CD storage systems

[marlene]

I'm reviving an old topic.

I archive my job files onto CDs, and it's really getting out of hand. At this point I have over 20 plastic shoeboxes full of CDs, and no more space for them. All the shelves and bookcases (and the top of the file cabinet) are piled up with them. And it's hard to stack them because the CDs are too tall for the boxes (lids won't fit).

I do have a couple of big CD binders, but I just can't become enamored with them. I find it easier to flip through a box of CDs, pull out the jewel cases I need, and put the CDs back in the cases when I'm done retrieving the files. With the binders, I'd need to keep them handy to re-file the CDs, and there's no room on my desk -- the binder have to go right back up on the shelves.

What I think I'd like is some kind of free-standing storage unit, with drawers so I can flip through the CDs (just seeing the spines is no good, since these are the skinny jewel cases and there's nothing on the spines), preferably on wheels. It would need to accommodate hundreds of CDs (I've got over 450 CDs just for one client).

Any suggestions?

mxh

[dthomsen8]

I have a tower bookcase from IKEA for my software CDs, but it doesn't have drawers. It does have the benefit of being inexpensive, but I did have to attach it to the wall to keep it vertical. It has 12 shelves, with 15 full size CDs in each shelf. 180 CDs is a lot. Thin jewel cases provide even more storage than that. I have labeled some of the shelves, but it is difficult to get it organized.

One difficulty is that I am not ruthless enough with throwing away old software. You didn't say if your collection of CDs is software (becomes obsolete) or music (mostly remains useful).

You have brought up a good subject, but I doubt that my remarks are going to be much help to you.

[iamback]

Any suggestions?Get one of those "DJ" aluminium suitcases - lots and lots of numbered sleeves hanging on rails, all dustfree because you can closes the suitcase; and it keep slots in a small volume. Just make sure you buld a catalog that refers the CDs to the sleeve numbers.

[Franca]

I am keeping mine in (of all things) a Craftsman rollaway tool box:

http://tinyurl.com/n4xdu

It was my husband's idea and it has worked very well, but since it wasn't made for CD storage a bit of creativity was required - I made separators for filing by client or other designation and it's very easy to flip through them and find the ones I need. I use paper sleeves with windows rather than those slim cases, so I have more than enough room for our archive CDs. (But we probably don't have nearly as many as you do; I've never counted!) I use the top two drawers (with drawer organizers) for miscellaneous office supplies like pens, paper clips, staples, post-it notes, and so forth. The third drawer is perfect for archival floppies, zip, and optical disks I don't dare throw away.

[ktinkel]

I am keeping mine in (of all things) a Craftsman rollaway tool boxI love those things. If we had a different kitchen, I would like to keep spices and such in one of those.

But your link produces a blank page for me, so I cannot properly admire your box!

[terrie]

I use these (http://www.stacksandstacks.com/html/85117_chest-with-wheels-iris-3-drawer-slim.htm)--have 2--and the CDs fit perfectly...there's a little bit of space from side to side and above...I use the slimline CD cases and one drawer fits about 70 CDs so with 3 drawers, you should be able to store 210 CDs...

I found the first one I bought at either Staples or Office Depot but then I couldn't find them there anymore so I rooted around on the web and found Stacks & Stacks and ordered my 2nd one from them...

Hope that helps...

Terrie

[marlene]

A bookcase won't work, because I have no wall space available in my office. (Actually, there's no room anywhere else in the house, either!)

Some of the CDs are software (including stock art) and some are job files. I never throw away old software CDs. I had trouble installing a new version of Photoshop, and found out from Adobe tech support that I needed to insert the CD from the first full version (not an upgrade) of Photoshop I ever bought (version 3) to "qualify" to install the new upgrade.

Fortunately, I still had the version 3 CD, although Adobe would have given me a workaround.

I also never throw away the software boxes. I flatten them and stash 'em in the basement.

mxh

[marlene]

Not a bad idea, but then I'd have the problem of where to store all the suitcases! And they might be kind of heavy for me to handle when they're full of CDs.

mxh

[marlene]

Hmmm, you might have something there. I've always coveted those toolboxes -- thought they would be dandy for organizing my collection of costume jewelry!

Are the drawers deep enough for the CDs to sit up straight? How many CDs can you fit in a drawer?

