Best, cheapest way to ship a guitar?

[hdvades]

Just plan on spending sixty to a hundred bucks out of pocket for free shipping to the buyer.

 

[Drew617]

GET INSURANCE TO COVER THE FULL COST OF THE GUITAR INCLUDING THE CASE. USPS lost a Two Notes Torpedo Studio that I sold to a Reverb buyer for $1000. I figured I wouldn't need the extra insurance because it would be there in three days or less and they are tracking it. WRONG! That thing is STILL missing and there is nothing you can do. I know this because I went as far as getting my congressman involved and even THEY couldn't get USPS to haul some people in there to explain where that large package ended up. It seems like to me that there is a license to steal or lose any package they decide they want to take home and there is no recourse unless you have insurance. Obviously, I refunded the $1000. I'm STILL butthurt about that after two years.

That's the part that Reverb makes very easy. I won't ship without it. They purchase your labels directly and broker the insurance themselves, or maybe just eat the payout on their own, who knows. I've had them pay out more than once, as noted earlier very easily. It's a few bucks for that service on top of the discounted freight, 100% worthwhile and I won't ship a guitar without it.

I refused a sale recently to a guy who wanted my US ASAT, but wanted to pay me now and have me ship in a couple weeks, then ship-to-hold, etc. Nice guy and I'm sure honest, but couldn't get him to understand that I'm not taking shipping upon myself because I'm not interested in rolling the dice with a claim as a first party...

 

[Tonetele]

Fedex AND with insurance ( keep/get a copy of insurance.
Living Downunder we have little choice.
USPS - sloppy and slow and VERY expensive. Might as well go the whole hog and insure for good gear.

 

[studio1087]

I’ve had very good luck with FedEx, it’s important that you tune the guitar down. Crank all the tuners down about five turns just do them all the same and put it in a box with lots of cushioning and you can take FedEx packages to Walgreens Walgreens pharmacy is a dedicated FedEx drop off and you can do the FedEx label online. Everything will be just fine.

 

[Piggy Stu]

In case anyone in England is wondering, NO GUITARS VIA HERMES

 

[Marc Morfei]

Definitely buy the shipping from Reverb, as it is deeply discounted through UPS. Also they offer shipping protection insurance for a very small fee, and it well worth it, if only for peace of mind. My experience is that UPS is better than Fedex or USPS. For one, UPS uses Staples as drop-off locations, and their hours are much better than the others, so you can drop it off Sundays, evenings, any time. Plus, with Fedex or USPS they always seemed to complain about the box somehow, or say the amount was wrong. Never had a problem with UPS.

For packing, one tip is to add bubble wrap or other packing materials inside the case, to keep the guitar from jiggling around in there. I was able to get a free box from GC once or twice, just by asking.