipped anywhere in US for $34.00 or less. (Also all of their Air shipments ride on FedEx planes! lmao!) I've sent 100's of animals. Not a single DOA or problem


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Tricolor (Jun 12, 2009)

Welll that's good to know. I just would never use dhl with the bad shipping experiences I had with them and what my friend told me why my frogs were always a day late.


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## SeaDuck (Nov 8, 2006)

John1451 said:


> USPS Priority Next Day Air,Hold at Depo. Insured and Shipped anywhere in US for $34.00 or less. (Also all of their Air shipments ride on FedEx planes! lmao!) I've sent 100's of animals. Not a single DOA or problem
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


This is out of date information. Priority Express can be one or two days usually taking 3 to 2nd day locations. And I do not believe that USPS has a contact with FedEx any longer. Personally I will not use them for lives anymore. All of four boxes last fall were 1 to 2 days late and I spend hours on the phone. I have used NEX without a problem and labeled correctly as tropical frogs with genus species.. Robert


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## SeaDuck (Nov 8, 2006)

Also USPS insurance is worthless for lives as it doesn't cover them. Robert


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## redfrogger (Nov 6, 2010)

So instead of dropping off at a FedEx location, you drop it off at a UPS location and send it to a UPS location for pickup correct?


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## SeaDuck (Nov 8, 2006)

Yes, NEX is buying UPS shipping through a broker ( FedEx has been available through them in the past as well.) Robert


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## ZookeeperDoug (Jun 5, 2011)

Can you specify which shipper you to use thru NEX?

Is NEX a prequalifyed shipper of live animals? SYR/All Pro Shipping is. My concern is the wrong FedEx employee refusing animals.

My understanding sad that UPS' official policy was that they don't ship live animals. Has this changed?


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

On the topic of hold / dropoff locations. It is my understanding that the point of shipping hub to hub through fedex is to keep the animals off of trucks. If you have the animal held at a staples or anywhere else it still might spend a decent amount of time sitting on a cold truck. To that tune if convenience was an issue you could ship through fedex most likely to any of their kinkos locations.


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

Pubfiction said:


> On the topic of hold / dropoff locations. It is my understanding that the point of shipping hub to hub through fedex is to keep the animals off of trucks. If you have the animal held at a staples or anywhere else it still might spend a decent amount of time sitting on a cold truck. To that tune if convenience was an issue you could ship through fedex most likely to any of their kinkos locations.


All true. In addition to that, any individual Fedex location (Kinkos, etc) has the right to set it's own policies regarding shipping live animals regardless of whether or not the shipper is an approved animal shipper with FedEx central. That means you can pay for the shipment through SYR and still get it rejected if your local FedEx store feels like it. I haven't heard of it happening, but in theory it could be rejected at the receiving end as well. My local FedEx changed policies out of the blue and screwed up my shipping timeline. I now drive all shipments to a FedEx World Shipping Hub to avoid that possibility. 

...which has nothing to do with NEX. Sorry for the hijack.


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## dmartin72 (Oct 27, 2004)

Fedex and USPS signed a recent 7 year deal.

FedEx Wins $10.5 Billion Postal Contract as UPS Shut Out - Bloomberg Business



SeaDuck said:


> This is out of date information. Priority Express can be one or two days usually taking 3 to 2nd day locations. And I do not believe that USPS has a contact with FedEx any longer. Personally I will not use them for lives anymore. All of four boxes last fall were 1 to 2 days late and I spend hours on the phone. I have used NEX without a problem and labeled correctly as tropical frogs with genus species.. Robert


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## John1451 (Jun 6, 2011)

Just my 2 cents fwiw. I have never had a dead animal in 5 years with usps. have insured every package. never needed insurance, the hold at depot is your local PO for your zip code. you drop at PO, frogger on the other end pick up at their PO. the next day no later than 3pm. I drop at 5 here. Has anyone had dead animals DOA with USPS? FedEx? UPS? Only thing Ive ever had is dead flies once from Silkworm Shop. Shipped UPS. Air and arrived 7 days later. $34.00 anywhere in US. Works for me. Its just people in trucks shipping boxes...they're all the same...not someone hugging the box or kissing it goodbye before it goes on truck/plane.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

John1451 said:


> Just my 2 cents fwiw. I have never had a dead animal in 5 years with usps. have insured every package. never needed insurance, the hold at depot is your local PO for your zip code. you drop at PO, frogger on the other end pick up at their PO. the next day no later than 3pm. I drop at 5 here. Has anyone had dead animals DOA with USPS? FedEx? UPS? Only thing Ive ever had is dead flies once from Silkworm Shop. Shipped UPS. Air and arrived 7 days later. $34.00 anywhere in US. Works for me. Its just people in trucks shipping boxes...they're all the same...not someone hugging the box or kissing it goodbye before it goes on truck/plane.


