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Ballpark estimating shipping cost for a bass?

lordradish

lordradish

Supporting Member
Jul 20, 2006
4,523
8,769
Vermont
#1
I have a five string fretless I'm selling locally, mostly because I know how expensive they can be to ship. It's still being used, and I probably will sell it locally, so I haven't boxed it up and weighed it and gotten rates. I am thinking of selling it on here, but I'm not sure what a good mid point would be for shipping due to the variance. I'm okay with not getting the full amount, but I don't want to say 75 for shipping and then it ends up being 200 or something. Anyone have any tips? It's a bit under 10 pounds w/o the included hard case.
 
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#3
HLW = Height, Length, and Width. These dimensions are used to calculate "dimensional weight" of the shipping box. Packages ship according to actual weight or dimensional weight (typical for guitar or bass), whichever is more. Don't forget to add insurance cost to the estimate, or you'll be stuck with $100 standard amount. If you purchase a label directly from the carrier, you'll likely pay less than at a retail store (ie UPS direct is less than UPS store).
 
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#5
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#11
lordradish said:
I have a five string fretless I'm selling locally, mostly because I know how expensive they can be to ship. It's still being used, and I probably will sell it locally, so I haven't boxed it up and weighed it and gotten rates. I am thinking of selling it on here, but I'm not sure what a good mid point would be for shipping due to the variance. I'm okay with not getting the full amount, but I don't want to say 75 for shipping and then it ends up being 200 or something. Anyone have any tips? It's a bit under 10 pounds w/o the included hard case.
Click to expand...

Pirateship.com has a rate calculator. I would estimate about $130 fully insured.
 
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#14
I paid 150 with insurance to ship a bass a few states away. I think it was 15 pounds total. With a hard case I’m guessing it would have been near 200. I used reverb usps. Could have got a 50 dollar reverb discount using ups but I don’t have a local store.
 
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#16
For comparison, here in Australia I just paid PackSend $235 (about US$155) to have a bass (no hard case) packed and shipped door to door half way across the country. They came and packed it up, two layers of bubble wrap, strapped into a very thick cardboard box and then in a second thick cardboard box! It was so well packed I reckon they could have just dropped it out of the plane over my house LOL.

IMG_4030.JPG
 
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#18
List the bass for sale on here.
Do not list a shipping price, instead say Actual shipping based on your Location...
When someone sends you a PM for shipping then do the quote...at Pirateship
That way instead of doing a quote from Vermont {where you are} to the west coast...by doing it based on the buyers location ...someone closer to you will not pay a shipping price to the west coast or visa versa...
 
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#19
Definitely use PirateShip.com.

If you want an estimate, enter the dimensions as 52x18x7 and weight at 25lb. Add insurance and you’ll have a rough idea.

I’ve shipped that size box + $4k insurance within 1000 miles for about $70 on PirateShip.com. Across the country, is probably a tad over $100.
 
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