I counted the CDs in one shoebox (which wasn't tightly packed) and there were 50. And I've got at least 20 shoeboxes, plus probably another 100 software/stock art CDs in a cabinet. (And I don't know how many in my two big CD binders -- but it's a lot.)

mxh

[marlene]

I've got WAY more than 210 CDs. Probably well over 1,000.

I do have a couple of those plastic drawer storage units, but I keep my voluminous sock collection in them. <g>

And there wouldn't be room for more than two of them (if that) in my office.

mxh

[Franca]

Are the drawers deep enough for the CDs to sit up straight? How many CDs can you fit in a drawer?The bottom two drawers are deep enough for the CDs to stand up straight with room to spare. I'm only guessing but I'd say you could fit about 225 per drawer in slim cases. (?) A lot more if you ditched the cases and just used paper sleeves. That's three "columns" of CDs per drawer. There's some wasted space ... 'tis a pity four columns don't fit. But ... if you didn't care how they looked, you could fit in a bunch more facing sideways, and if your cabinet were positioned so that you could stand to the side of the drawer as well as the front, you could still flip through them and read the fronts easily. I could do this in my office but haven't needed to as my drawers aren't full (yet).

I counted the CDs in one shoebox (which wasn't tightly packed) and there were 50. And I've got at least 20 shoeboxes, plus probably another 100 software/stock art CDs in a cabinet. (And I don't know how many in my two big CD binders -- but it's a lot.)Yikes! That's a lot of CDs!

[dthomsen8]

A bookcase won't work, because I have no wall space available in my office. (Actually, there's no room anywhere else in the house, either!)

I also never throw away the software boxes. I flatten them and stash 'em in the basement.

mxh


This bookcase is actually tiny, only 8" wide and 7" deep, but it is 100 inches tall, so there is a lot of storage in a relatively small space on the wall. Probably you won't want it, but maybe some lurker out there might.

But about your other remarks, I often say that there are two kinds of people in the world, the keepers and the throwers. I am a keeper, and my wife is a thrower. I have thrown away almost all of my 5.25" floppies, though.

[PeterArnel]

what about shelves - that u can mount on the wall - just have rows of them - I woild have thought a cd case is about 6mm wide so that 6m would be say 3 rows - wouldnt be very fire safe though
Peter

[terrie]

marlene: I've got WAY more than 210 CDs. Probably well over 1,000.What if you used the paper sleeves rather than the slimline cases as I do? I'd bet the you could get maybe 4 or 5 times the number of CDs I get per drawer so one 3 drawer might work...

Terrie

[marlene]

there are two kinds of people in the world, the keepers and the throwers

I'm definitely a keeper -- I have so much stuff, we had to buy a bigger house.

mxh

[marlene]

That's a lot of CDs!

You ain't kidding. If I had space elsewhere in the house, I'd just move the older shoeboxes and keep just the most recent CDs in my office. But there's no more storage space anywhere in this house.

A lot of the space is taken up with my work-related stuff. I have so many printed job samples stored in the basement, one bookshelf of publications collapsed. A couple of years ago I did throw away a lot of job samples, but I still have hundreds of pounds of them.

mxh

[marlene]

No place to put up shelves. My office has windows on two walls, one entire wall is occupied by a closet (with sliding mirror doors -- to make the room look bigger, ha ha), and the fourth wall has a tall lateral file cabinet. I barely had space to put up a bulletin board, and it's hard to reach.

I have a feeling I'm gonna have to stay with the shoeboxes, and try to find space in the basement for the older ones. Right now I have no place in my office to put any more shoeboxes (except the floor, which is already nearly impassable), and I've got stacks of CDs that need to be filed somewhere.

mxh

[marlene]

I do have a box of cheap paper sleeves, but right now I only use them for CDs I'm not real worried out -- not for my job archives.

I'm thinking I need something better for those -- maybe Tyveks.

mxh

[dthomsen8]

So am I. When I got married, I rented a 10x10 self-storage space for my books an other stuff, the only solution to satisfy my thrower wife. 100 boxes of books isn't too much, is it? Those are in storage, there are plenty more in the 4 bedroom house.

Self-storage is cheaper than a bigger house, though, and a lot less pain than a divorce.

