Cheapest shipping for a pair of shoes in CONUS?

[acecow]

I've always wondered what's the cheapest way to ship a pair of shoes in a box in the US. The USPS website is somewhat helpful, but not too much, and the ladies at the post office always claim that ~$15 seems to be the cheapest. Is there a cheaper way? I'm sure some of you know how. Thank you!

 

[dragon8]

USPS Priority mailhas boxes for flat rate shipping. Prices depend on the size of the box you need.

 

[jrd617]

Parcel post if you want to save 2 or 3 bucks

 

[acecow]

I do... It's a return on a pair of shoes that cost $25. I'm not even sure it's worth it sending them back.

 

[conceited]

Sell that **** and get yourself some deodorant.

I'm kidding.

 

[Steve Smith]

Use the USPS calculator to get a good estimate of shipping. Most pairs of shoes shipped in their box inside a box will have a shipped weight of less than 4 pounds. Shell cordovan less than 5 pounds. Enter the zip codes into the calculator to get prices. Sometimes Parcel Post is a bit less expensive, but I rarely use it. It is not much less in this weight range and I know that when people buy a pair of shoes they want them yesterday.

$15 is well above my average shipping cost for a pair of shoes. I shipped a pair of 11.5E shell cordovans from NC to PA today (5 pounds, heavy shoes) at a cost of $9.42. Printing the postage online, the same pair of shoes would cost $17.88 Priority or $12.70 Parcel Post. That is from the coast of North Carolina to the West Coast, so you can see that this "average cost" of $15 is excessive.