Computers are hefty yet fragile items that require great care while being shipped. To ensure good protection during the transit, the machine has to be packaged properly considering its weight. So, there’re considerable chipping charges to pay. How much does it cost to ship a computer? $30-$50-$100 or what? The answer doesn’t come that easy.
The charges may vary depending on specific factors, freight classes, and the pricing policies of companies that are going to handle the job. Let’s take a close look at them first.
Factors That Determine Computer Shipping Cost
Since you’re eager to know the actual figure, you should consider the following factors that help you determine the shipping cost.
Computer Crating and Shipping Preparations
One of the first tasks to take care of while trying to ship a computer is creating it properly. The cost of collecting crating materials varies widely. Whatever the cost, you need to ensure that the computer doesn’t become vulnerable to accidental drops. A good way to protect your machine from such an accident is to create it in a way that it can withstand a 4-foot drop on hard surfaces.
There comes the packaging. The cost of packaging light and low-end computer is typically lower than that of a heavy, high-end unit. Similarly, the cost of laptop packaging is always lower than that of a desktop machine.
Assuming that your device can be anything among these categories, you may need to spend $10-$100 for the packaging alone. Remember choosing the computer shipping supplies correctly because they may cost higher than you expected but would pay off better in the end.
Freight Class
While working with various brokers, carriers, and warehouses, you need to have a standardized freight pricing. The National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) defines these classes. Any commodity that can be shipped is given a specific classification along with a corresponding LTL (Less Than Truckload) freight shipment defined by NMFTA for providing consumers with a uniform pricing pattern.
Your eCommerce company is less likely to succeed if it does not use cargo shipping. While air freight incurs additional costs, sea freight takes a long time to deliver your goods. As a result, road freight can be the most adaptable and cost-effective mode of goods transportation. As a result, investing in road freight transportation may be a good option if you have a limited budget but need the shipment to be delivered as soon as possible.
Apart from these things, NMFTA follows a few criteria while assigning a class of goods. The factors include the height, length, and weight (the density and value of the item), handling ease or difficulty, liability factors, and stow-ability. For instance, if you take the example of firms that provide motorcycle freight services or car delivery, they might charge a tad bit higher than the usual e-commerce goods that are shipped on a day-to-day basis. Also, the prices tend to vary in different countries. Each of them has its own set of guidelines when it comes to concerning the logistics industry.
With regards to these factors, shipped packages fall under any of the 11 classes among which 60 is the least expensive and 400 is the most expensive one. Different carriers serving in this area take this class into consideration while determining the shipment cost.
Understanding Computer’s Freight Class
As you’re working to get an accurate shipping quote for your computer, understanding its freight class is never more important. Computers, monitors, and refrigerators are all included in the sub-category, and therefore assigned the class 92.5 which represents a shipping quote costlier than the lowest and cheaper than the expensive ones. The weight range per cubic foot for this particular freight class is 10.5-12 pounds.
Shipping Services
One of the most significant aspects of cost calculation is the company you’re looking up to for shipping. As long as you’re in the United States, you’ll come across nearly a hundred service providers such as Dallas trucking companies, for instance, whose reputation significantly varies. Choosing the right shipping company can have a directly proportional effect on the safety of your item that is being transported. Hence, it might be wise for you to reach out to companies that make use of fleet management software to ensure that the cargo they carry can be tracked by customers, along with providing many other functions like being compliant with various guidelines like DOT, which are a mandate for trucking companies. You can learn more about such solutions on https://www.lytx.com/en-us/fleet-management/dot-compliance/eld or similar sites. Furthermore, in this article, you’ll know about the most widely used shipping services and the charges they demand.
Shipping Costs: Comparison Among Four Companies
Things that computer shipping services consider include the dimensions and weight of the computer package, the specific location of the sender and the destination of the package, the speed of shipping (delivery), and insurance requirements.
To help you with the determination of cost, we’ve presented information about five reputable shipping companies that operate across the United States with ongoing concerns throughout the corners of the world. The companies include FedEx, UPS, U.S. Postal Service, and Navis Pack & Ship.
Some of these companies may offer a flat rate asking you to keep the computer into their chosen flat rate box. For a proper fit, you may need to disassemble some parts. Otherwise, you may lose the ‘flat rate’ convenience.
Cost of Shipping a Desktop Computer
Among all the different types of computers that people use at homes or offices, desktop versions are considered to be the most challenging ones to chip owing to the weight and size they come in.
However, to give you an idea about the cost close to the actual rate, we assume that your machine weighs around 15-20 pounds. Also, assume that the shipment is going from Florida to California. Let’s see how much these companies could possibly charge.
FedEx would keep the charges under $35 with a full tracking feature and a guaranteed delivery within four days. The cost would be around $40 when you choose UPS or the postal service as your service company. Navis Pack & Ship wouldn’t charge more than $37 for the package.
Similarly, FedEx would charge you around $20 whereas UPS and U.S. Postal Service would charge you around $25 and $30 respectively if the shipment has to be made from Florida to New Jersey. For Navis Pack & Ship, the cost could be around $23.
Computer shipping costs based on the above approximations might make you feel that FedEx is the only company that takes care of cost-effectiveness from consumers’ end. But, sometimes, the other companies would offer attractive discounts if you can really avail them.
Cost of Shipping a Laptop Computer
Now that you’re thinking about a smaller machine, the cost of shipping this item would also be a way lower than that of a desktop counterpart. These devices usually weigh 4-10 pounds having width and height measured at 15-20 inches and 10-15 inches respectively. So, here’s an idea about how much to pay.
California to Florida: FedEx shipping cost should be around $15 whereas U.S. Postal Service would take around $16. Navis Pack & Ship would charge around $15. UPS seems to be the most expensive of all as they would take around $20.
Florida to New Jersey: FedEx is again the winner when it comes to the shipping charges as they would take only $12 and Navis Pack & Ship wouldn’t charge more than $13. Both UPS and the postal service take the same $16.
For shipping a tablet, you may need to look for a cheaper pricing pattern due to its smallest size and dimensions compared to those of a laptop and desktop computer.
How to Calculate the Cost on Your Own?
Each company that has been mentioned above lets its consumers have a pretty accurate idea about the cost. The best way to make this easy is to use the shipping cost calculator that all of these services have integrated into their official websites.
So, how much does it cost to ship a computer? Probably, you’ve been acquainted with every possible way to figure that. However, you’ll still want to talk to the support for more help because lots of things could happen between the time you calculate the cost and the company ships the package.