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Question on Shipping Basses...

Mike Sorr

Mike Sorr

Oct 24, 2012
3,010
3,168
Manchester, NJ
www.graceandpeace.org
#1
Lately I've been having trouble locating boxes to ship basses in. Mind you, it's not like I'm always shipping basses across the country, but I do have a few things I'm trying to move and tracking down a bass box has been a challenge to say the least. I've tried music stores and they either don't have any or can't part with the ones they do have. Where does everyone find the freakin' boxes when you need to ship a bass?
 
#6
I work at a Staples, but I'm positive that if you get to any office supplies store, you can ask them if they have any cardboard boxes. They will give them to you for free and intact...if they haven't already destroyed them.

Robbies Music Store on Route 46 in NJ sells them for $10, and have virtually any size you could want.

Guitar Center also has them, but they are always throwing them out before I could get to them. You'd have to call ahead.
 
#8
conebone said:
Robbies Music Store on Route 46 in NJ sells them for $10, and have virtually any size you could want.

Guitar Center also has them, but they are always throwing them out before I could get to them. You'd have to call ahead.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Robbie's info. I'll definitely check that out. I've been to a few of the NJ area Guitar Centers and each has told me they don't give out boxes because they need them for their used department. Sam Ash just told me they didn't have any.
 
#11
I found a local music store (indepedent) that would give me a box, but, when I talked to them, I found out they would pack and ship the bass for me for only about $10 more than the shipping was costing me. If they were closer (50 miles) I'd never pack another bass myself.

BTW, for those of you in the Reno area, it was Bizarre Guitar
 
#13
GC is lying to you if they're telling you they have no boxes to give. I don't know about all of them, but my local store gets shipments twice a week, and it's someone's job to break down a whole lot of boxes and drag them out to the dumpster. If you can find a non-nincompoop in the store, he'll be happy to help.
 
#17
3234718 said:
GC is lying to you if they're telling you they have no boxes to give. I don't know about all of them, but my local store gets shipments twice a week, and it's someone's job to break down a whole lot of boxes and drag them out to the dumpster. If you can find a non-nincompoop in the store, he'll be happy to help.
Click to expand...
I always suspected all those statements were true - although the jury is still out on the last one. Either could never get connected to such a person, or said person was happy, but not actually helpful.

I'm halfway between two GC's i.e. - they are equally inconvenient to get to. I called them both several times after visiting one in person. Each time, I was told 'we took out the trash last night but our delivery day is: [some random day in the future, never the same day twice...].

I could have used this thread last week 'cause I needed to ship a bass (and I'd have been glad to drive up to Allentown had I known then...).

I finally tired of the hassle and just bought an SKB hard case from Sweetwater so I could re-use the box...
 
#19
If the Uline boxes are only a few dollars each, as an earlier post stated, then that isn't a bad price. I remember looking at a UPS store's options once, and it would have almost doubled my shipping cost to buy a box from them.

These days I have too many boxes from much buying and selling, but I have many times "constructed" my own box from smaller boxes and packing tape, and depending on the effort you put into it the results are sometimes as good or better than just reusing a "real" bass box.
 

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