uxo2 pretty much has it figured out.
I use USPS Priority Mail almost exclusively. Print the label from either PayPal or the USPS website, tape up the box, hand it off to the mailman when he comes by. Simple as that.
- USPS Priority Mail starts at $7. for the small Priority Mail box, up to about $19. for their largest box
- USPS rates are the same to all
fifty states, and all inhabited U.S. territories as well.
- Inhabited U.S. Territories = American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (I've shipped to Samoa, Guam and Puerto Rico multiple times in the past. No problems in the last ten years that I've been doing it.)
- Shipping to Canada usually adds about $8. to the shipping fee, and an extra week for customs. In my experience, shipping to other countries adds about $15.-$16.
- Stuff all you want in the box, up to 70 lbs. I've gotten a lot of packages here that were fairly heavy, that if shipped UPS or FedEx ground, would have cost a lot more.
- The USPS also includes $50. insurance in that base amount.
I've backed out of a few knife deals here over the years, because the seller was gouging buyers on shipping. One seller got pretty upset with me, but he wanted an extra
$12. to ship a $26. knife - a OKC Utilitac II, no box. I have never spent any more than $10. to ship anything in a small box, and then the extra $2. or $3. was just for insurance.
~Chris