How to Ship Mailing Tubes | Learn How to Measure & Ship Tubes – Shipping School

Have you ever thought about how you would ship a baseball bat? how about a rolled up poster? The fact is, all kinds of products come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes you’ll want to ship them inside mailing tubes.

index

  • what is a mail tube?
  • is there a certain usps mail class for mail tubes?
  • how do I measure dimensions?
  • shipping tubes are “irregular packages” and may incur surcharges from different carriers
  • save more money on shipping tubes with online shipping software

what is a mail tube?

A shipping tube is a cylinder-shaped cardboard container that people use to package and ship a variety of specialty items. They’re perfect for mailing rolled papers like blueprints and posters, as well as long specialty items like fishing rods, telescopes, or golf clubs. however, those aren’t the only items we see them used for! tubes are also great for shipping rolled t-shirts, making them a popular packaging solution for crowdfunding campaigns.

Pro Tip: Some artwork can be rolled on a cylinder, so some carriers also use tubes to ship rolled artwork, such as watercolors. That said, obviously you can’t ship a hard canvas with a tube, as canvases don’t roll.

is there a certain class of usps mail for mail tubes?

not! A mailing tube is just a unique form of packaging, and you can send them in any kind of regular USPS mail. If the tube weighs less than 16 ounces, you can ship it with First Class Parcel Service. however, other items inside the tubes may weigh more than 16 ounces. in that case, the tubes are almost always shipped via priority mail or express express mail.

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something to note: first class packaging restricts packages to a maximum size of 22″ x 18″ x 15″. therefore, while some long items, such as golf clubs, may weigh less than 16 ounces, you’ll need to ship them via priority mail if they exceed the first-class package dimension limits.

Here’s a bonus: USPS offers free tubes that you can order from their website! Please note that these particular tubes are triangular, not cylindrical, and you can only use them for priority mail and urgent express mail.

make sure usps brand mailing tubes match the service you pay for

if you’re using one of those usps brand priority mail or express mail tubes just mentioned, you’ll need to choose the exact class of mail for it before purchasing postage. for example, if you are using a priority mail express tube, you will need to purchase priority mail express postage.

how do I measure the dimensions?

good question! People are often confused because they assume that a cylindrical mail tube only has two dimensions: length and depth. However, this is not the case. measures the dimension of a tube in the same way that you would measure a normal package: with three dimensions. When entering the dimensions of a tube into your shipping software, simply enter the length, width and depth. Make sure you always enter these three dimensions, as that will determine the appropriate price you pay for postage.

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The following image shows how to find the dimensions of a mailing tube:

mail tubes are “irregular packages” and may incur surcharges from different carriers

One thing to keep in mind when shipping mail tubes is that most carriers consider them “irregular packages,” which is a designation they give to packages that aren’t shaped like a regular box or envelope. . As a result, you will most likely have to pay surcharges in addition to shipping costs.

The amount of surcharges you will have to pay varies from carrier to carrier, as well as the type of surcharge you will incur. For example, if your tube is too long for normal parameters when shipped with UPS, you will likely see additional handling charges. When you ship with USPS, you may be subject to certain non-standard fees in addition to the shipping costs that were introduced in April 2022. These surcharges are unavoidable and always good to keep in mind when shipping a tube!

save the most money on mailing tubes with online shipping software

As always, you can save the maximum amount of money on shipping items inside mailing tubes when you purchase postage online with shipping software. Most online shipping software solutions allow you to access special discounts, such as USPS commercial prices, which reflect the kind of savings that USPS normally only gives to large commercial carriers. Whether you ship items inside mailing tubes or in regular packages, you’ll always get the best discounts with shipping software.

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When creating a label in your shipping software of choice, you will typically have the option to choose “box or rigid packaging” when selecting your package type. click that, and once you enter your tube dimensions, you’ll pay the same postage rate you’d pay for a box!

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