John,

When you ship USPS do you tell them there are live animals that you are shipping when you drop the box off at the PO and label the box as such?


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## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

John1451 said:


> Just my 2 cents fwiw. I have never had a dead animal in 5 years with usps. have insured every package. never needed insurance, the hold at depot is your local PO for your zip code. you drop at PO, frogger on the other end pick up at their PO. the next day no later than 3pm. I drop at 5 here. Has anyone had dead animals DOA with USPS? FedEx? UPS? Only thing Ive ever had is dead flies once from Silkworm Shop. Shipped UPS. Air and arrived 7 days later. $34.00 anywhere in US. Works for me. Its just people in trucks shipping boxes...they're all the same...not someone hugging the box or kissing it goodbye before it goes on truck/plane.


Insuring the package with USPS or any other carrier is a waste of money. No carrier will honor insurance on live frogs. The only guarantee is you can get your shipping fee back if they deliver late. 
As far as $34 anywhere in the U.S. ; that has not been the case for more than a year now. USPS covers a much smaller area they can guarantee next day now. More than 1/2 of the country is now 2 days Express, so they aren't even an option most of the time.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

Reef_Haven said:


> More than 1/2 of the country is now 2 days Express, so they aren't even an option most of the time.


I don't know that that is necessarily true.

I'm in the Buffalo/Rochester NY area and there are certainly more areas now that are a 2 day ship for me. But it's really kind of hit or miss. I ship a number of boxes out to CA and most of the time it's still just a one day ship. But then I'll ship to some where down south a little bit and it will be a 2 day ship. Haven't quite figured out the logic yet


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## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

gary1218 said:


> I don't know that that is necessarily true.
> 
> I'm in the Buffalo/Rochester NY area and there are certainly more areas now that are a 2 day ship for me. But it's really kind of hit or miss. I ship a number of boxes out to CA and most of the time it's still just a one day ship. But then I'll ship to some where down south a little bit and it will be a 2 day ship. Haven't quite figured out the logic yet


John and I are both in Florida, it definitely is hit or miss. Most of California is 1 day, but any place very rural will be 2 days. Even within our own state.


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## tarbo96 (Jan 12, 2006)

John1451 said:


> Just my 2 cents fwiw. I have never had a dead animal in 5 years with usps. have insured every package. never needed insurance, the hold at depot is your local PO for your zip code. you drop at PO, frogger on the other end pick up at their PO. the next day no later than 3pm. I drop at 5 here. Has anyone had dead animals DOA with USPS? FedEx? UPS? Only thing Ive ever had is dead flies once from Silkworm Shop. Shipped UPS. Air and arrived 7 days later. $34.00 anywhere in US. Works for me. Its just people in trucks shipping boxes...they're all the same...not someone hugging the box or kissing it goodbye before it goes on truck/plane.


Multiple times I have send and received dead animals because of USPS...and a couple times had them arrive 2 days later (alive believe it or not) or not arrive at all. I tell buyers I ship USPS at their risk, no live arrival Guarantee.


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## SeaDuck (Nov 8, 2006)

tarbo96 said:


> Multiple times I have send and received dead animals because of USPS...and a couple times had them arrive 2 days later (alive believe it or not) or not arrive at all. I tell buyers I ship USPS at their risk, no live arrival Guarantee.


For what it is worth the "At your risk" is fine with many buyers until it actually happens. It is my choice to refuse the sale of frogs to those that are unwilling to ship in the best manor & weather for lives. Shipping is at cost and discounts are passed on. I buy boxes & supplies for shipments of $200. So I can expect a buyer to pay for a decent shipper. There is a time to save a buck but I do not think it is here. Robert


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

redfrogger said:


> So instead of dropping off at a FedEx location, you drop it off at a UPS location and send it to a UPS location for pickup correct?