[dthomsen8]

You ain't kidding. If I had space elsewhere in the house, I'd just move the older shoeboxes and keep just the most recent CDs in my office. But there's no more storage space anywhere in this house.

A lot of the space is taken up with my work-related stuff. I have so many printed job samples stored in the basement, one bookshelf of publications collapsed. A couple of years ago I did throw away a lot of job samples, but I still have hundreds of pounds of them.
mxh


You need encouragement to do more throwing out. Getting it without too much anxiety is not easy, but it can be done. There is gentle throwing out help, look around for some.

[ElyseC]

When we moved from California to Iowa we were quoted a moving price that boiled down to $0.90 per pound. The ballpark estimate they first gave us was a shocker, so we set about seriously paring down. In the garage alone my husband had 30-some boxes of books. (I had four or five, if you're wondering.) Then there were the shelves and shelves and a few more boxes of books inside the house. My hat's off to the wonderufl packrat I married -- faced with the cost of moving all those books, he went from 30-some garage boxes down to 12. We then pared the in-house books down by half at least. Our favorite private school got their pick of everything and most of the rest went to the local library for fundraising book sales. The library had a limit of how many boxes you could donate, however, so the remainder went to Goodwill.

With paring the books and selling off heavy furniture (that we no longer liked all that well anyway) and most of my husband's heavy construction tools, the revised estimate dropped to one third of the original. Whew!

We've recently (finally, after being here year and a half) unpacked the books we kept. I'm astounded at how many we still have and shudder to think how we'd be living with all the others had we kept them! We'd probably have boxes of books draped with tablecloths to pretend they're end tables, nightstands, a coffee table,...http://desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/images/smilies/eek.gif

[Michael Rowley]

Elyse:

When we moved from California to Iowa we were quoted a moving price that boiled down to $0.90 per pound

How curious! European furniture removers work on how many cubic metres (or cubic feet) the whole lot will involve. Books don't figure very large in that calculation.

[PeterArnel]

I was going to suggest taking the old ones out off their cases and putting them on spindles- but was worried they may get damaged

[marlene]

We needed a bigger house, anyway. Our old house was very small, and one level -- no basement, no upstairs. I wanted a house with stairs because I need the exercise. <g>

I don't think I have 100 boxes' worth of books, but I have so many that we had to keep most of them in the attic at the old house. The weight caused the ceiling to sag, and we had to get the beams or joists or whatever they are reinforced and the ceiling repaired. (And I'll never hear the end of it.)

Problem is that there isn't much book space in the new house. There are lots of built-in closets and cubbyholes (courtesy of the previous owners), and bookcases would block access to them. So a lot of my books are still in boxes.

Some of the boxes are, or at least were, in a basement workroom. When two of my dogs were puppies, I found an old copy of Winnie the Pooh in tatters in the back yard. Couldn't figure out where the dogs had gotten their paws on it -- none of the boxes looked to be disturbed.

Found a second book in tatters in the back yard. Checked more carefully, and discovered that one box of books was jutting out beyond its shelf, and the dogs had managed to chew a hole in the BOTTOM of the box (which I couldn't see unless I hunkered down) and were pulling the books out from underneath.

We dog-proofed the workroom, or so we thought. One day we discovered that puppies had pulled down an entire box of old National Geographics and shredded them all over the workroom floor.

I ought to be giving them all those unwanted credit card offers to shred ...

mxh

[marlene]

Plus, I'd have to take them all off the spindles to get to the one I wanted, which would undoubtedly be at the very bottom!

mxh

[marlene]

I did do a lot of throwing out a few months ago. I finally threw out several boxes of paper samples (from various paper mills) that I'd kept for years. That probably amounted to 100 pounds of paper!

One of these days, when I've got a lot of spare time, I'll start clearing out more stuff.

mxh

[ktinkel]

One of these days, when I've got a lot of spare time, I'll start clearing out more stuff.Before we moved we got a dumpster. That made throwing stuff out almost fun — especially when we could heave whole cabinets over the edge and watch it break up! <g>

It is the sifting through and deciding what to keep, what not, that wears me out.

[Franca]

It is the sifting through and deciding what to keep, what not, that wears me out.Same here. I've never enjoyed (or been very good at) making quick decisions, and that job is all about decision-making, one decision right after another. UGH. Time consuming and exhausting.

