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Originally Posted by Bass Barrister  So Molly . . .
When use this outfit, do you have to crate the bass yourself? |
The U-ship service is a huge network of couriers both professional and private Mom & Pop couriers. I have used this service with great success. I have not used the same courier twice because every courier specializes in different region of the country. I had used Shlomo when I had a bass stuck in California. His route is east to west and back again once a month.
I used a new courier this week that runs the I-95 east coast north/south corridor. All the couriers have been great to work with and I think their prices are fair for door to door delivery. I have not had to pack any of the basses. There are different levels of bid from white glove to LTL. I have had success with white glove and blanket wrap service. The beauty with this service is you work with one courier, they are reachable during transport and the bass is not being moved from truck terminal to truck terminal (by a fork truck). The other nice thing for me is I buy old plywood basses that don’t have a huge value but many times the seller has no idea how to pack and ship a bass. The door to door service is much more user friendly for a seller.
This week I had a bass shipped from Florida, the courier stopped at my house, picked up my flight case and a cash payment for the bass. With in two days he was in Florida, met the seller, paid him in cash (the seller was very obstinate about his selling terms), pack the bass in my hard shell case and delivered it to me two days later…all for $250. I think this is very reasonable for this level of service. The guy was super nice to boot. He and his wife are a team, he is an x-truck driver and she was his dispatch coordinator. They run a real tight family business…the kind I like to support and patronize.
As far as how to use the U-ship site it is some what like EBay except there is no charge unless you accept a bid and use their service. Most often the U-ship booking fee is $10-$15. You can request bids for free. I always select the “special care” category and give VERY clear instructions in my posting as to size and fragility of the bass.
So far this service has been much better then using Greyhound…which was a whole other TB thread. I found the U-ship service after Greyhound lost my flight case for 21 days and zero customer service or compassion.
Give it a try if you want to move anything (well almost anything) across the good ole USA. It is American ingenuity and internet at its best.
Good Luck!
