I guess that's all well and fine for native US fish, but why would anyone
*not* use a styro-lined box for rainbowfish????? They are much more
sensitive to ship than our tough-as-nails native fishes. Even natives
deserve better treatment than this -- to be mailed in just a bag in a
cardboard liner. Wow. :-( I always use a styro-lined box. Always.
Besides, I am not sure why breather bags and styro-lined boxes would be
incompatible. As long as I can get a hold of breather bags that have decent
seams (yunno, ones that actually *hold up* during the shipping process
without blowing seams and thus killing the fish) then I have never had any
problems whatsoever with styro boxes and breather bags. That just seems
silly. Almost NO styro-lined boxes out there are completely airtight, so
they should get some air exchange throughout their time in the box. This guy
is wrong. They work fine in these boxes in my experience. It's getting
decent breather bags that has been the hardest part for me.
Maybe UPS is cheaper, and I have no doubt that the fish arrive on time, but
the idea that one must go there solely due to a need for a styro-lined
shipping container... well I just don't get why one would not use one to
begin with. At least with Express Mail I get my shipping money back when
they are late. Since I pack fish to last at **least** 60-hrs then I really
don't mind them arriving a bit late. ;-) Just more money back into our
pockets. Getting a refund today for that matter. One day late, and all fish
were in excellent shape. :-) Almost 25 bucks back to us and the shipping
ends up free.
Now Priority Mail... well that's another story all together. If it was at
all easy for me to use UPS and I could ship fish almost as cheap as Priority
then I would switch. Sadly it is not. The trick then is to use breather bags
and pack so that there is no clue the box contains water. Again, use the
darn styro liner (sheesh). Use a heat pack if the weather is cool/colder
(not dead of winter tho -- I don't use Priority then at all). Nestle the
bags into styro packing peanuts to insure they have some air circulation.
Lable simply as "Perishable - please keep from extreme heat or cold." Gets
there on time. If you call it "Live Tropical Fish" it will take a week or
more. IMO, breather bags (IF you can find ones that hold up) are a must for
Priority shipping... at least they are out of my city. For Express, I don't
bother using them. No need and the bags are too spendy. ;-)
Julie <><
>From: Peter Unmack <peter.lists at>
>Reply-To: r_m_l at yahoogroups.com
>To: rainbowfish <r_m_l at yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: [RML] NANFA-L-- new US postal regulations (fwd)
>Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 13:06:50 -0500 (CDT)
>
>G'day folks
>
>Thought this might be of interest to some US folks
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 12:19:47 -0700
>From: Mysteryman <bestfish at alaweb.com>
>Reply-To: nanfa-l at nanfa.org
>To: nanfa-l at nanfa.org
>Subject: NANFA-L-- new postal regulations
>
>I went to the Post Office today to mail some fish.
>Things didn't go so well.
>
>Our usual Postmistress, a drop-dead gorgeous Shania Twain lookalike, was
>gone. I was sad to see that, not only for the view, but because she was
>always very helpful when it came to mailing fish. Her replacement was
>something less than friendly or helpful.
>I had planned to send the fish via Priority mail as usual, but I
>couldn't. The new clerk informed me that all fish had to be sent via
>Express Mail now, and in a styrofoam container. I didn't believe it, so
>I had her doublecheck. She was right. Nuts. Breather bags and styrofoam
>don't mix well, you know.
>
>I figured I'd try my luck at UPS. I went to the fancy haberdashery
>shoppe which also doubled as the local UPS store, but I discovered that
>it wasn't handling UPS anymore. They told me that, coincidentally, a
>brand-new pack N ship store was opening up this very day across town,
>so that's where I went.
>
>The second I walked in the door I knew everything would be fine. There,
>standing behind the counter all perky and aiming to please, was the
>former Postmistress! I was her very first customer!
>I told her the runaround I was getting at the Post Office, and she told
>me that things had indeed changed recently. she handled shipping for a
>few different companies as well as the mail service, so she was able to
>compare stuff to each other right in her computer. It turned out that
>sending the package via the Express Mail would run 48 bucks and only
>PROBABLY get there in two days. UPS could take the same package, no
>styrofoam box required, and guaranteed delivery by wednesday. Best of
>all, the price was only half what the mail service would have charged!
>
>So, there you have it. It is getting to be the time of the years when
>we're going to be shipping lots of fish to and fro, so I thought I'd
>give you guys this little heads-up. It might now be better to ship UPS
>than through the mail.
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