[dthomsen8]

Same here. I've never enjoyed (or been very good at) making quick decisions, and that job is all about decision-making, one decision right after another. UGH. Time consuming and exhausting.

Exhausting mentally and physically, especially for a keeper type person.

I have four boxes, or piles to sort into, File, Read, Shred, Throw, but the Read pile gets really big, and I don't get around to actually reading it.

[marlene]

It is the sifting through and deciding what to keep, what not, that wears me out.

You ain't kidding. It's especially bad with paper -- books, magazines, correspondence, clippings, etc. I have to stop and read everything. Sometimes I can't even figure out why I kept something in the first place.

Mr. E is always nagging me to get rid of books and magazines. One day he dragged out a carton of old magazines from the '60s and '70s, including some old issues of Eye (the old music magazine from the '60s). I told him I didn't want to get rid of them because they were too cool. He scoffed at me and started thumbing through them, and said, "You're right. We can't get rid of these. They are too cool."

Books are a big problem, especially since he had stored a lot of my books in the garage at our old house, so now the books are all musty. But I still can't bring myself to pitch them out, especially without at least trying to demustify them first.

mxh

[marlene]

the Read pile gets really big

My coffee table is my Read pile -- at least one of them. I also starting throwing Stuff to Read into a cardboard box in my office. When the box got full, I put the lid on it and starting piling stuff on top of it. Now the stuff is threatening to slide onto the floor.

mxh

[iamback]

My coffee table is my Read pile -- at least one of them. I also starting throwing Stuff to Read into a cardboard box in my office. When the box got full, I put the lid on it and starting piling stuff on top of it. Now the stuff is threatening to slide onto the floor.I keep trying to create a read pile but always end up with several, all growing, ones.

[ktinkel]

. . . so now the books are all musty. But I still can't bring myself to pitch them out, especially without at least trying to demustify them first.If you find a way to demustify books (not one or two; a bunch), please let me know.

We stored my jewelry books in the basement of our Westport house (because I figured I would set up a workbench there, something I never did), and they became incredibly musty, mildew-smelling. I can hardly bear to handle them now, but some of them are books that I really love (and which are hard or impossible to replace), and I hate to throw them away.

[PeterArnel]

I kept all my books in the Attic and we got infested with blow flies - I had to throw them all away - lots of old friends that I had read and re read over the years
it was nearly 500 books - even all my case bound books
Peter
Typing this I struggled to spell throw - through came automatically

[ktinkel]

I kept all my books in the Attic and we got infested with blow fliesUgh! I don’t know what a blow fly is, but it sounds even more disgusting than mildew!

Typing this I struggled to spell throw - through came automaticallyI have that problem with “form” which almost always comes out “forum” — and I often type “now” when I mean “not” (and vice-versa). Happens to everyone!

[iamback]

Typing this I struggled to spell throw - through came automaticallyI call that "finger memory". Unfortunately, my fingers remember some words wrongly, so I commonly type 'teh' instead of 'the'. It's the one word I'd like auto-correction for! (There, just did it again. Sigh.)

[terrie]

kt: If you find a way to demustify books (not one or two; a bunch), please let me know.You might try spritzing them lightly with Lysol spray and putting them outsite in the sun...

Terrie

[PeterArnel]

Sky Hooks
Thats the solution - we used to send the apprentice out to buy them in his first week. It was always amazing what the shopkeepers would send :-) They would also be sent out for left handed screwdrivers etc
Peter

[ElyseC]

How curious! European furniture removers work on how many cubic metres (or cubic feet) the whole lot will involve. Books don't figure very large in that calculation.I've seen that not all movers calculate their pricing the same. Ours did it in such a way that we ourselves could figure out the per-pound price and their salesman said plainly that to trim that original estimate we'd have to seriously trim some weight.

[marlene]

When we moved my mom, both of the movers we interviewed gave us prices based on a per-pound cost. And both movers gave us similar totals. We picked the company with the funniest estimator. <g>

mxh

[marlene]

Years ago I had some moderate success airing out musty books in the sun (standing them up and fanning out the pages) and putting some in the microwave. Haven't done it lately, though.

