HamerHokie Posted March 24 Posted March 24 I haven't shipped a guitar in about 15 years. Just shipped a Rickenbacker 12 string I sold on Reverb ($2650). Cost with insurance: $166! 1 Quote
bry4321 Posted March 24 Posted March 24 18 minutes ago, HamerHokie said: I haven't shipped a guitar in about 15 years. Just shipped a Rickenbacker 12 string I sold on Reverb ($2650). Cost with insurance: $166! Did you check on PirateShip or someplace similar by any chance? Quote
Dave Scepter Posted March 24 Posted March 24 27 minutes ago, HamerHokie said: I haven't shipped a guitar in about 15 years. Just shipped a Rickenbacker 12 string I sold on Reverb ($2650). Cost with insurance: $166! You forgot to mention "where to and from" location, but honestly, that's about right... 3 Quote
RobB Posted March 24 Posted March 24 2 hours ago, Dave Scepter said: You forgot to mention "where to and from" location, but honestly, that's about right... Yep. I opened a FedEx account and get 15% off domestic shipping. It helps. 4 Quote
HamerHokie Posted March 25 Author Posted March 25 8 hours ago, Dave Scepter said: You forgot to mention "where to and from" location, but honestly, that's about right... From Maryland to Kentucky. 1 1 Quote
cmatthes Posted March 25 Posted March 25 1 hour ago, HamerHokie said: From Maryland to Kentucky. Agreed - that sounds excessive for a 7-9 hour drive! 2 1 Quote
ARM OF HAMER Posted March 25 Posted March 25 18 hours ago, HamerHokie said: I haven't shipped a guitar in about 15 years. Just shipped a Rickenbacker 12 string I sold on Reverb ($2650). Cost with insurance: $166! Back in the day I shipped more than a few guitars by the USPS "Express" Mail and if it was shipped by 3:00 that day the package was guaranteed to be there the next day at its destination anywhere in the CONUS. They were all $120.00. The guitars all made it in time and as shipped except for one that went to another location in the same state, so it was late by a day, and I got my money back. So that guitar shipped for free, how times have changed. Needless to say, I have haven't shipped a guitar in years. 1 Quote
Dave Scepter Posted March 25 Posted March 25 (edited) 19 hours ago, RobB said: Yep. I opened a FedEx account and get 15% off domestic shipping. It helps. You should open up a USPS account for smaller packages as well... Also they will send you all types mailing boxes to your door for free... check out their site Edited March 25 by Dave Scepter 3 Quote
duncans Posted March 25 Posted March 25 2 hours ago, ARM OF HAMER said: Back in the day I shipped more than a few guitars by the USPS "Express" Mail and if it was shipped by 3:00 that day the package was guaranteed to be there the next day at its destination anywhere in the CONUS. They were all $120.00. The guitars all made it in time and as shipped except for one that went to another location in the same state, so it was late by a day, and I got my money back. So that guitar shipped for free, how times have changed. Needless to say, I have haven't shipped a guitar in years. Our USPS in the midwest is not reliable at all. Arrival dates come and go. USPS trucks go 1 1/2/ mile by my house to 140 miles north to Fargo then back to Huron, SD(90 miles SW of me) then to Watertown, where I live. Sioux Falls is 100 miles south of me, took 5 days for a small package to get here. I woouldn't use them. 1 Quote
HamerHokie Posted March 25 Author Posted March 25 23 hours ago, bry4321 said: Did you check on PirateShip or someplace similar by any chance? I have heard of Pirateship but never checked them out. Wish I had. Quote
bry4321 Posted March 25 Posted March 25 40 minutes ago, HamerHokie said: I have heard of Pirateship but never checked them out. Wish I had. Thanks for sharing your experience. I don't want to price something based on the last thing I shipped and find that prices are now much higher. I priced something on Pirateship not too long ago and based on my estimated weight and dimensions (if I guessed and entered them correctly) the UPS price did not seem too crazy. 1 Quote
DaveL Posted March 25 Posted March 25 I think pirate ship is similar to shippo. I use shippo and dig em. I just shipped a small value guitar from Florida to Nh $40 and picked it up at my local access point Tele in hard case from NH to Texas with insurance and sig (they are self insured and not that sketchy ups declared value) $65 Also great for shipping small things like pickups. I use usps ground with tracking. Like $4. I don’t really insure small items unless it has decent value. That said if it’s a high value item thru reverb I tend to stick with their safe shipping as they’ll not back you in case of a claim. 2 Quote
diablo175 Posted March 25 Posted March 25 I ran into some cost inflating issues with insurance. I have been told they couldn't cover the full value of the guitar(s) on several occasions. Even with that, the insurance over and above the default level adds to cost. 1 Quote
ARM OF HAMER Posted March 25 Posted March 25 (edited) 22 hours ago, duncans said: Our USPS in the midwest is not reliable at all. Arrival dates come and go. USPS trucks go 1 1/2/ mile by my house to 140 miles north to Fargo then back to Huron, SD(90 miles SW of me) then to Watertown, where I live. Sioux Falls is 100 miles south of me, took 5 days for a small package to get here. I woouldn't use them. My experience was back in the day, late 1980s/1990s till around 2019 was the last one I shipped personally. Last 3 guitars were shipped but not by me, I brought them to a friend of the buyer/s and they shipped them. These days all the different shippers are unreliable unfortunately. I'm in southern Minnesota and I know we have the same issues as you do here. Edited March 26 by ARM OF HAMER 2 Quote
atomicwash Posted March 28 Posted March 28 I've been happy with the discounts at shipnerd.com. I'm guessing another version of pirateship. Anyone compared the two? 1 Quote
Victor (Fret Friend) Posted March 28 Posted March 28 I always privately insure at secursus.com It’s cheap as chips and I’ve been using them for years. They insure any parcel anywhere… 2 Quote
Greg G Posted March 29 Posted March 29 The LAST option for me would be USPS. Abysmal service in my area. I recently ranted in the Outer Circle about several of my packages they routed to Puerto Rico. I don’t live there. 2 Quote
bubs_42 Posted March 29 Posted March 29 I exclusively use Pirateship now. I have a UPS account, but since the UPS Restructure/Cutbacks they eliminated my “Guy” at depot. I can still drip off, but I cannot get any kind of assistance. You being pushed to UPS Stores, which is the same as going third party like Pirateship. FedEx and go F themselves. I have had just too many problems over the years that I stopped using them. USPS is just the most expensive route, and they used to be the reliable route. Now politics have just ruined or at least eroded the system. I ship from “The Heart of IL” and going West Coast Sucks, East Coast Sucks for certain areas. If your shipping to a rural area, its gonna hurt more. It is what it is. I am getting ready or what I hope is the last big purge and I’ll use pirate ship. Guitars, Amps. I have a partial garage stall of boxes ready to go. You want to save money: Pack it yourself Get an account Drop it off, instead of using pickup. All the extras are extras. 1 Quote
santellavision Posted March 30 Posted March 30 I did a review of Pirate ship. It's the only site I now use for shipping. From small pedals to amps, they are always the cheapest. 1 Quote
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