how much to ship tires?

[The motor guy]

I bought some wider tires for my zero turn, but I don't think they're going to work, so I'm going to ship them back. Probably weighs 20 pounds. I'd like to mount them and see how they fit, but they said I wouldn't be able to return them if I mounted them. Not sure how they would tell. Although they do have plastic band straps on them. What's funny is they claimed it would be cheaper if I paid to ship them back instead of them sending me a label.

 

[69GTX]

I had to ship 4 "little used" reproduction F70x14 RL tires (14x 215) last year and the cheapest method by far was my local Office Plus that uses Fed Ex. It cost $78 to ship those tires from CT to PA. USPS would have been around $115-$120 and UPS somewhere near that. Those tires weighed around 20 lbs each. The key was to ship them as 2 items....not 4 single tires or 4 lashed together...those options cost considerably more (ie too many items or over-sized item). I placed some cardboard on each side and between them for protection. Then bought an $8 roll of shrink wrap and wrapped the heck out of them. Plenty of wrap left for a few more shipments.

 

[The motor guy]

I'd think it would be cheaper to use their ups account and have them send me an rma number and deduct it off the refund, but the guy didn't think so cause he said they charge 10 dollars for a label, even then I think it would stil be much cheaper.

 

[69GTX]

No doubt the tire companies get a better rate than we can. When shopping new tires I noted that even Tire Rack adds up to $15 per tire.

 

[The Critic]

Due to their weight, tires can be very expensive to ship. I recently had to ship a tire back due to its production date. For an individual to ship it from CA to the Northeast, it was about $50!! I had the seller send me a tag since it would be cheaper with their corporate rate, and it was still almost $30 for one tire.

 

[eljefino]

I had to ship a 4.8x8 trailer tire (on rim) back to Harbor Freight as it was defective. For a $30 tire the shipping would have been in the low $20 had I paid it. They generated a Fedex label.

They stuck a luggage tag through the lug holes with its built in zip-tie, put the label on the tag, and set it loose through their system.

 

[mrsilv04]

FedEx and UPS jacked up their rates when diesel and jet fuel were at record high prices.

So, when are their prices going to ever come back down?

Oh, that's right. Never.