A quick Google turned up:

http://www.litterascripta.com/bibliomania/clean.shtml

http://www.region.waterloo.on.ca/web/region.nsf/0/8c83d03970fe125985256b1600720049?opendocument&section=vis&bc=visiting%3E%20conservation%20advice

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf000592.tip.html

The last one isn't very helpful -- it mostly concerns smoky books -- but is pretty funny.

mxh

[marlene]

I also type "teh" for "the" very often. One of my favorite perpetual typos was "propjet" for "prophet."

mxh

[marlene]

Good idea, I will send Mr. Excitement out for sky hooks tomorrow. Then I'll have some peace and quiet in the house for a few hours.

mxh

[ElyseC]

When we moved my mom, both of the movers we interviewed gave us prices based on a per-pound cost. And both movers gave us similar totals. We picked the company with the funniest estimator. <g>All other things equal, I'd no doubt go with personality, too. http://desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/images/smilies/smile.gif

Ours didn't give us a per-pound cost, but put down their estimate of our poundage and the price. I did the per-pound calculation from that for our own reference -- we needed it to help us determine what to leave behind and replace when we got here.

[ElyseC]

I also type "teh" for "the" very often. One of my favorite perpetual typos was "propjet" for "prophet."The one I've consistently mistyped for the last 16+ years is one KT cited. Form comes out forum nearly every time, as does the "form" part of any word with that in it: forumat, forumal, uniforum, etc.

[ktinkel]

You might try spritzing them lightly with Lysol spray and putting them outsite in the sun...I tried spritzing with some mildew-killing solution, but the problem with mildew is it is in the pages, and I couldn’t get to all of them easily.

A librarian once told me there was some sort of mildewcide powder that worked over time on books in an enclosed space, but I couldn’t find it, and gave up. Should look again. The books really stink.

[iamback]

The one I've consistently mistyped for the last 16+ years is one KT cited. Form comes out forum nearly every time, as does the "form" part of any word with that in it: forumat, forumal, uniforum, etc.That's a funny one! :) Could we have a forumal uniforum here? <duck/>

[ElyseC]

I tried spritzing with some mildew-killing solution, but the problem with mildew is it is in the pages, and I couldn’t get to all of them easily.

A librarian once told me there was some sort of mildewcide powder that worked over time on books in an enclosed space, but I couldn’t find it, and gave up. Should look again. The books really stink.I just did a quick Google search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=kill+mildew+%2B+books+%2B+powder&btnG=Google+Search), because I have a few things that came from my folks' old house that have a strong mildew odor. I'm starting to wade through the search results, but so far a lot of them seem to focus on still-damp books, not dry ones stuck with the smell. I'll bet there's more information available on the topic now than there was a year ago, before Katrina and Rita hit the South.

[Michael Rowley]

Elyse:

It seems as though there may be a difference between the way furniture & household goods are transported in North America and Europe. In Europe, they calculate the volume of what has to be moved, because that determines the size of vehicle (by volume, that is) and the number of removal men; possibly in North America the vehicles are all the same size (big!), and the mass of goods determines the fuel consumption. But of course, it may be just a case that 'we've always done it this way'.

[ElyseC]

That's a funny one! :) Could we have a forumal uniforum here? <duck/>I think we already have one, established for quite a while: ratty boxer shorts and other underwear, pjs, T-shirts with stone fruit stains,... (No, no, NO, people! I'm not starting that thread again!!)

http://desktoppublishingforum.com/bb/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[ElyseC]

It seems as though there may be a difference between the way furniture & household goods are transported in North America and Europe. In Europe, they calculate the volume of what has to be moved, because that determines the size of vehicle (by volume, that is) and the number of removal men; possibly in North America the vehicles are all the same size (big!), and the mass of goods determines the fuel consumption.That's what I suspect. Fuel consumption would be very important, as well as the tolls that have to be paid and weight restrictions followed for vehicles as well as ratings for bridges and highways. Yes, most major moving company vans are very large. Here is a link to the moving company (http://www.arpin.com/) we used. There you'll see a van like the one that carried our stuff.

Ours was the first of five loads the van got and carried on its way from Los Angeles to Iowa; four other families had their stuff loaded up and transported between the time ours was loaded and when it arrived here. When it left our house, the van was empty and headed, IIRC, to Ohio or Illinois to pick up someone moving west.

