Shipping Costs

[Linkslover]

I've got to get a guitar and it's hard case from Naples, Florida up to Chicagoland.

I went into the local UPS store to get an estimate and the clerk ball parked me at $380. This seems crazy. And that $380 was for the cheapest method with no insurance. GC shipped a similar guitar from Akron, Ohio to me for about $22, but they are not allowed to do shipments for customers equipment so ask they can do is offer me a free box.

I see shipping charges quoted from Reverb and other places at a small fraction of this amount.

Was the clerk an idiot or an I missing something about how to go about shipping the guitar?

Please help.

Thanks,

LL

 

[playfreebirdman]

I've shipped a few from FedEx recently and paid around $50ish for each of them. In big boxes and stuffed full of packing material. Something definitely seems off.

 

[Holy smokes]

I’ve used the web site to figure out the ups price. I read they are all independent franchises so your shop may be different.

 

[Boreas]

Does this include "white glove" pickup, packaging, and delivery? Otherwise it is BS.

The size of the box is fairly critical, but if you use a standard guitar shipping box it shouldn't be much more than 50 bucks. Ask to see the manager for explanation.

 

[Brent Hutto]

I've got to get a guitar and it's hard case from Naples, Florida up to Chicagoland.

I went into the local UPS store to get an estimate and the clerk ball parked me at $380. This seems crazy. And that $380 was for the cheapest method with no insurance. GC shipped a similar guitar from Akron, Ohio to me for about $22, but they are not allowed to do shipments for customers equipment so ask they can do is offer me a free box.

I see shipping charges quoted from Reverb and other places at a small fraction of this amount.

Was the clerk an idiot or an I missing something about how to go about shipping the guitar?

Please help.

Thanks,

LL

The UPS Store will always offer to pack and ship your item for 3x-5x the actual shipping cost.

Create a (free, easy) account on UPS.com, measure and weigh the completely boxed up item and type it into the website along with the origin and destination ZIP codes. It will give you actual shipping cost quotes for Ground, Overnight, etc.

When you've made your choice, buy the label right there online and tape it to the package.

You really need to do this three ways: UPS, FedEx, USPS. Often one of the three will be as much as 20-30% cheaper than the others (but not always).

That said, shipping a guitar in a hard case well packed in a box is going to cost you an arm and a leg nowadays, even a few hundred miles. I would not be surprised if it ends up being close to 100 bucks for the cheapest ground shipping.

But no matter what, buy the label online, tape it to the box, drop it off at UPS Store, FedEx Store or local P.O. and never buy postage there in person. They'll all rip you off (although UPS Store is by far the worst and FedEx is usually the best).

 

[kuch]

You did not specify if $380 is just the shipping cost or if it includes packaging.
I'm pretty sure if you find/make a box to ship it in, the cost would be less.

 

[BigPapa-53]

I never use the UPS Store. I box it up and take it straight to a UPS hub.

 

[CharlieO]

I've got to get a guitar and it's hard case from Naples, Florida up to Chicagoland.

I went into the local UPS store to get an estimate and the clerk ball parked me at $380. This seems crazy. And that $380 was for the cheapest method with no insurance. GC shipped a similar guitar from Akron, Ohio to me for about $22, but they are not allowed to do shipments for customers equipment so ask they can do is offer me a free box.

I see shipping charges quoted from Reverb and other places at a small fraction of this amount.

Was the clerk an idiot or an I missing something about how to go about shipping the guitar?

Please help.

Thanks,

LL

NEVER go to a UPS Store to get a quote for shipping. They are independently owned and they love to rip people off. Go to an actual UPS Customer Center, which may be near an airport, or a UPS Alliance Shipping Center. I just shipped two guitars from Sarasota, FL to Houston,TX last week. I shipped via UPS Ground from the UPS Alliance Shipping Center inside the Staples store near me. With $500 insurance, one guitar cost around $55 and with $1500 insurance the other one was $69. I got a quote from them one day before shipping, and the actual cost was less than the quoted price. The guitars arrived safely four days later.

I didn't bother to check how much it would have cost if I added an additional 20+ miles round trip to take them to the UPS Customer Center on the other side of town.

