Can a third party shipping center (like mailboxes etc.) charge any amount they want for shipping?

Question

I brought in a package weighing 20 ounces to mailboxes, etc., store which franchises with UPS. They quoted me $45 for UPS overnight service from Maryland to PA. I asked could they send it U.S. mail overnight. They said, "sure." The price was $38.00. I left, went on the USPS website, put in the zip codes & weight and bought a $14.00 label for overnight mail. $14 vs. about $40, so I called UPS. They said mailboxes etc., was a separate company & they could charge whatever they wanted. I asked them the following: "Does that mean they could charge me $100 to send a one ounce letter?" UPS customer service said, "I guess so. We don't control them." Is something wrong with this picture or is it true they can charge whatever they want for handling or whatever the F___ they do. I brought in the sealed box with my pre-printed USPS to the same store--they didn't want to accept it. They said USPS didn't like to accept "big packages." 1/2 hour before they were ready to ship it? Legal??

Answer 1

While I sympathize with where you're coming from, the answer is, "Yes, they can charge whatever they want." You see they are a third party business, which means they have to pay the prices of the service provider, while still managing the costs of their own overhead such as a store front, employees, advertising, utilities, etc. So in order to stay in business, they MUST charge more than the delivery supplier charges.

It's simple economics. If you're going to turn a profit selling apples, you need to charge your customers, more than it cost you to buy the apples.

With regard to the size, it's true that shipping companies do have size limitations, but they are rather generous. It's possible that with regard to the time constraint, that you've simply become a victim of terrible customer service. A company worth doing business with would have bent over backwards to service your need, and would have smiled while doing it. Their mistake.

Answer 2

In short, my answer to this question would be YES.
The reason for this is simple. UPS stores in are in the business to make money.
They don't get any sort of kick-back from the USPS when you ship with them, so they add a surcharge onto the package to make it worth their while. However, a $24.00 surcharge seems a little excessive.
If you ship something using UPS, chances are, you would receive UPS list rates. They may even be slightly less if you were to ship using an account, but if you take it to the counter, UPS has to pay a fee to that individual franchisee. UPS Stores (mailboxes, etc.) are individual franchise locations.
This is where UPS stores will struggle. Prices may vary from location to location.

You got flack when you brought in the sealed box with the pre-printed label simply because of poor customer service. Even if they don't get a kick-back on that individual package, in my opinion, they still should have accepted it, and gotten you on your way. I have to admit that since 9-11 there have been some additional postal regulations regarding packages weighing more than 1lb, but they could have done a better job explaining their reason for not accepting the package.

I guess the question to ask this particular location is "How much would an individual stamp cost"? If they answer with anything other than .39 then they are really taking you for a ride.

Answer 3

well you could have taken your USPS (postal service) label
to any post office with the label
or you could have gone to Fedex or Fedex/Kinkos
where we would have shipped it mostly like cheaper the UPS
(fedex kinkos will charge you the same rate as Fedex staff stations will)_