[PeterArnel]

U women are daming about your men - you want to read what he says about u when u are not here :-)
Peter

[Michael Rowley]

Elyse:

Ours was the first of five loads

I don't think any domestic furniture van is as big as the one pictured: the vans usually move one household at a time, except where the move is from one country to another. Such a large lorry would be quite impractical for most towns or villages in Europe. On the mass v. volume issue, the British Post Office will shortly be charging for parcels by size, rather than mass (as it does now). I expect that American removal firms have an average figure for the relation of mass to volume, which surely will make books expensive to move as part of the household goods. Probably your books could have been transported much more cheaply if they had gone separately, but you can't expect a removal firm to tell you that.

[ktinkel]

When we moved my mom, both of the movers we interviewed gave us prices based on a per-pound cost. And both movers gave us similar totals. We picked the company with the funniest estimator. <g>The only problem with that is that the estimator doesn’t come with the packers! We chose the most amusing estimator and got a bunch of dour, grumpy, and inept packers on the planet.

We tried to contact the estimator to see if he could send someone else the next day (three-day job), but he was nowhere to be found.

It is a sort of sales job.

[ElyseC]

I don't think any domestic furniture van is as big as the one pictured: the vans usually move one household at a time, except where the move is from one country to another. Such a large lorry would be quite impractical for most towns or villages in Europe.Yes, I wondered if your vans were smaller. I couldn't picture such monstrous vehicles winding down ancient, cobblestone streets.

I expect that American removal firms have an average figure for the relation of mass to volume, which surely will make books expensive to move as part of the household goods. Probably your books could have been transported much more cheaply if they had gone separately, but you can't expect a removal firm to tell you that.They do ask you to count up boxes of books and have a surprisingly comprehensive list of household items that they want to know about if they're going to be moving them. Many types of tools, other heavy and/or awkward items, and things that will need special packing (grandfather clock, large artwork, piano, computer equipment, china cabinet,...) are already on the list for you to check off. They then start with that list and look over everything in person to come up with the estimate.

No, I don't imagine they'd tell us any cheaper way if there was one to get the books moved, but I'm glad they didn't if there was one. I cannot imagine trying to find a home on our bookshelves for all of those dusty tomes we left behind (and haven't missed in the least)!

[ElyseC]

The only problem with that is that the estimator doesn’t come with the packers! We chose the most amusing estimator and got a bunch of dour, grumpy, and inept packers on the planet.Ours were pretty good at packing, but couldn't spell worth beans. At the end of the packing frenzy we ended up taking the piles of papers that sat atop most horizontal surfaces and letting them go into the boxes unchecked. Had no choice. Because of it we ended up with lots of boxes marked (by the packer guys) as CHAPMAN PAPPERS. Not papers, pappers.

[ktinkel]

Ours were pretty good at packing, but couldn't spell worth beans. At the end of the packing frenzy we ended up taking the piles of papers that sat atop most horizontal surfaces and letting them go into the boxes unchecked. Had no choice. Because of it we ended up with lots of boxes marked (by the packer guys) as CHAPMAN PAPPERS. Not papers, pappers.Oh sure — we had boxes labeled DINNING ROOM and such.

That was hardly the worst of it, though. They brought the wrong-size boxes, got more, but packed up the wrong ones in our stuff. Then we had to move heaven and earth to get our money back (since they had charged for all of them, of course). And they ran us to an extra day because the foreman refused to stay even 5 minutes past his regular stopping time.

Not a good experience!

[Paul]

No, I don't imagine they'd tell us any cheaper way if there was one to get the books moved, but I'm glad they didn't if there was one. I cannot imagine trying to find a home on our bookshelves for all of those dusty tomes we left behind (and haven't missed in the least)!

With a very large number of books to move 3,000 miles, I have reason to think about this. Although I'll weed out as many books as possible (those that I don't use for work and that could be easily replaced if I ever want them), there will still be a lot.

I am nearly certain that the United States Postal Service will be the most economical way, because the rates for Media Mail are not proportional to distance. I'm planning to get about 50 smallish boxes (so that none weighs more than 30 pounds), pack them myself, use Click-n-Ship to print labels with prepaid postage, and then have the post office pick them up (there is a charge for pickup but it is a flat amount regardless of the number of pieces or weight).

[terrie]

paul: and then have the post office pick them up (there is a charge for pickup but it is a flat amount regardless of the number of pieces or weight).Is that because they are heavy--over a certain weight? The reason I ask is that when I use click-n-ship (wonderful thing!) for my packages (usually flats or the flat-rate priority mail boxes--nothing weighs over a few pounds) and have the postal person pick them up, I'm not charged for that service...