Yes plus more. You can send to a residential address or any UPS outlet. You can also have a driver pick up your shipment for no extra charge.


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

ZookeeperDoug said:


> Can you specify which shipper you to use thru NEX?
> 
> Is NEX a prequalifyed shipper of live animals? SYR/All Pro Shipping is. My concern is the wrong FedEx employee refusing animals.
> 
> My understanding sad that UPS' official policy was that they don't ship live animals. Has this changed?


NEX is currently reselling UPS shipping. No, they aren't a preapproved live animal shipper. That said, I've never had UPS refuse a frog shipment, but FedEx has even with the preapproval. UPS has always been very good about shipping my frogs. The ladies behind the UPS counter know me on sight and they're always happy to see me. They have often held my frogs inside the office rather than put them in the shipping dock where is can be really cold or really hot.


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

Pubfiction said:


> On the topic of hold / dropoff locations. It is my understanding that the point of shipping hub to hub through fedex is to keep the animals off of trucks. If you have the animal held at a staples or anywhere else it still might spend a decent amount of time sitting on a cold truck. To that tune if convenience was an issue you could ship through fedex most likely to any of their kinkos locations.


Yes, you're right. I wanted to ship to the UPS hub, but it wasn't convenient for the customer so I agreed to the Staples hold. I ship my frogs out packed for either cold or hot weather so some time in a truck really doesn't bother me. I haven't lost a frog that was well packed in a decade.


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

John1451 said:


> Just my 2 cents fwiw. I have never had a dead animal in 5 years with usps. have insured every package. never needed insurance, the hold at depot is your local PO for your zip code. you drop at PO, frogger on the other end pick up at their PO. the next day no later than 3pm. I drop at 5 here. Has anyone had dead animals DOA with USPS? FedEx? UPS? Only thing Ive ever had is dead flies once from Silkworm Shop. Shipped UPS. Air and arrived 7 days later. $34.00 anywhere in US. Works for me. Its just people in trucks shipping boxes...they're all the same...not someone hugging the box or kissing it goodbye before it goes on truck/plane.


I haven't had any frogs die with USPS, but I had an overnight shipment take 3 days to arrive. USPS doesn't really track their shipments so they can't even say where your package is at any time. It's always "in transit" until it actually arrives. USPS told me that when it comes to live animals there really is no such thing as next day air. They send animals to a special depot and then ship them out from there. I was told that when you pay for next day air (for live animals) that it really means up to a three day ship. Thus, I stopped using USPS.


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## John1451 (Jun 6, 2011)

I have never had that issue and shipped hundreds. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Nick_ (Mar 24, 2008)

John1451 said:


> USPS Priority Next Day Air,Hold at Depo. Insured and Shipped anywhere in US for $34.00 or less. (Also all of their Air shipments ride on FedEx planes! lmao!) I've sent 100's of animals. Not a single DOA or problem
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


This is my experience as well, I prefer USPS in my area by a large margin. I have never received or shipped a DOA of inverts or reptiles since 2006. If its not a short ship why even ship in adverse/questionable? Waiting a couple months is worth more than a fuzzy third party warranty and "certification" to me. 
This just seems silly when your dealing with a relatively sizable investment. If I am spending more than several hundred on animals or for some reason I can only get them in adverse weather then delta dash reigns supreme beating the pants off of all other options in many ways.

https://www.deltacargo.com/Portals/2/Documents/rateSheets/express/dash_tariff.pdf

I've shipped multiple high dollar packages through them over the years for about $70 and you get it the same day, within hours of take off times. They take a huge box up to like 90lbs for $70. For those fortunate enough to live near a major airport this is king in shipping animals of any type. For breeders or people that buy and trade many expensive animals registering as a LLC and using Delta is a no brainer in my opinion.


