jginsj Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 I have a bunch of guitars I need to sell (sad day, but I'm moving across country and severely downsizing). I want to throw them up on this forum for first dibs, and then probably Evilbay thereafter. However, I haven't shipped a guitar in years...when I put weight and dimensions into USPS or UPS's online calculators from the West Coast to the East Coast, I'm getting numbers over $100 bucks. Is that really what guitar shipping costs these days? I see lots of for-sale ads where people specify a price that includes shipping within the continental US...what is the current rate that is safe, and with which shipping company? Thanks for your help.
cmatthes Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 Shipping large, expensive/valuable items has more than doubled for most consumers in the last 4 years. UPS, FedEx and USPS are ALL expensive compared to what they were when I had last shipped a guitar in 2015. I recently drove a B-12L to the UPS depot (it was the most economical route and so far, they haven't lost nor broken anything) since the UPS Store packing can in some cases add $50-$75 to your total, and was a bit surprised that what used to be $85.00 was now $155.00. Same sized box, same overall weight, same priority. If you have a corporate or business account, you'll definitely save some money, but otherwise, yer fooked!
RobB Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 Parcel rates have risen dramatically in the last 3 years. You’re lucky to ship a guitar now for under $100, regardless of where it’s going. A dreadnaught or Standard/Explorer-sized box (with insurance) can be upwards of $140, no fooling. FedEx/UPS? They’re both equally inept so it really comes down to preference. The best way to approach shipping guitars is to cut down the box as much as safely possible, and pack it for war. Rates go higher for big boxes more for size than weight, so keep that in mind.
django49 Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 And the OTHER good news is that neither UPS nor FedEx will accept any responsibility if it arrives damaged, regardless of how much they charged you for insurance. Unless, maybe, you can prove the tire tracks across the box came from one of their trucks. Learned that from two experiences in the past 3 years. Fortunately, my separate policy on instruments paid in full for both. But it was a huge PITA.
jginsj Posted February 4, 2022 Author Posted February 4, 2022 Wow, not sounding too good. Sigh. I really didn't want to ship these across the country with the rest of my stuff, guess I better get to seeing how well they do trying to sell them locally, but that's such a pain. Thanks for all the input guys.
HamerCustomEr Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 Just now, jginsj said: Wow, not sounding too good. Sigh. I really didn't want to ship these across the country with the rest of my stuff, guess I better get to seeing how well they do trying to sell them locally, but that's such a pain. Thanks for all the input guys. Oh, I wouldn't give up if I were you. I have shipped over thirty guitars and basses in the last five years, and although you have to pay through the nose, all of mine have arrived intact (knock on flamed maple). As RobB said, I pack the instruments for war, and I also loosen strings before shipping, to minimize the chance of a headstock breakage if the guitar sustains a fall.
Carl.B Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 As long as you note the shipping prices up front most buyer's are willing to accept those cost's. Setting up a business account with FedEx or UPS maybe the way to go.. You don't have to have an actual business to do it.
jginsj Posted February 4, 2022 Author Posted February 4, 2022 I'll post them up and see what the response is. Might actually be positive, I looked at Reverb and saw prices, I think people must be smoking Covid or something, I'm just going to try to recover what I paid and that appears to be quite a bit under what those Reverb prices appear to be.
jginsj Posted February 4, 2022 Author Posted February 4, 2022 20 minutes ago, cmatthes said: Feel free to post things here too! Oh absolutely, I'll post here first. I've never had a deal go bad with HFC'ers. Several tele's, a TLE, and some odd ducks.
DaveL Posted February 4, 2022 Posted February 4, 2022 I started using shipnerd and happy. There is a thread on the gear page about them. Basically they are a shipping consolidator and you typically will get a better price based on their volume. I have a ups acct, I also have a shippo account (so I can ship small things USPS first class with tracking but had been using them for ups shipments). Both shippo and shipnerd were cheaper than my own ups acct. shipnerd is cheaper than shippo. Just shipped a V using ups from NH to Oakland (it was a light one but still it was a v in a case). $52 including insurance and sig required. Because I work in supply chain Its just my nature to cross check pricing (reverb shipping, my own ups acct and both shippo and shipnerd) . Highly recommend printing your own labels over using the customer counter at ups or the ups store shipnerd is also free to sign up and even better they don’t hassle you via email. Edit. Wanted to add the importance of box size and accurately measuring and weighing the box before you price it out online. If you are off by a few inches, it could send the price into another price strata dimensional weight wise. Also. While I’m in favor of packing safely, you might want to think about the box you are using. A custom shop les Paul? I would probably double box and use a 50 x 10 x 20 Ish box but an $800 Tele. Might want to consider a smaller box, say a uline small which I think is 45 x 7 x 18. I think. Ups has definitely been auditing (remeasuring and weighing boxes) and if your box has a bulge, pretty sure they are measuring the bulge. That’s what she said.
RobB Posted February 5, 2022 Posted February 5, 2022 32 minutes ago, DaveL said: Just shipped a V using ups from NH to Oakland (it was a light one but still it was a v in a case). $52 including insurance and sig required. Ya gawdamned RAHT, bwah!
Winter Posted February 5, 2022 Posted February 5, 2022 Has anyone here used Greyhound Package Express? If so, I'd be curious to know how it worked out.
Winter Posted February 5, 2022 Posted February 5, 2022 Just now, Winter said: Has anyone here used Greyhound Package Express? If so, I'd be curious to know how it worked out. Scratch that... they don't offer insurance. Nothing to see here.
hamerhead Posted February 5, 2022 Posted February 5, 2022 22 hours ago, RobB said: ...and pack it for war... Amen. If it'll survive a 10-foot drop, you're in the ballpark. Or... Rent a van and take 'em with you. Probably cheaper than shipping.
Armitage Posted February 8, 2022 Posted February 8, 2022 I used Parcel Monkey to the U.K., a DHL driver showed up, didn't know what Parcel Monkey was, said it was a regular DHL pickup to him. Much cheaper.
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