Terrie

[Paul]

Is that because they are heavy--over a certain weigh? The reason I ask is that when I use click-n-ship (wonderful thing!) for my packages (usually flats or the flat-rate priority mail boxes--nothing weighs over a few pounds) and have the postal person pick them up, I'm not charged for that service...

Terrie

The charge is for a scheduled pick-up. There is no charge if you have the regular carrier pick them up, even if you request it specially, but carrier pickup isn't allowed for shipments containing only Media Mail; it's for Priority Mail. I believe that you can get a carrier pick-up for a shipment that contains both Priority and other types of mail, but it wouldn't be possible for the regular carrier to take 50 cartons of books.

[terrie]

paul: but carrier pickup isn't allowed for shipments containing only Media Mail; it's for Priority MailDuh! Completely forgot about that since my stuff is usually flat-rate priority mail--I love that option...it's amazing how many magazines one can stuff inside the flat-rate priority mail enevelope (I send mags to a friend of mine in CA and I'm VA)...

I do think sending your books out media-mail is probably the best way to go...

Terrie

[ElyseC]

That was hardly the worst of it, though. They brought the wrong-size boxes, got more, but packed up the wrong ones in our stuff. Then we had to move heaven and earth to get our money back (since they had charged for all of them, of course). And they ran us to an extra day because the foreman refused to stay even 5 minutes past his regular stopping time.

Not a good experience!No, that definitely wouldn't be.

We found out why they were so very happy to drop boxes off to us, but at least everything they dropped off was appropriate. Our only problem with boxes is that, at the last minute it became clear we didn't have nearly enough. The movers told us they couldn't get any to us that quickly, so to run a couple of miles away to a box store and buy more, lots more, plus packing paper. Bruce made the run and got back just before the packing guys ran out of the other boxes. Whew! We ended up with less than ten boxes extra and a huge pile of packing paper, so we passed those along to the neighbors who'd also just sold their house and were packing to move two weeks after us. Worked out for everyone.

[ElyseC]

I am nearly certain that the United States Postal Service will be the most economical way, because the rates for Media Mail are not proportional to distance. I'm planning to get about 50 smallish boxes (so that none weighs more than 30 pounds), pack them myself, use Click-n-Ship to print labels with prepaid postage, and then have the post office pick them up (there is a charge for pickup but it is a flat amount regardless of the number of pieces or weight).Wow! Cool idea! Please post your experience if you do go that route, because I have friends looking to make some long distance moves and most have lots of books.

[Paul]

Wow! Cool idea! Please post your experience if you do go that route, because I have friends looking to make some long distance moves and most have lots of books.

This morning a USPS driver picked up 50 boxes of books. Another pickup, for 24 boxes, is scheduled tomorrow.

As I said, I chose to use smallish boxes. The 1.5 cubic foot box that movers use for books weighs 50 pounds or more when filled, and while the USPS will accept that much for mailing, I didn't want to handle boxes that heavy, especially because I'm shipping them to my office and will have to take them home myself.

I chose boxes that are 12 in. by 10 in. by 10 in., less than half the size of the standard book box, and ordered 50 of them from Uline. In Los Angeles Uline orders are usually delivered the next day (more later about that). I also ordered 25 16-inch cube boxes, half to use for shipping ebay sales (because that is the largest size that doesn't incur oversize charges from either the USPS or Fedex), and the other half to use for general moving, but not for books. I had only about a dozen books too large for the 12x10x10 boxes.

I also purchased a tape gun, which I recommend if you have to apply any significant amount of tape at all.

I found that I couldn't print the postage through Click-n-Ship: it doesn't do Media Mail. So I opened a trial account at endicia.com and downloaded the required Dazzle software. Endicia charges $9.95 per month for account maintenance, but a month's trial is free.

I printed the labels on plain paper and taped them to the boxes, which is allowed but not encouraged. For the number I needed, it would have been worthwhile to buy adhesive labels that work with the Dazzle software.

I requested the pickup through the USPS web site, but I cannot recommend this. For central Los Angeles, at least, the web site insists that the latest time of the day for which a pickup can be requested is 8:15 a.m. Because you have to give a two-hour window, this means that the pickup was scheduled for 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. I called the Postal Service to verify this and was told by the national call center that it was correct.

