At 10:58 AM 12/21/99 -0600, you wrote:
When something comes available and I need it but the
person says "pick-up
only... No shipping", I offer to send them the boxes, packing material,
pre-written address lables, a roll of tape and money to cover the cost of
shipping. Then I offer to have UPS come to them to pick up the items.
This has always worked for me.
Of course this is impractical for large items like main-frames but, for 90%
of what I collect/use, it works great. The cost of sending the boxes,
packing material, and etc. is not that bad.
You might want to note that I found that it costs less to have UPS come and
pick up the packages from your house/office than to take them to a
MailBoxes Etc. or other mailing operation.
I NEVER use Mailboxs Etc. I found that their rate is almost exactly
double UPS's. What's interesting is that they ship via UPS so you're
paying double for the priveledge of dropping the package there. Also FWIW
UPS owns 40% of MBE. Also I've found that boxs from MBE cost more than
twice as much as buying them from U-Haul.
I call UPS and have them make a one time pickup. They say that it costs
$5 extra but I've compared the cost of that and taking it to their drop off
counter and it's almost always cheaper to have them come get it. No idea
why unless there's some hidden charges involved in dropping it off.
Joe