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## planted-tnk-guy (Mar 9, 2014)

I shipped and received hundreds of birds with delta when I bred them and love them. The price for pet safe doubled but with reptiles normal dash works great. And what's an extra 30 bucks anyway really if it's a several hundred dollar order. =) sometimes as a seller you give the shipping at a set price and eat the extra cost, nurseries, frogs,birds or what have you it cab make a difference between more sales or less. Unless your Amazon and can negotiate the world's cheapest overnight shipping then we are forced to become creative. I start the shipping prices are within 20.00 that's the price of two fruit fly cultures 4-6 bags of chips or a couple of meals from a fast food restaurant . If they don't want to pay for the shipping then they obviously don't want the frogs that bad. People generally get what they want I see homeless people with cell phones these days so I think downward sales has more to do with people doing other things at the moment. All commodities have lulls and surges just think of it like being at the supermarket and no one's at the checkout when you come in and everyone is there when you're leaving lol. =)


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## Reef_Haven (Jan 19, 2011)

*A word of caution here.*
NEX website offers next day 10:30AM delivery. What they don't say is it may be 10:30AM or Noon or End of Day, depending on location. Just because you check 10:30AM, does not mean it will actually deliver by 10:30. Rural locations will still be End of Day.

*from NEX website.*

*Next Day AM by 10:30am Delivery Service

NEX Express provides Next Day 10:30am Delivery service from all 50 states and Puerto Rico, with some limitations in Alaska and Hawaii.

Next Day AM 10:30a.m. service Details:
Get guaranteed overnight delivery for day-definite shipments.
Delivery Time	Next business day delivery by 10:30 a.m., 12:00 noon, or end of day, depending on destination.
Service Days	Monday–Friday, with Saturday pick-up available in many areas.
Delivery Area	Available throughout all 50 states.
Package Size and Weight	Up to 150 lbs. each; 119" in length; 165" in length.*

at no time during the creation of a shipping label on NEX website are you told delivery will not be by 10:30AM


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

Reef_Haven said:


> *A word of caution here.*
> NEX website offers next day 10:30AM delivery. What they don't say is it may be 10:30AM or Noon or End of Day, depending on location. Just because you check 10:30AM, does not mean it will actually deliver by 10:30. Rural locations will still be End of Day.


FedEx is pretty similar in that regard.


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

All my NEX/UPS shipments have been delivered by 10:30 am. 

In ten years of selling frogs, I've yet to have anyone from a rural area buy frogs. Froggers for the most part live in cities and suburbs. In the boonies, frogging means catching bullfrogs in order to eat their legs  (Haven't you ever seen "Duck Dynasty?")


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## LadyKeiva (May 10, 2013)

dablock said:


> All my NEX/UPS shipments have been delivered by 10:30 am.
> 
> In ten years of selling frogs, I've yet to have anyone from a rural area buy frogs. Froggers for the most part live in cities and suburbs. In the boonies, frogging means catching bullfrogs in order to eat their legs  (Haven't you ever seen "Duck Dynasty?")


Being a frogger in a rural area is pretty inconvenient compared to the suburbs. I moved to a rural area from Long Island over the summer. It has definitely been a small challenge to adapt. (Tanks, crickets, misc supplies are all 15 miles away at least)

I won't have anything perishable shipped to our house here. Our FedEx carrier uses a U-Haul truck instead of a FedEx truck. Our mail carrier doesn't have a USPS truck either... He drives a RAV4 with a US Post magnet stuck to it. They take all day to get here regardless of the time it was supposed to be delivered. 

We now just pick up our live animals at the main hub instead of home delivery.

At least we're only an hour away from the Hamburg show now... >,>


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

LadyKeiva said:


> Being a frogger in a rural area is pretty inconvenient compared to the suburbs. I moved to a rural area from Long Island over the summer. It has definitely been a small challenge to adapt. (Tanks, crickets, misc supplies are all 15 miles away at least)
> 
> I won't have anything perishable shipped to our house here. Our FedEx carrier uses a U-Haul truck instead of a FedEx truck. Our mail carrier doesn't have a USPS truck either... He drives a RAV4 with a US Post magnet stuck to it. They take all day to get here regardless of the time it was supposed to be delivered.
> 
> ...


I'll bet you feel like you've moved back in time. What decade is it there in rural PA? 

Now that you're a "rural" person, please don't get hungry enough to cook up your frogs!

