Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I am trying to ship two packages of geckos today and was just told by someone at UPS that they only accept packages of live animals from people who have a daily pickup account which is only for high volume shippers. Has anyone else been told this?

I just checked the UPS tariff updated July 13 2003 and it says live animals can only be shipped on an exception basis, prearranged in writing.

I know people are shipping geckos all the time via UPS, has anyone else encountered any problems like this and do you list the contents of your packages as geckos?
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

I use The United Parcel Service all the time. Never any problems. The people at the counter know me and my geckos so its never an issue.

I guess I'll just go there and hope for the best. You do list contents as live reptiles/geckos?
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

Sarah,
You don't need to sign up for daily pick up. You should however go through the process of getting authorized to ship your geckos. Sign up for an on-line account. Then e-mail their customer service and explain that you want to get an exception to ship geckos. They will put you in contact with a rep. in your local area, you will need to fill out some forms and fax them back then you will get a letter that you can take to the drop off counter when you ship. It took about 2 weeks total to get the letter from the day I signed up for an account. I always take them to my local UPS center just before they close at 7:30 PM so that the geckos aren't sitting around, or riding in the back of a truck all day.
Be sure it is a UPS drop off counter, not one of those strip mall places or else they will still be sitting around waiting to get picked up. Getting authorized is much safer than taking a chance on a new guy at the counter deciding he wont let you ship.
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Sam
Gecko Den
Email Me

I will definately do that, for today I am just going to go direct to UPS and hope for the best, otherwise I am going to have some disappointed customers.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

You need to open an account (I told them I was shipping about 1 a week); doesn't need to be a special account, and you can set it up online. Then, you need to contact their customer service to let them know you're shipping geckos, the information on how you're packaging and the species you're shipping. They'll send you a letter you can use as 'permission' when shipping them. It takes a couple days, so do it soon so you're not held up again. If you need any more help, let me know.
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Rob Jenkins
Have you seen the GeckoCam?
Buy Geckos Here
Email Me

Thanks Rob, I had no idea. I am supposed to ship two packages today, should I just forget it and let my buyers know or pack them up and see if I can ship?

The woman at UPS I talked to about the packages did not say geckos were a problem (I told her I was shipping live reptiles, geckos), but when I asked about getting an account the guy I talked to said this stuff about the daily pickup avccount and I told hoim I didn't think that was true. He tried t put me through to someone else in customer service and they left me on hold a long time so I hung up.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

I think you already said you were going to try in reply to Sam's message, but I think that's a good idea. If they deny you, explain that you're in the process of getting approved, but you need to make this ONE shipment this ONE time. Ensure them that the geckos are packaged professionally and they are shipped all the time. If that doesn't work, explain to your customer that you're having trouble with UPS and are getting approved, but it takes a few days. If they don't want to wait and don't mind, ship via USPS if they'll guarantee next day delivery. I trust UPS more, though.
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Rob Jenkins
Have you seen the GeckoCam?
Buy Geckos Here
Email Me

Sarah,

UPS regulations require that you need an account to ship live animals, but you can ship through Staples or other places like that because they have an account with them.
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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

I shipped them at the UPS store near me that had the latest drop -off time (5pm) and went at the last minute. I wrote down the contents- gecko/geckos and they didn't give me any problem at all. I shipped them Next Day Priority which was expensive as heck, $90 for shipping the two boxes, and when you add in the insulated boxes and heat packs and cups etc... that's $100 to ship two geckos, which is $30 out of my own pocket but as this is my first shipment, I am a nervous nellie and it is worth it for peace of mind. I don't think I will be able to relax until I know they have arrived safely.

Do most of you ship regular/saver next day delivery? I didn't even ask how much that costs, obviously it's less, but I don't know by how much. Because otherwise I don't know how anyone covers shipping costs with $35.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

I don't make any money off shipping. I often take money out of pocket to complete the shipment. That's an average, though. UPS ships by 'zones', where it's cheaper to ship nearby you and more expensive as you get farther away. $45 is a little expensive; where are you and where are the boxes going; I'm guessing they were going to the other coast from you? I have had some that were up there in price, but it's not too often. You may have paid a surcharge because you don't have an account with them.

I always ship 'Next Day', which should get there by 10:30am to most places. I figure it's worth the extra $ to make sure they don't spend all day(hottest temps) in the back of a van.

You'll always pay 'Dimensional Weight', which means even if the box weighs 1lb, you'll pay their estimation based on the dimensions of the package. They do this for all shipments that involve air travel. You can estimate shipping costs on the ups.com website to see how much it should cost.

I'm glad you could get them out today. Good luck getting your account set up.
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Rob Jenkins
Have you seen the GeckoCam?
Buy Geckos Here
Email Me

I am in San Francisco. A package to IL cost 42.17 (1 gecko). A package to Wisconsin cost $47.10 (3 geckos, larger box, heavier). Plus my cost of boxes, heat packs, etc...

It was the UPS store, and when I spoke to a guy on the phone today he said the only beneifit of having an acount was delayed billing on one statement. No price breaks mentioned.

What do you normally pay for a gecko shipment, and what size boxes do you use?
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos

>>What do you normally pay for a gecko shipment, and what size boxes do you use?

The cheapest I've gotten away with was $28.50 from MD to GA, and the most expensive was $62.67(took a big hit on that one). That's just UPS expense; not counting box, heat/cold pack, and containers. I've been using the boxes you can get online at places like reptilepackaging.com that are 15x11x7, lately but I had gotten some awesome boxes from my wife's work (vet clinic) that are made by Pfizer, but haven't gotten any in a while. I just don't figure in the box/heat/cold pack in the price of shipping.

Because you're on the west coast, if you're doing flat shipping charges, it'll probably even out or come close to evening out in the end(probably still a little over $35, though). Some will be less than $35 and some will be more. If you were shipping to the west coast, you probably would've been around $30-35, I'd guess.
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Rob Jenkins
Have you seen the GeckoCam?
Charity Gecko
Email Me

CHARITY GECKO!!

I know exactly what you mean... I am always nervous when I ship mine even though I ship a couple of times a week! I also lose about $5.00 with every shipment if you consider the cost of the box and materials. I ship at the end of the day, like around 4:30 or 5:00 for next day air delivery before 10:30 am if there is a delivery at that time, and they usually arrive around 9:00... depending on where you are shipping, some locations have more than one delivery each day. My shipping costs usually run around $37-$39 on average, and my box size is 14x10x10 and weighs anywhere from 1.85-2.10 lbs. for 1-4 geckos.

Here is a link to the UPS cost calculator:
wwwapps.ups.com/QCCWebApp/request?iso_language=en&iso_country=US

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Marcia McGuiness
Golden Gate Geckos
www.goldengategeckos.com

The cost calculator says shipment should have been $10 cheaper. Will need to investigate.
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Sarah Stettler aka Starling
Sarah@stargecko.com
StarGecko.Com COMING SOON! Star Quality Leopard Geckos
Specializing in Hypotangerine Tremper Albinos