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SendAMeal.com will ship me five days worth of frozen meals using UPS Ground 3-6 day shipping for 12 dollars. They will also ship me a $45 lasagna for the same price. I don't understand how they can do this, based on my research into shipping costs, dry ice, and insulated shipping containers.

First, everything I've read about shipping food says to send it overnight. The amount of dry ice recommended to keep food frozen for 6 days is impractical (dryiceinfo.com, FedEx)

Second, insulated shipping containers are pretty expensive (ThermoSafe).

Third, the cost of ground shipping alone would be a lot more than 12 bucks, even for short distances (shipping calculator).

I know they must be padding their prices to lower the cost of shipping and packaging, but there's only so much padding in a $45 lasagna.

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1 Answer

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The answer to this question, and 90% of other shipping related questions is simple: Volume = Discounts.

It is easy to negotiate discounts with shipping companies and packaging suppliers, based on the volume of your business to them. The larger or more prestigious your business, the higher the discount.

The world of logistics is a cut throat business, and every piece of business you take, is one less for your competition. Discounts of more than 50% are common.

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