Shipping Coral

[Andy Aquariums]

I'm thinking about starting to ship coral to buyers on other forums/ebay. There is so much information out there and differing viewpoints on the best and most economical way to ship. Anyone here have experieinces they can share?

 

[Trio91]

No personal experience but I think the biggest concern with retail shipping, in our industry is Return/DOA policy. May need to look into getting an insurance policy if you're looking to go full legit with it.

Economically, I would think that bunching up orders to ship out on the same day will help with logistics.

 

[MadReefer]

Also have to consider temperature, cold need heat packs. If it's hot not sure what can be done if anything.

 

[DangerDave]

It’s easy enough to do, but with the volume of a hobbyist there is a higher concern with costs associated with loss. there are a couple good posts on r2r with guidance that can get you started.

 

[Hallowhead]

When shipping corals you simply must make a very strict policy that they agree to. Make sure they pay via PayPal goods and services and If they do charger back have proof they agreed to the DOA policy. Other then that it shouldn't be too bad.

 

[Andy Aquariums]

It seems to me that the shipping costs will always be so high that you’ll need to take a loss on the shipping and that loss would likely eat into whatever small profit you would have made. It’s quite likely you might end up paying to ship your coral to someone.

 

[Trio91]

Well that's where you'd need to set a shipment minimum for each order...to cover you're costs. That should include your packaging, materials, labels etc.

Or you can hand deliver within a certain distance in the meantime. But you may want to consider marking up your items to atleast cover travel expenses.

 

[amado]

I think shipping you have two camps.
It’s not worth it and too expensive to ship corals and the 2nd it’s the only way to sell a lot of corals and if you have a good product you can make a lot of money.

I think it’s a good idea at least for the start to only ship regional. Look at what you can ship over night close for the cheapest price.
Start with that and expand as the demand grows.

Shipping a coral from nj to Boston is cheap.
Shipping that same coral to California is another story.

 

[nightmarepl]

It seems to me that the shipping costs will always be so high that you’ll need to take a loss on the shipping and that loss would likely eat into whatever small profit you would have made. It’s quite likely you might end up paying to ship your coral to someone.

Im a certified hazmat / iata shipper i ship mostly chemicals daily temp controlled and all. first and foremost it depends on who you will use as a shipper. fedex is mostly heated / cooled trucks well more organized and handled alittle better. while ups cramps their trucks to the roof so all your stuff will most likely get thrown around like a football. price is mostly alittle higher with fedex unless you ship huge volumes they give you some nice discounts
shipping anything in new jersey ground would be your cheapest and best bet surrounding states probably the same anything past that you need express or priority which can get pricey specially once you start labeling life animals or something..

fedex also supplies you with bags / labels / boxes free which makes a big difference. shipment wise how to pack you need to worry about weight issues unless you doing ground shipments cause theyll rack up your costs like crazy.
foam box or heat patted boxes every time i ordered stuff from online most of the time froze or cooked cause idiots didnt use enough heat packs or cold packs usually you want a small amount of water with wet paper towels for inverts
corals i would use DAT cups ( plastic urine cups ) those work wonders itll be stiff safe warmish air sealed i can get you our vendor infomation to get them aswell. itll hold enough space plus water

once you start labeling live animals you in for some expenses just and FYI corals i wouldnt really consider live animals its basically a plant and dont require any form of documentation aslong as its in the US

let me a message or text me at 973-900-0939 if you need more info i can try my best to help you out.

 

[cudaaa]

I agree, I have shipped corals to friends in FL and NC and the cost was over 2x to go to FL

 

[Sponge]

Im a certified hazmat / iata shipper i ship mostly chemicals daily temp controlled and all. first and foremost it depends on who you will use as a shipper. fedex is mostly heated / cooled trucks well more organized and handled alittle better. while ups cramps their trucks to the roof so all your stuff will most likely get thrown around like a football. price is mostly alittle higher with fedex unless you ship huge volumes they give you some nice discounts
shipping anything in new jersey ground would be your cheapest and best bet surrounding states probably the same anything past that you need express or priority which can get pricey specially once you start labeling life animals or something..

fedex also supplies you with bags / labels / boxes free which makes a big difference. shipment wise how to pack you need to worry about weight issues unless you doing ground shipments cause theyll rack up your costs like crazy.
foam box or heat patted boxes every time i ordered stuff from online most of the time froze or cooked cause idiots didnt use enough heat packs or cold packs usually you want a small amount of water with wet paper towels for inverts
corals i would use DAT cups ( plastic urine cups ) those work wonders itll be stiff safe warmish air sealed i can get you our vendor infomation to get them aswell. itll hold enough space plus water

once you start labeling live animals you in for some expenses just and FYI corals i wouldnt really consider live animals its basically a plant and dont require any form of documentation aslong as its in the US

let me a message or text me at 973-900-0939 if you need more info i can try my best to help you out.

That was awesome info @nightmarepl I personally have no plans on shipping anything. But good info is good info. And hey you never know. Just passing on I appreciate the post and wether others say it or not, i guarantee a lot of others that read it will as well. Sooo just saying. Thanks.