I recently shipped some of my my personal audio gear from NY to L.A. along with framed artwork. After having incurred what I thought were rather high prices from UPS given at Staples, decided to finally give PirateShip.com a try after reading a very positive thread on the service.
Well I can add my big thumbs up too. The 11 items I shipped received from 35% to 47% discounts off the regular UPS ground rates. A power amplifier weighing 38 lbs. boxed cost $55.88 cross-country. I added insurance of $1,000 for an additional $12.00. I also sent a pair of speakers, each boxed as its own shipment of 26 lbs. for $45.08 per speaker; I valued each at $150.
Creating the labels and paying on their site was very easy; then I simply downloaded them and affixed them to the boxes. You can then ship from any UPS store or affiliate, I dropped mine off at a local Staples. All 11 packages were delivered on time or early, none had any visible damage.
It's very important to accurately weigh and measure your packages. If UPS finds you were off you then they'll automatically charge for any additional postage due via your Pirate Ship method of payment. In my case it happened with was just one box and the additional cost was $1.53. I highly recommend giving it a try.
Pirate Ship also gives you USPS prices which these days are much higher than UPS. I only use the USPS for media mail shipments anymore, they're still a great value. I've been shipping lots of records up to 25 in a box cross country, and it 's all been fine. That's with using very heavy duty record cartons saved from online retailers. I've also shipped lots of art books, and unless all the edges are secured with the heavy duty fiber glass thread tape, the heavy parcels arrive with seam splits; the USPS system is quite rough on packages. I've found that 25-30 lbs. is really the maximum advisable weight limit even when using heavy duty boxes.