Email: info@shipyourinverts.com
Phone: 303-730-2125
Fax: 303-347-0400

Address:
Customer Service

9220 Teddy Lane
Unit 2000
Lone Tree CO 80124

We offer valuable benefits to our customers who are shipping live invertebrates:

1. We are FedEx certified to ship live, non-venomous reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. When you ship with us, you do not have to go through the FedEx certification process.

2. With us, you can ship to and from residences. Standard FedEx certifications only allow business-to-business shipping.

3. Our optional SYI Insurance covers the cost of shipments that arrive late and the value of animals that arrive late and dead. We provide the only way to insure shipments of live reptiles.

4. We provide industry-leading customer support. We are experts in both invertebrates and shipping.

5. When you ship Express with shipyourinverts.com, you pay at least 30% less than FedEx retail rates. When you ship a higher volume, you get an even better rate!

This is one of the most common questions received by our customer service team. Hopefully, this very simple breakdown will help you understand why, and how it can cause a delay as well. 

If you’ve ever taken a flight as a human and experienced a layover where you had to change flights it was likely at a hub, United has a hub in Chicago, Delta in Atlanta, Continental in Houston, and so forth. FedEx is no different, except the two major hubs are Memphis and Indianapolis.

Why? Because direct flights simply wouldn’t work. Even if they had a massive fleet of aircraft in the hundreds it wouldn’t be economical to have direct flights. A FedEx plane departing from Los Angeles doesn’t only contain packages going to New York.

An Economic Example: 

You are shipping from Salt Lake City to Tampa Florida. A direct flight is 1,888 nautical miles, flown on a Boeing 757-200 series. This is roughly a 6.25-hour flight, burning an estimated 6.000 lbs of jet fuel per hour, at a cost of $7 per gallon, or about $32,812.50 one way. But are there enough packages going from Salt Lake to Tampa? In reality, you might have 25 packages making that trip, at this cost (which does not include flight crew and maintenance) each package would cost $1,312 to send. If you put those same packages on a flight to Indianapolis with over 700 other packages going to other destinations your cost drops to just about $30. This takes into account the much shorter distance from Salt Lake to Indianapolis as well. Then you send it the remainder of the way on a second flight with other packages going to Tampa and double the cost to $60. Again, this doesn’t include the other hard and soft costs but does show why the hub system is far more efficient. Once the flight lands and the packages are sorted, that same plane can be reloaded with things going back to Salt Lake eliminating the need for a private air force. And keeping costs far more reasonable.

The two most common reasons are volume or a flight delay. Just like missing your connecting flight to Disneyland a flight inbound to a hub may miss the scheduled outbound flight to the destination. Because commercial aviation runs on pre-filed flight plans aircraft must depart on their scheduled times. Our aforementioned flight from Salt Lake might be late departing because of snow, this is at the FAA and/or tower's discretion, making it two hours late to Indianapolis. But the flight to Tampa can’t be delayed for those 25 packages from the example. So anything not on that outbound flight now has to wait for the next plane going that way.

Volume delays conversely are one of two scenarios, one being simply too many packages running through sort to get them all done before the scheduled departures, and bulk aircraft.

Bulk aircraft meaning the plane weighs too much to get off the ground. In this event, they are forced to unload containers until the aircraft is under the weight limits. The next time you have a delay see if your CSR has more information on the cause because you now know what they are talking about!

When you enter inaccurate information, FedEx charges us an additional fee and we pass that fee on to you. If this happnes, you will see it on your credit card statement. Please confirm all information before printing your shipping label.

Incorrect address charges

When ordering your shipping label, do NOT put a PO Box in the address fields. FedEx will not be able to complete a delivery initially to a PO Box without an address correction.

When FedEx attempts to deliver a package sent to the wrong address or an address that does not exist, they charge fees.

Examples: 3911 Norwood Drive is not the same as 391 Norwood Drive, 3913 Norwood Drive, nor 3911 Norwood Avenue. The 80123 zip code is not the same as the 80128 zip code.

Any such variation will incur an address correction fee of $18, which will be charged to your credit card. Please double check your address info for 100% accuracy.

Dimensional weight charges

Dimensional weight is based on the amount of space a package occupies. FedEx multiplies the measured length, width and height (rounded up to the nearest inch) then divides the product by 139 and rounds up that number to the nearest whole number. 

Let's use a 6x6x6-inch box for example:

(6 x 6 x 6) / 139 = 1.55

This rounds up to a dimensional weight of 2 pounds. 

FedEx measures your package with lasers, and if they determine your package is bigger than you said — bam! — additional fee.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The measurements shown on your box, say 12x9x6 inches, indicate the internal size of the box. This is the standard used by the packaging industry. However, FedEx measures the external size of the box, and they round up to the nearest inch. FedEx may measure our popular 12x9x6 box as 12x9x7 inches — and that's what they charge for.

Measure the outside of your sealed box accurately. Round up to the nearest inch. Enter your information correctly. Measure twice. Double-check your work. Seriously.

Incorrect weight charges

Incorrect weight shipping charge corrections occur when the weight of a package is greater than the weight indicated at the time of shipping, or when greater than the dimensional weight (see above).

To avoid incorrect weight shipping charge correction fees, use any standard scale and round up any fraction of a pound to the next full pound. Enter that number into the ShipYourInverts.com interface accurately.

If your box weighs 6.1 pounds, enter its weight as 7 pounds. 

Large and/or heavy packages

A package is considered a large package when its length plus its girth [(2 x width) + (2 x height)] exceeds 130 inches, but does not exceed the FedEx maximum size of 165 inches.

If your package is considered large, FedEx will add a large package surcharge of $130 for Home service and $105 for Express and Ground service, the shipping amount for a 90-pound package, regardless of the actual weight of the package.

TIP: When you measure your package, be sure to measure the bulges. Bulges will push some larger boxes over the limit.

Packages with an actual weight of more than 150 pounds, that exceed 119 inches in length, or exceed a total of 165 inches in length and girth [(2 x width) + (2 x height)], as measured to determine their billable weight, will not be accepted for shipping.

Additional handling charges

Additional Handling applies to:

• Any article that is encased in an outside shipping container made of metal or wood

• Any cylindrical item, such as a barrel, drum, pail, or tire, that is not fully encased in a corrugated cardboard shipping container

• Any package with the longest side exceeding 60 inches or its second-longest side exceeding 30 inches

• Any package with an actual weight greater than 70 pounds

• Any package that at their sole discretion FedEx determines requires special handling

If FedEx charges us any additional handling charge, this charge will be passed on to you.

Residential delivery charges

FedEx defines a residence as a location that is zoned as a residence, including a business operating out of a home.

You can avoid Residential Delivery shipping charge corrections (and fees) by selecting Residential Address when you enter the address.

We charge you based on the information you provide when you book a shipment.

FedEx charges us based on the measurements they take. If your package measures larger or heavier than you entered, or if your shipment incurs additional charges such as address corrections or additional handling, FedEx charges us additional fees. 

When we receive the invoice from FedEx, we will charge your credit card for these additional fees.

Shipping services

If you have not shipped a package using your shipping label, we can void your label and issue you a 100% refund within 30 days of the creation of the label. Contact us with your tracking number.

To guarantee on-time and live arrival, consider our SYI insurance.  

Shipping supplies

We guarantee your satisfaction. To get a refund, you must notify us of your dissatisfaction and return the purchased materials within 14 days of your purchase. We will refund the price of your purchased products.

You are responsible for the cost of returning those products at standard FedEx Ground rates. Contact us with your order number.