Ship in a gig bag?

A gig bag by itself? Heck no. If properly packed inside a box, sure. I actually shipped an empty hard case to a seller so they could then send the bass in it (and a box).

 

I don't think USPS, nor UPS, would accept a package in gig bag alone. It'd be too easy for it to become unzipped, leading to damage. Plus, "no box" means it's a royal pain to stack in a delivery truck.

Either the sellers mean they'll box it up along with the gig bag (like I did in a recent classified ad), or they're sadly mis-informed as to what the shipping companies will accept.

 

My Roscoe came in a gig bag....which was properly boxed up. I've received a number of Fenders over the years that only come in gig bags, no issues. If is is packaged correctly in a nice sturdy box, should be ok.

 

I have bought then sold 2 Roscoes, 3 Sadowskys and a Rob Allen. All were in gig bags but boxed/packaged well. Not a single problem.

 

Ah! That would be alarming. Not to worry. I've done a number of deals on TB. All have arrived nicely boxed and padded, whether in bubble wrap, gig bag or hard case. The foam peanuts are another matter. They should be banned!

The shipping companies can defeat any level of protection if they try, but so far I've been lucky.

 

Yeah you assumed incorrectly. The gig bag would no doubt be inside a box. I have received several basses in gig bags (from TBers in fact) and they were all in described shape when I got them. This is the best place to buy bass gear period.

 

Excluding the rare exception of a bass literally shipping in just a case with no box, the inclusion of a box is generally implied.

 

Matti777

I bought a bass on ebay and the seller was shipping in a gig bag, but when he realised it was going 5000 miles across the Atlantic
he changed his mind and stuck it in a hard case

If someone says gig bag I'd think gig bag period.

 

OK, fine. Let's just say that the vast vast majority of people would assume otherwise. I can't even imagine anyone shipping a bass in a gig bag by itself. Many of them don't even have a way of locking unless one were to rig up something with a tiny pad lock through a zipper tab hole. Shipping a bass in just a gig bag is pure nonsense. Almost nobody would ever think of doing it. It is certainly not the norm. It would be simply ridiculous to do so.

So, I guess my point was that the logical assumption would be that the gig bag would come inside a box. Your assumption in the other direction didn't seem like a logical one to me. The only reason one would bother to clarify is to make sure the buyer knows that a hard case does not come with the bass.

You asked a question. The only good answer to that question is....

"No, nobody ever ships a bass in just a gig bag. But if it makes you feel better to ask, go for it."

Fair enough?

 

If you buy a new Lakland Skyline, you don't get a case or gig bag, but you sure do get a nice box. When you have a bass shipped to you, you can almost always assume that it will be shipped in a box. I've bought probably 30 basses on talkbass and the only one that was shipped boxless was one where the seller specifically told me it was coming to me that way.

 

I wonder what the OP thinks when he sees "no case or gigbag".

 

Why would anyone assume you could ship an instrument in just a gigbag..OR just a hardshell case?? Are you equally shocked when you order a pizza and it comes with a box?

 

No box?? Just imagine the pizza dude driving around with your bare naked pizza in his lap...

 

I was gonna go into this whole silly story about the delivery guy bringing me the pie in his bare hands and sitting next to me on my couch handing me slices, but I accidentally hit "reply" before I was done. I'm not sure how the sitting with me on the couch aspect adds to the story, but it is what it is.

 

lol!

 

To me its normally not that big if a deal if its replaceable and has shipping insurance. Granted i wouldn't be very happy if there was no packing foam and the gig bag was the only thing protecting the bass inside the box.

id probably be a little hesitant to spend 10k on a custom one of a kind bass if it wasn't in like a crazy heavy duty flight case style case mainly because i wouldn't want to wait for them to build a replacement.

I'm actually a big fan of nicer gig bags for many reasons. I haven't gigged with a hard case in years. And wouldn't go back to using one unless we were traveling and the bass was in the band trailer. For shows that I drive my car to, which happens to be the vast majority of my gigs these days i have absolutely no hesitation about using a gigbag, I've sold many basses without a hard case and i have them professionally packed and insured. I don't just slide the bass in the gigbag into an empty box. There are layers of packing materials. Recently shipped a bass with not even a gigbag but i spent a little extra on packing and the buyer had no complaints at all.