Shipping Air, or The Need for Dimensional Bands

nita_rae

Most LEGO boxes contain a significant amount of air, which is the space not occupied by plastic parts or paper instructions. Shipping out LEGO sets in sealed boxes (see by other post on that subject) usually produces a package which is low on the density scale.

USPS tolerates people shipping air, but only up to one cubic foot. Beyond that, packages must be calculated by dimensional weight. Several years back, dimensional weight was calculated as the quantity of cubic inches divided by 196, then rounded up to the next pound. A year or two back the divisor was changed to 166. USPS really does not like people shipping large not dense packages. If you do that, the dimensional weight is how they recoup the costs involved. In April 2022, USPS began surcharging (in addition to the dimensional weight) for packages that exceed two cubic feet in volume.

Pretty much all the sets I sell (with one or two exceptions) will fit individually into a box that does not exceed one cubic foot. But, buyers being buyers, do not want to place multiple small orders, they want to place one big order for everything (presumably on the basis that they’re getting better shipping that way, which clashes with USPS rates and surcharges).

Currently, Brick Owl offers a way to prevent an order from using a shipping method that exceeds a specified volume. 1728 in^3 is one cubic foot, but (mostly due to how things fit into boxes) I have set my limits at 1600 in^3.

Beyond that, we go into never-never land, as Brick Owl has no way to automate dimensional calculations. The only recourse is to shunt the order into a quote request. Thus far, none of the buyers have done that, which makes me suspect they want a number they can live with (right then and there) and get immediate closure on the order (also known as instant gratification).

What is missing is two things … first, the ability to specify that a shipping method only applies when the volume is greater than a specified number, and second, the ability to specify pricing bands based on ranges of volume (in^3 for US sellers, probably cm^3 for other parts of the world). Then I could specify different shipping methods for larger orders, that take into account all the various rates and surcharges that USPS has implemented.

I do not expect USPS to back off on any of these charge, more likely they will tighten down some more.

Thank you.

Calibrick

Nita, one thing I offer my customers via a public note on every larger set is the opportunity to Request a Quote **without the outer box** stating it drops shipping prices significantly, which then frequently opens up the option of reasonably-priced Priority Mail.

For example, I had one customer buy my New (Sealed) modular Town Hall, modular Corner Cafe, and another out of print set (I forget which, it wasn't a modular) using that option - without that bulky outer box, we were able to ship in a large plus a medium priority mail box, and we just added add'l insurance to it (since it was pushing $2k). They didn't care about the outer box, they wanted to build it. They walked away super happy (this was several years ago).

It saved them a fortune in shipping costs, plus got there super fast.

Another time, I had a customer buy the UCS SW Tie Fighter using that option; without the box, shipping dropped from over $60 to $20-something (priority mail, I think it fit in a medium or large box).

Speculative investors would not want to go for that (those that keep it in the box collecting dust instead of enjoying the build and the display), but for those newer to their love of LEGO (like me, when I was buying every UCS SW set I could get my hands on in 2012/2013) the available alternative was a money-saver.

Just another option to throw out there to account for those bulky box dimensional challenges?

nita_rae

@Calibrick Good point. I had not been thinking about ‘sans original box’ all that much, and mostly because of the apparent desire for sealed sets. I will offer that and see if it gets any better uptake.

How are you estimating weight and volume for sets that you have sealed ? Weight can probably be done by subtracting the box weight from the set weight, but volume is a different story.

nita_rae

One thing I just discovered, is that the Request A Quote shipping method cannot be duplicated. I was hoping to create one for ‘Without Boxes’, but the one that automatically exists seems to be the only one you get.

Calibrick

For sealed sets, the weight is set based on actual box dimensions and physical weight - the shipping cost is stupidly high, since I only use USPS. That's why I offer the public note suggesting if they don't care about the box, try request a quote and asking for a quote sans box. For larger sets, I almost exclusively sell out of box... my note reads:

*NOTE* shipping is $$ sealed in box. If you DO NOT CARE about the original sealed box and just want the factory-sealed bags, manuals, etc. please request a quote at shipping screen and note this. You will see a lower shipping cost.

nita_rae

@Calibrick I will make this observation … when I look at the listings for a given catalog entry, and using my phone as I no longer have hotspot, all the various sellers and there descriptive comments stretch it out vertically. Perhaps my situation is less common, but on the phone using Safari that is what I see. I’m slightly reluctant to clutter it up even more.

What I’m seeing is a result of how the page is being laid out, and the minimal available space to fit everything in (left and right).

Calibrick

That is interesting, @nita_rae ! I would let BO admin know you see this, and advise your type of phone, OS, and browser.

Lawrence

If I understand correctly, you can just make multiple shipping methods with different volume limits. They will all show up for smaller orders, but the customer can just choose the cheapest, which is selected automatically. Then for the larger orders, only the relevant method will be shown.

Having volume bands isn't something our shipping system can support

nita_rae

@Lawrence we can indeed define multiple. If only the lowest price appears, then that is half the solution. When I wrote the title for this thread, I said Dimensional, when I should have said Volume.

The existing shipping method paradigm gives me no way to convert shipping cart volume into a “dimensional weight “. There is, IIRC, one item in my inventory where it naturally has to ship at a dimensional weight. The real problem is when multiple items are in the shipping cart, and the cumulative volume pushes the shipment into dimensional weight territory.

I can try to address the problem (for sets) by limiting the number of lots, but that has a negative effect on parts sales.

I feel like in a bit of a corner, and to find a viable way out of it.

Calibrick

Nita, have you tried allocating your own weight (which we can, which trumps the site catalog's crowdsourced weight) to your sets to try to get around the dimensional issue? I admit, I'm barely following (long morning on my end, not your fault!), but I feel like there's something there that can help under the advanced sales entry options. ??? Just thinking out loud, trying to help. :-)

nita_rae

@Calibrick So, and trying to keep the discussion simple … I’m trying to visualize how to solve this, when there are two sets in the shopping cart. Each set individually can ship without dimensional, but the combo of the two pushes it above 1600 in^3 (or one cubic foot). That is the problem in need of a solution.

I could put in a shipping method without a dimensional cap, but I’m trying to think of a way to have it take the sum of the individual weights (or sum of the individual volumes) and determine a shipping price from that. The sum of the weights is not going to clue me into the dimensional weight (that I can think of).

If you, or anyone else, has some insight, please share it. It’s possible the answer is right in front of me, but I’m not seeing it. The only answer I’ve come up with is to default to quote request.