Shipping and the UPS/FedEx Debate

With the box taped your order is now on the last leg of its trip through Newegg's warehouse as it heads down the final set of rolling conveyers.


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The metal crates and employees that you see below are all for Army Post Office and Fleet Post Office (APO/FPO) shipments to the US Military. "Shipping to the US Military is requires extensive paperwork in comparison to our normal shipping operations," says Howard Tong, Vice President of Newegg.com. "Not many companies provide this service but we feel it's worth the extra effort to support our troops and our nation."


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With your box packed, labeled and taped up it's off to shipping and it's in Newegg's shipping that most of the recent controversy has been about. Newegg's default shipping is through UPS, although you can pay extra for FedEx. Newegg used to be a FedEx shop by default, however recently FedEx significantly raised their rates, which Newegg passes directly onto their customers. Newegg claims that the rate hike was an attempt by FedEx to discourage customers from shipping via 3-day air, which loses money for FedEx, and instead choose FedEx ground which is profitable.

However FedEx Ground isn't as good as UPS ground, so the end result is frustrated FedEx 3-day air customers that have to pay more, or customers forced out of pricing to go with UPS, which hasn't always had the best track record. In response to complaints about UPS VP Tong says, "We're serious about providing our customers with the best service.  We've taken the criticisms about UPS constructively and have greatly improved the situation.  However we're always striving for perfection and always welcome further feedback."


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With the truck loaded, it's off to your delivery address. As we mentioned at the start of this article, Newegg's goal is to be able to have your shipment to you within 2 days of ordering it regardless of shipping method. It's not a guarantee, but rather an internal goal that they've been striving for ever since their inception.

The Automatic Box Maker Final Words
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  • Mant - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    You are a tool.
    Id like to shoot you with that peanut gun...not really
  • MIKEMIKE - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    the link seems borked for me.
  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    Fixed :)

    Take care,
    Anand
  • DigitalFreak - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    Boo. :)
  • Mant - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    Yeah, PLEASE fix that link for the giveaway!
  • DigitalFreak - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    If you can't figure out how to reconstruct the link, you can't enter. It's part of the contest.
  • huges84 - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    I don't know if this is a local/ISP issue ro what, but I was on page 3 of this article and when I clicked on page 4 it just loaded the top and side Anandtech theme, no article. I retried it several times and no dice. Then I reloaded page 3 (which had loaded fine before) and I got the same problem. Then I reloaded the home page and it is no longer there either. :(
  • huges84 - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    BTW when I try to access a page in the article it sends me here:
    http://search.anandtech.com/search?site=atweb_coll...">http://search.anandtech.com/search?site...om=%3CHO...
  • Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    Sorry, it got pushed live before it was finished :) It's back up again.

    Take care,
    Anand
  • segagenesis - Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - link

    Having been a NewEgg customer for about three years now, it was nice to see some insight at how things go on behind the scenes (alot different than I expected). By the way, the larger image links are broken :/

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