[corvallis]

I go through periods of frequent shipping, and I find it pretty easy. I bought a small scale and the USPS website is pretty solid for giving price comparisons and allowing you to buy/print postage and drop it in the mail. You can order flat rate boxes and they send them to you. I've almost always found UPS/Fedex to be more expensive so I simply stopped comparing. If it's local, I'll use a courier. I'd rather just work with what I know even if it means rarely overspending a few bucks. Saves a lot of time, money, and hassle in the long run. I guess I don't understand how others seem to overcomplicate or overthink this to the point that something like Shyp existed for as long as it did.

[cepth]

Worth noting that UPS/FedEx/USPS each has its own shipping niches.

YMMV, but I've generally found that FedEx for home delivery of larger packages is cheaper than UPS and USPS, who each charge a surcharge for residential delivery vs commercial delivery. If you need to ship things overnight, FedEx's air/express prices are a competitive advantage.

USPS is very price-competitive if you are able to use their standard sized packaging, their "flat rate boxes".

For shipping larger items via ground, UPS still generally has that niche. Worth noting that if you do large volumes of smaller items, say the size of a book, UPS Surepost combines UPS's speed with USPS last-mile delivery.