[Just kidding of course ]


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## LadyKeiva (May 10, 2013)

dablock said:


> I'll bet you feel like you've moved back in time. What decade is it there in rural PA?
> 
> Now that you're a "rural" person, please don't get hungry enough to cook up your frogs!
> 
> [Just kidding of course ]


I'd go for our geckos first. They look a bit meatier than the frogs =P


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## medusa (Oct 30, 2011)

I have lived in rural, suburban and city areas and have sent and received tons of animals of all sorts from all locations. The key to rural shipping and receiving is 'hold for pickup'. Ya its a little more inconvenient but should not stop any of the Duck Dynasty folks from buying or selling frogs. Just combine the drive with one of your bi-weekly trips to Walmart (you rural folks know what I am talking about). Rural folks are used to having to drive some distance for everything else anyway. 

Even if you do not have official hubs (FedEx, UPS etc.) in your closest town (check their websites for the nearest one) there are likely 'certified shipping centers'. These are businesses that are contracted with major carriers that basically function as mini-hubs. They are the next best thing if your official major hub is an hour away or more. There may be a small surcharge for using them for hold-for-pickup though (e.g. $3), paid when you get your package. Even if it requires you to drive 30 minutes "into town" it saves hours on transit time for your frogs. 

Sorry for the hijack away from NEX shipping, but I thought this might be a valuable tid-bit for those thinking of buying/selling from/to a rural area.


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

medusa said:


> I have lived in rural, suburban and city areas and have sent and received tons of animals of all sorts from all locations. The key to rural shipping and receiving is 'hold for pickup'. Ya its a little more inconvenient but should not stop any of the Duck Dynasty folks from buying or selling frogs. Just combine the drive with one of your bi-weekly trips to Walmart (you rural folks know what I am talking about). Rural folks are used to having to drive some distance for everything else anyway.
> 
> Even if you do not have official hubs (FedEx, UPS etc.) in your closest town (check their websites for the nearest one) there are likely 'certified shipping centers'. These are businesses that are contracted with major carriers that basically function as mini-hubs. They are the next best thing if your official major hub is an hour away or more. There may be a small surcharge for using them for hold-for-pickup though (e.g. $3), paid when you get your package. Even if it requires you to drive 30 minutes "into town" it saves hours on transit time for your frogs.
> 
> Sorry for the hijack away from NEX shipping, but I thought this might be a valuable tid-bit for those thinking of buying/selling from/to a rural area.


Thanks, for the input. It's good to know that successful rural shipments can be done.


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## mppp (Feb 5, 2014)

Informative posts all around guys this pretty much answers every question I've ever had on shipping!


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## mppp (Feb 5, 2014)

I forgot to ask...what about tracking with NEX? Hopefully I didn't overlook this in thread.
Thanks


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## dablock (Aug 7, 2007)

mppp said:


> I forgot to ask...what about tracking with NEX? Hopefully I didn't overlook this in thread.
> Thanks


Tracking is pretty standard. Here's the tracking report for my last shipment. It's a copy and paste. The actual page has all this set out in a columned chart.


Detailed Tracking Results for # 1086512906 
Delivered
Delivered To:OFFICE
Signed by:ANNIE

Shipment Facts 
Shipment Date Destination 
Feb 23, 2015 1:57 PM MODESTO, CA 

Service Reference 
Next Day AM (by 10:30AM) 

Shipment Travel History 

Date/Time

Activity

Location

Details

Feb 24 2015, 10:23 AM Delivered
Delivered To:OFFICE
Signed by:ANNIE MODESTO, CA 
Feb 24 2015, 8:13 AM In Transit
OUT FOR DELIVERY CERES, CA 
Feb 24 2015, 7:43 AM In Transit
DESTINATION SCAN CERES, CA 
Feb 24 2015, 7:30 AM In Transit
ARRIVAL SCAN CERES, CA 
Feb 24 2015, 7:00 AM In Transit
DEPARTURE SCAN MATHER, CA 
Feb 24 2015, 5:43 AM In Transit
DESTINATION SCAN MATHER, CA 
Feb 24 2015, 4:56 AM In Transit
ARRIVAL SCAN MATHER, CA 
Feb 24 2015, 3:45 AM In Transit
DEPARTURE SCAN LOUISVILLE, KY 
Feb 24 2015, 12:46 AM In Transit
ARRIVAL SCAN LOUISVILLE, KY 
Feb 23 2015, 11:20 PM In Transit
DEPARTURE SCAN ALBANY, GA 
Feb 23 2015, 5:44 PM In Transit
PICKUP SCAN COLUMBUS, GA 
Feb 23 2015, 1:57 PM In Transit
BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED


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