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How not to ship a bass guitar
- Thread starter hyperjed
- Start date
Oh man! I had a similar issue when I shipped my Ibanez SB900. I basically had to eat half the shipping cost because I misquoted the guy. It was about $50. Thankfully I had my own box, otherwise it would've been more!
Holy Cr@p! Where are you shipping it to that ground shipping was $80.21? That is ridiculous! FYI FedEx Ground is almost always less expensive than UPS. I have shipped many basses and amps to various parts of the country. Even the biggest, heaviest amp was no where near eighty bucks! I have a feeling this shipping place jacked you on the price of shipping as well as the packing!
There is advice here Invalid Link Removed and here How To Pack a Guitar for Shipping that I was looking at last night.
I saw a lot of folks saying it was a $25-35 expense to ship. I figured their numbers were old and that it would be $40 or $50. But $80 before packing is crazy. The size of the case just made this one really expensive.
I saw a lot of folks saying it was a $25-35 expense to ship. I figured their numbers were old and that it would be $40 or $50. But $80 before packing is crazy. The size of the case just made this one really expensive.
$30 to pack wasn't bad, but $80 to ship?? That's rediculous... I've moved to using FedEx. I started using them when I worked for Daddy's Junky Music. I found the shipping rates better than UPS, but the delivery was so-so (they would never deliver within a given time.. just whenever they got there).
That's insane. I use Fedex Ground exclusively and have shipped many basses over the years. Have never paid more than $35 give or take a few dollars! And I only eat that cost if I'm doing a trade. Sales include the cost to ship!
This was cross country from OR to MA. I had looked last night and comparing prices it looked like FedEx was maybe $5 cheaper. Maybe. The UPS store happens to be right by my house though.
A tip for cheap if you are close to one. There is a main hub buy the airport where i live and ups has a small "shed" where you can go and ship things out. It takes me ten more mins to drive to it but it saves alot. But 80 bucks is ridiculous.
Holy $%#@.... I think the most I have ever spent on shipping a bass may have been $18.00 and thats from Georgia to California..... The company I work for specializes in Packaging and we get a nice discount from UPS & FedEx.... so....
IME:
a) Save your next bass packing material, put in the garage, under your bed but never throw it away,
b) Before putting your bass on sale, go to fedex.com or UPS.com and calculate the shipping cost to few cities, if you are in Seattle, how much for shipping to LA, NY , Houston.
c) Do all the shipping proccess information online, print the label and drop it at fedex-ups location.
a) Save your next bass packing material, put in the garage, under your bed but never throw it away,
b) Before putting your bass on sale, go to fedex.com or UPS.com and calculate the shipping cost to few cities, if you are in Seattle, how much for shipping to LA, NY , Houston.
c) Do all the shipping proccess information online, print the label and drop it at fedex-ups location.
This is good advice! If you work for a company that has a UPS or FedEx account see if they will let you ship it through the company account. Companies get discounts, especially ones with high volume. You can just reimburse the company or have them take it out of your check.
Never go to a UPS store. I found they mark up shipping rates by 40% percent. I got an online quote multiple times and went to the "Franchised" store and shipping was 40% more.
Now I go to FedEx at our local Office Max and rarely pay over 30 to ship a bass insured.
UPS Stores are horrible.
Now I go to FedEx at our local Office Max and rarely pay over 30 to ship a bass insured.
UPS Stores are horrible.
Last week it cost me $60 to ship a bass in a hardcase from Northern Indiana to Minnesota.
Not to mention the half hour trip to the UPS store....
My best results have been USPS (if the box is small enough for them to ship) $27 is the most I have ever paid there.
Not to mention the half hour trip to the UPS store....
My best results have been USPS (if the box is small enough for them to ship) $27 is the most I have ever paid there.
