Guitar shipping cost

[fett]

I know we have done this before. I just sold a guitar in case and charged the guy $35. Insured and all that. It is going from Wash to Cal priority mail and I just made it. Now, I may want to sell my Kelly with case. (No solicitation) The seller only charged me $20 for shipping. (Yikes!!!!) Anyone who has a Kelly in a case knows how big it is . Barring the Kelly, any guitar I sell will be, at least, $45 shipping. If they want it they will pay the shipping. I ate the big one on shipping for those lamps I sold. I am not trying to make that up, but I am done losing money because I didn't get the real shipping cost correct.

[RacerX]

[mm2002]

Are you talking about eBay???? Well, I can tell you from shitloads of experience, offer a lower shipping price and the guitar will bring more money. I list all axes at a flat rate of $25.00 in the conus. I shipped a Kelly a few months ago, (in OHSC) and it went to northern CA for $31.00. Ya win some, ya lose some. People making money on the shipping pisses me off. If you're charging $45.00 you're fucking people.

[mm2002]

oh....and don't give that bullshit about the cost of boxes and packaging. You've bought many many axes where the packaging was probably worth more than the axe itself. I'm sure you've saved all that stuff huh?

[fett]

I don't charge for boxes or any of that. As for lowballing the shipping cost, I don't do that either to try and get a sale. Like I said, I have been doing this for years and I win some and lose some on shipping. But, when you come to big boxes and the shippers it's better to be on the high side. I can always rebate if I am way off. If the stuff I offer is what they want, they will pay the shipping cost. As for Racer, if you don't like the shitting cost don 't dump.

[fett]

oh....and don't give that bullshit about the cost of boxes and packaging. You've bought many many axes where the packaging was probably worth more than the axe itself. I'm sure you've saved all that stuff huh?

I didn't read your whole post 'til now. First off, my packing material is worth more that your comment. Yes, I have saved my boxes. And now I have a bunch of guitars that I paid peanuts for. I guess you guys that pay big bucks for a guitar just don't understand.

[fett]

Are you talking about eBay???? Well, I can tell you from shitloads of experience, offer a lower shipping price and the guitar will bring more money. I list all axes at a flat rate of $25.00 in the conus. I shipped a Kelly a few months ago, (in OHSC) and it went to northern CA for $31.00. Ya win some, ya lose some. People making money on the shipping pisses me off. If you're charging $45.00 you're fucking people.

Well, I suggest you look at the average shipping cost. You can get all the pissed off you want. If you see one of my guitars for sale, pass it up.

[RacerX]

Fett also makes some good money on little non guitar stuff.

[fett]

Fett also makes some good money on little non guitar stuff.

Thanks dude I'm not a one-trick-ninney. My goal is to make all the guitars I own "free" buy selling other stuff to support my guitar habit. It's good to be single; old; with no responsibilities and break even. And no health insurance. (If you are being sarcastic, that's OK too because I make, on average 10X my money. And sometimes 100X)

[mm2002]

yup...ok.

[toejam]

The most I've ever spent for shipping a guitar was like $32 and change... and that was going from here on the east coast in NJ to CA. Though, for a Kelly or Explorer with their bigger cases, $35 to $40 seems reasonable.

[RacerX]

Well prices been going up. When did I get my Rand V? That was USPS from Jersey to CA and it was $55.

[toejam]

Good point. Also not only does it depend on how big the case is, but how heavy it is.

[lerxstcat]

Are you talking about eBay???? Well, I can tell you from shitloads of experience, offer a lower shipping price and the guitar will bring more money. I list all axes at a flat rate of $25.00 in the conus. I shipped a Kelly a few months ago, (in OHSC) and it went to northern CA for $31.00. Ya win some, ya lose some. People making money on the shipping pisses me off. If you're charging $45.00 you're fucking people.

Mark, you're kind of centrally located in the country. As far as UPS zones, you probably would never ship across more than 2 zones. There are 4 from coast to coast, each zone passed ups the rate. And rates have steadily increased.

Last year I shipped a Carvin V220 just to the Florida Panhandle, maybe 400 miles away. I packed it myself, but it was $40 to ship via UPS. Had I charged $25 I would've taken a $15 loss on shipping, and I didn't do that well on the auction either. Boo hoo for me, but the point is that $45 can be reasonable, and not fucking anybody. And sure, if you're 100 miles away and in the same UPS zone that might end up being high, but most people on Ebay are leery of auctions without stated shipping charges, so I figure mine based on the most it'll be within the CONUS and list it accordingly. People are free to bid or not bid within their budget, counting the bid and the hipping into what they're willing to pay.

And please, don't tell me I'm nuts or high on the rate I paid. I took it to the UPS depot customer counter and that was the rate. If you're using a company account or business rate then you can get a lot better rate, plus again you're more centrally located, but why should I eat the shipping because I DON'T have a business account?

[MetalMedal II]

Good point. Also not only does it depend on how big the case is, but how heavy it is.

True dat. My old LP I sold last year cost $55 to ship USPS from the east coast to Washington state. I used a flate rate of $50, the most I ever charged for shipping, thinking that should cover it, but couldn't predict how far the buyer would be!