Alternative Methods of Shipping and Receiving

[ak-51]

I am looking into ordering some perfectly legal grow equipment online and need to figure out how to arrange the shipping. A few things:

1. I am strongly against shipping it directly to my place. This is debatable but would be an uphill battle.
2. This cannot be purchased locally. Please do not suggest this, it is not helpful to me.
3. I cannot rely on anybody else to receive it. If you were ever in fight club then you know what rules 1 and 2 are.
4. I am not ordering anything that is itself illegal, although as with a lot of equipment it is highly suspicious.

I am appealing to the community because I have been reduced to only a few options, none of which are ideal (don't we seem to have a lot of situations like that?...). I can arrange for the package to be held at a UPS or FedEx location, either as a one-shot deal or by renting a mail box at either one.

Are there any other options here?
Does anybody have any experience using UPS or FedEx boxes or having packages held at the stores?
Does anybody just ship stuff straight to the place where their garden resides? If so how do you justify such a thing?

 

[Tony Aroma]

I can only speak from my personal experience, but I don't worry about it coming to my house. Of course I have a small, hobby grow and am not outfitting a commercial operation. I've never ordered more than one item at a time, and most of them pretty small.

One thing I do is order what I can from non-obvious places. You can get lots of growing equipment from aquarium supply stores, especially if you are doing hydroponics. Pet stores are a great place for lighting and carbon too. They may not have the bulbs you want, but you can get light hoods and ballasts. Or from hardware or similar stores, for things like fixtures, fans, electrical items, plumbing, timers, etc. And of course lighting supply stores for those unique items you can't find anywhere else.

My suggestion would be to spread around your purchases to a number of different stores. Once you identify an item you want, look around and you will likely find several different sources. Only buy from hydro/grow stores when absolutely necessary. I don't see a problem with having a box from Ace Hardware or Pet Warehouse sitting on your porch.

And if you're really paranoid, inquire about their shipping methods. Do they ship in plain, unmarked boxes or are any items drop shipped directly from the manufacturers with retail markings on the outside of the package? If the only identifying info on a package is the return address, I wouldn't worry. But that's me.

 

[junior_grower]

http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com

great prices and everything comes shipped in plain unlabeled brown boxes.My order was shipped cross border and not one thing gave away what was inside the box. Very discrete.

 

[Dr. Buddington]

Talk to a local hydro store guy, offer to pay him whatever amount you see fit for putting his address on the bill; this way you can pay with a money order/cash and just pick it up from him once its there. granted you gotta have a trustworthy hydro guy, which is rare.

 

[Marijuanasaur]

Talk to a local hydro store guy, offer to pay him whatever amount you see fit for putting his address on the bill; this way you can pay with a money order/cash and just pick it up from him once its there. granted you gotta have a trustworthy hydro guy, which is rare.

yeah. Definitely wouldn't trust the hydro guys i've seen, haha. not by a long shot. In my po-dunk town, they looked super sketchy.

 

[TexasToker]

You are legal, but you expect to have your stuff delivered via time travel or magic invisible carpet ride?

I don't know man, you are fishy to me. Is this just because you are scared of the feds? I am trying to wrap my head around this situation. If I were legal I would pull up to a shop with a u-haul. The chance of an individual (legal) getting busted by the feds is way lower than one would think. They have too many dispensaries to bust.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

If you have to order a lot of stuff.....

Order from several different online places that listen when you post in the notes "Ship in Plain Brown Boxes" I know discounthydro does.

Use different shipping methods so you don't have one UPS driver dropping off 20 boxes.


You'll be fine.


Stay Safe!

 

[headband 707]

Dude you really can't be that paranoid of recieving shit to your house .. lol .. you know how many ppl grow lol ... and how many ppl just grow house plants and garden plants.. Try to not be so freaked just for your own good unless your lighting up to the heavens bro lol peace out Headband707

 

[!!!]

I've been ordering grow equipment and supplies for myself and my friends for years. There are times between grows where the UPS man is at my door daily for 2-3 weeks, no joke!

You aren't doing anything illegal by ordering grow equip to your place, so how paranoid would you be when you DO start growing?


But to help you out regardless - you can rent storage and perhaps have their office sign for the packages. Tell them you don't have a car and would like to keep these in storage, and cannot carry them from home to your storage unit, and ask if they'd sign for them. If you're paying for storage - why not?

or speak to a UPS store, esp the smaller shipping outlets, about signing for packages for you. There was a small mom and pop shop I used to pay $3 a package. This was when I was in HS and couldn't sign for packages because nobody would be home. They didn't mind, and I didn't even need to have a PO box there (which would require 2 forms of ID.)

One thing I haven't tried was to find an open house and ship there. When you know the package is arriving, just be in the house waiting for the delivery

 

[jimbo420]

Talk to a local hydro store guy, offer to pay him whatever amount you see fit for putting his address on the bill; this way you can pay with a money order/cash and just pick it up from him once its there. granted you gotta have a trustworthy hydro guy, which is rare.