Accordingly, I was up at 4:30 a.m. today to move the 50 boxes down to the lobby of the building. The building has an elevator and I had borrowed a furniture dolly.

At 6:00 a.m. the telephone rang. It was a Postal Service supervisor calling to tell me that they could not make the 8:00 a.m. deadline and asking if it would be OK to come later. It turned out that the earliest possible pickup time here is 11:00 a.m. and the latest is 7:00 p.m. She had no idea why the web site and national call center had such egregious misinformation.

The driver called at 10:00 a.m. to ask about the size and weight of the individual boxes, where he could load them from, and so forth. He had a hard time understanding that they were in the lobby, at street level; he seemed to be afraid that I wanted him to load them from a basement garage, for which his truck would be too large. He was here at noon and that part went smoothly.

The driver said that it is better to call the local post office (i.e., the one from which he works, which is not the office responsible for delivering mail in this neighborhood) and gave me the number. The Postal Service, however, no longer publishes any telephone numbers except that of the national call center; as far as I can tell, the only way to get a number for a local post office or any other postal facility is from someone who works at that location.

What did not go smoothly was getting more boxes. I packed the books and electronic media over the weekend, and when I saw that I was running out of boxes, I ordered more from Uline. They were shipped by UPS on Monday; since Tuesday was a holiday they should have been delivered on Wednesday.

They weren't. The UPS driver reported that the apartment number was missing or wrong; it wasn't. I think another tenant let him into the building -- I am sure that he never rang my buzzer -- and he didn't look very hard for my apartment.

UPS told me that I could pick them up after 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday at their facility near Dodger Stadium. I asked that they be delivered today instead, and spent all day waiting for them and checking with UPS, where I received conflicting information about whether they were being delivered, had been delivered, or were being held at the facility near Dodger Stadium. At 6:00 p.m. I gave up on this and got ready to go to the U-Haul store down the street to buy whatever small boxes they had. As I got downstairs, the UPS truck drove up. So now I have 24 more boxes ready to go. I won't bother to take them down at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow, but I will need to do it early, because the moving company is arriving at 8:00.

[ktinkel]

What a saga. And I must salute your stamina.

Congratulations!

[ElyseC]

Wow! I don't envy you!

What do you think the average cost per box (purchase, shipping and whatever else) will end up being? Yes, the boxes are differing sizes and weights, but still might you have an idea of overall ballpark average?

My niece is about to move from southern California to Iowa and what you're doing might be a viable option for her. She doesn't have a lot of stuff yet and is single, so shipping everything and flying out might be her answer. (She could then buy a car here instead of risking driving her rather old current car all the way here by herself.)

[Paul]

Wow! I don't envy you!

What do you think the average cost per box (purchase, shipping and whatever else) will end up being? Yes, the boxes are differing sizes and weights, but still might you have an idea of overall ballpark average?





Well, 73 of my 74 boxes were the same size, but the weights ranged from 11 pounds (that was all audio tapes) to 27 pounds. The postage ranged from about $8.50 to just under $12; I had worked out before that it was roughly 41 cents per pound.

I paid less than $1 each for the boxes, including sales tax and shipping. For as many as I needed it was almost inevitable that I would buy boxes, and it's much more convenient if most of them are the same size, so that they stack neatly. Pickup-on-demand costs $13.50 for each visit; I had two, but if the boxes had been delivered on Wednesday I would have needed only one.

The postage was less than half what the moving company would have charged, but moving-company rates are competitive and are based on distance, timing, and to some extent the popularity of the destination. It was, overall, a very irritating process, but a lot of the irritation was caused by UPS, not USPS, and I saved at least $700.

FWIW I received a snarky email from Endicia last night, asking me not to pay for any more media mail with a credit card. Apparently their margin on media mail is too small to offset the credit-card fees, and so they would require me to pay with a debit card to send any more media mail using their system.

[ElyseC]

Thanks for the rundown. I'm passing all this on to my niece in case it helps her.

Guess Endicia wasn't planning on their customers shipping so much at one go without buying any other type of postage. Oh well, you are done, saved money and don't have to worry about them again, right? Phooey on their snarkiness.