Question about shipping.

[whoami?]

Usually online dealers offer fast shipping (usually around $25) and cheap shipping (usually around $5 or $10). I've usually used the fast shipping, but it really takes up a much larger percentage of the total cost of an order than I would like it to.

Does anyone here frequently order with cheap shipping? If so, do your animals usually arrive in good shape?

Does anyone here infrequently order with cheap shipping? If so, in what shape did your animals arrive on those few occasions when you decided on cheap shipping?

If you need me to be more specific, I am thinking of ordering some H. arizonensis. And I live in Florida where temps have recently been between 50 degrees and 70 degrees.

 

[Wade]

Unless the dealer you're ordering from is also in Florida, I wouldn't even THINK of using anything less than overnight shipping this time of year. Even if it's warm where you are, and even warm where they'd be shipped from, chances are they're going to pass through somewhere where it's cold. Here in VA we're experiencing near record lows. I doubt I'd ship anything at all right now. Just a couple hours outdoors on a loading dock in freezing weather could kill just about anything.

In balmy spring and fall weather however, I've shipped and recieved many bugs using USPS Priority mail (2-3 day delivery) with no problems. Most dealers, however, will not offer any guarentees on such shipments.

Wade

 

[Bob the thief]

With desert scorpions I don't worry much on shipping considering some of these buggers can be frozen solid and still live...

Other animals are much more fragile though. Why just yesterday I got another order of snails and a scorpion from a bio company (they didn't know the species just the genus). But for some reason they didn't pack heat packs.


I lost one snail and the scorpion looked dead when I got it but I put him in lukewarm water for 15 minutes and he came around.

With tarantulas and tropical inverts I wouldent even risk overnight shipping this time of year. But other animals may surprise you.

 

[Gillian]

Originally posted by whoami?


Does anyone here frequently order with cheap shipping? If so, do your animals usually arrive in good shape?

Hi,
I used the "cheap" shipping for my recent Desert Yellow millies. It took 4 days, and one died shortly after and, the others were droopy. For me, from now on, its the express shipping.
Peace,
Gillian

 

[Wade]

Originally posted by Bob the thief
With desert scorpions I don't worry much on shipping considering some of these buggers can be frozen solid and still live...

While it's true NA desert scorps are pretty resilliant to temp changes, and yes, some have even been frozen (under laboratory condions) and revived, I still think it would be a huge mistake to ship them in the winter with anything less than overnight shipping and heat packs, etc. Sure, they MIGHT survive, but then again, they might not. It's not a great idea to push an animal to it's extremes for the sake of convienece. Sure, you might save a couple bucks if it makes it, but you'll be out the whole wad if it doesn't.

Again, though, when temps are mild (spring and fall) cheaper methods often work fine. Still a risk, however.

Wade