I think he said buying locally wasn't an option.

 

[Phedrosbenny]

You can get it sent to another address.One where you wont be bothered for loitering while your waiting for the mailman/UPS to show up.Have whatever your odering sent one day mail.Watch for the UPS truck and then just walk up to it with your I.D. and get your stuff.If it is big equipment then make sure you have a truck or something to haul it in.As well as a box dolly or whatever else you might need.In surburban neighborhoods its pretty easy to find a house across from a public park.That might work good for you.And you can use tracking on the internet to see when it is on the truck and out for delivery.Othere than that its just a waiting game.You might even be able to use a public parks address to have it delivered to.Im not sure about that one.

You might be right about being paronoid about it.Better safe than sorry.Back in the day I heard the Feds had a mail order operation like that where they could bust people.Named operation Greenhouse.Or atleast thats what I heard.

Hope this helps.Be careful and take care.

 

[EstimatedProph]

The only solution I can think of is buying a Post Office Box @ the post office and using that. Use a fake name/address to rent it out when you have to fill out your information.

 

[KharmaGirl]

How to you use false info when you have to show ID?

 

[ak-51]

Cool

Cool

Thanks guys! Pretty much everything I've read here has been helpful. I'm a bit surprised that I don't see more people telling me "never ever ship to your place!", I guess I was under the impression that that was a much more prevalent feeling around here. As for paranoia, yes it is paranoia to a certain degree but I've never had to much of an issue with being too careful, the problems I run into are all related to not being careful enough. My main concern with ordering things online is keeping my name off of paper, but I don't think I can keep my name completely off of any records without bringing somebody else into the mix.

PO boxes were mentioned, which would be an ideal situation if I could get one in a fake name. I had one a few years back for unrelated purposes and I do remember them requiring 2 forms of ID; I think I was able to use my drivers license and voter registration card. I'm not sure if UPS or FedEx would have the same stringent requirements on getting a box at one of their places, although I think they very well may since you can also receive USPS mail and packages there.

I did consider seeing if the hydro shop guy could/would receive it for me. The owner is a friend of a friend so I think I'd be able to trust him, but I wouldn't want him to be putting his totally legit business in danger by receiving packages for people he doesn't really know. I'm trying to receive legal equipment, somebody sketchier than myself might think that's a good way to receive something a bit less than legal.

I think my best option at this point is to ship to the UPS or FedEx store using what they call "hold at location". I think it's $5 per package (when you don't have a box there) which is reasonable since I can get most of my stuff locally; I don't need to receive a package every time I need some pH up or netcups. I would probably have to show ID to pick up the package but after that it seems like that transaction would have little priority in their record keeping.

 

[ak-51]

You are legal, but you expect to have your stuff delivered via time travel or magic invisible carpet ride?

I am looking into ordering some perfectly legal grow equipment

I meant perfectly legal grow equipment.
Not perfectly legal grow equipment.

Technically no (marijuana) grow-op is perfectly legal since cannabis is a schedule 1 controlled substance. This may be debatable depending on your interpretation of the 10th amendment to the constitution.

I would pull up to a shop with a u-haul.

This thread is about safely shipping and receiving grow equipment.

 

[Dr. Buddington]

I think he said buying locally wasn't an option.

I'm talking about getting it shipped to a local hydro store and picking it up there, not buying it. Read my post man

 

[Phedrosbenny]

That sounds like a good idea for him.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

I'm talking about getting it shipped to a local hydro store and picking it up there, not buying it. Read my post man

Sorry, but that's just really dumb. LOL I chalk that up with getting a package delivered to an abandoned/empty house. Most delivery drivers are not stupid, so be careful with that one.

Stay Safe!

 

[Dr. Buddington]

Sorry, but that's just really dumb. LOL I chalk that up with getting a package delivered to an abandoned/empty house. Most delivery drivers are not stupid, so be careful with that one.

Stay Safe!

Lol, shows how comprehensive some people's reading skills are. Let me explain it in more detail: IF you know a trustworthy hydro guy you can make a deal with him that, for X amount of cash, you can list the address of his hydro store as the shipping address and he will sign for the package when delivered. This way you can buy whatever you cant get at the local hydro store online and get it delivered to a safe location thats not connected to you. You know, grow stuff being delivered to a grow store vs. grow stuff being delivered to your house?
The explanation cant get any more simple, so hopefully it gets through to you.

 

[ak-51]

I ended up ordering my equipment (single package, discreet packaging) the other day. I payed with money order and had it shipped to a UPS store. It is a flat $5 fee for them to hold the package at location as they call it, and I have to inform them when it is suppose to arrive when I find out.

What I'll probably do instead of call them is physically go into the store to tell them when its suppose to be there; I want to see how they record the information. Do they write my stuff on a sticky note or do they have me fill out a form? Does it go into the computer? These are things I'll try to find out. Even though the package is being mailed to me (real full name), I'll find out if they really require me to show ID to pick it up. I'll report back when I get more info.

Thanks for all the help guys!