For comparison, two years ago I went to the independent UPS Store near me to get a quote for shipping a lightweight metal sculpture of no real value to North Carolina. I think that the quote was $260. I managed to ship it for less than $50.

 

[Riffi]

I work for Fedex, highly recommend them, when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. We put the customer and service above all else except for safety.

 

[CharlieO]

I've got to get a guitar and it's hard case from Naples, Florida up to Chicagoland.

I went into the local UPS store to get an estimate and the clerk ball parked me at $380. This seems crazy. And that $380 was for the cheapest method with no insurance. GC shipped a similar guitar from Akron, Ohio to me for about $22, but they are not allowed to do shipments for customers equipment so ask they can do is offer me a free box.

I see shipping charges quoted from Reverb and other places at a small fraction of this amount.

Was the clerk an idiot or an I missing something about how to go about shipping the guitar?

Please help.

Thanks,

LL

If you buy my plane ticket I will take the guitar to Chicago for you.

 

[Preacher]

Shipped an acoustic to my brother last month. FedX and cost was less than $70.

It was a standard Yami with a chip board case, made a box around it and it came in right under 48" which is what you want. Anything over 48" in length (there is an overall length+width+thickness that they use as a pricing guide, over that measurement and you get hit with extra charges) is costly.

 

[Brent Hutto]

Shipped an acoustic to my brother last month. FedX and cost was less than $70.

It was a standard Yami with a chip board case, made a box around it and it came in right under 48" which is what you want. Anything over 48" in length (there is an overall length+width+thickness that they use as a pricing guide, over that measurement and you get hit with extra charges) is costly.

I believe the hefty surcharge for being over a specific 48" hard limit is a USPS thing and it's more about length+width+thickness "dimensional weight" with FedEx and UPS. But these guys are always changing it up so maybe there's a 48" length (regardless of other dimensions) thing now with one or both of the others and I just haven't run into it yet.

P.S. Just went and checked for FedEx. I entered 47" x 10" x 6" and it said the "dimensional weight" equivalent is 21lbs. Bumped it up to 49" x 10" x 6" and the "dimensional weight" is 22lbs. So they are not surcharging a specific over-48" length dimension like USPS does. "Dimensional weight" just means if you ship a package that is 49" x 10" x 6" (for example) the cost will be for either 22lbs or for the actual weight, whichever is greate.

 

[Linkslover]

You did not specify if $380 is just the shipping cost or if it includes packaging.
I'm pretty sure if you find/make a box to ship it in, the cost would be less.

It was shipping only.

 

[Lawdawg]

That seems very high. I shipped a keyboard earlier this year from Atlanta to California that would have been larger and heavier than a guitar+hard case and I think it was around $120.

 

[FendrGuitPlayr]

A bandmate ships a lot and likes https://www.pirateship.com/

Pirate ship works well if you have:
- a guitar shipping box and packing material
- a scale to weigh the box’s final shipping weight
- a measurement device to get the exact dimensions of the box (aka tape measure)
- a printer

You are doing the labor that would normally would be taking place at the origin of the shipping.

Once you have entered in your vital statistics, you will have the option to insure the package for whatever value you deem appropriate. Pirate ship will create a shipping label for you after you pay, you print it out, and then you take it to your shipper and drop it off.

 

[oldunc]

Sounds high- you're probably paying oversize rates but still. I sent a guitar across the country from a UPS store a few years ago, and it was about $120, with insurance. I thought it was outrageous, but I just wanted to get it done.

 

[Linkslover]

If you buy my plane ticket I will take the guitar to Chicago for you

Sounds high- you're probably paying oversize rates but still. I sent a guitar across the country from a UPS store a few years ago, and it was about $120, with insurance. I thought it was outrageous, but I just wanted to get it done.

I just called this outfit called Pak n Ship. They quoted around $110 for Fed Ex. Is that realistic in today's market?

LL

 

[Brent Hutto]

repeat

 

[Dostradamas]

Yeah that looks high

UPS your own packaging from 34102 to 60007

 

[oldunc]

I just called this outfit called Pak n Ship. They quoted around $110 for Fed Ex. Is that realistic in today's market?

LL

If you're paying them to pack it, probably so. Outrageous is pretty realistic in today's market.