I knew shipping prices went up but....WTF?

[guitarsjb]

Ok, I had heard or read that shipping went UP. Ok, I thought a "little bit up"...I shipped a Jackson Fusion in a gig bag (NOT double boxed) ..USPS 46 bucks and some change , won't use UPS, but checked them...41 and some change. Damn..glad the RR didn't sell long distance..geez!! Last time I shipped a guitar USPS..DK2 cost me 19 bucks or so...wow. That just caught me off guard for some reason.

[gemini8026]

In Canada it went from bad to RIDICULOUS! A boxed up guitar in a case runs me around 80$ anywhere to the states now.

Fuel Surcharges are really hurting things!

[atomic charvel guy]

Jeri,
When we used to ship lots of boxes everyday on the deals I got , sometimes 15 a day, and some were heavy 60-70lb boxes, and my customers would want the parts Fed Ex. P1 and the shipping would be near or over the 400.00 mark it was mind boggling, but that's when gas was still under 2.00!!! With any guitar deal I ever did, I usually always made it Fed ex P1 , even saturday delivery no matter what the charge because the less time with your guitar in their hands the better, but when it's too much $$$ for the person to afford, it's still no bargain when you ship it ground as fragile means -go long and i'll hit you on a post pattern in the end zone-lol I never put it on the box anymore , I say trash the ingredients, nothing of value inside-lol
Just joshing, but with gasoline being ridiculous you're definitely in a tight spot with the prices being over the top for whatever way you ship it ,overnight, 3day,3day saver,ground etc. let me leave this with you, GO WITH FEDERAL EXPRESS. THEY DESTROY UPS-(Unable People Shipping)
I Don't know how they compare in pricing, but Fed ex. has lost only one box in my life , and we're talking out of thousands upon thousands of purchase orders over the years from '89-'90 to 2002. We used to laugh at the shipping costs, now they sometimes make or break a deal. I'm with you , it sucks the big one.

[lerxstcat]

Fe4dex Ground was usually 25% cheaper than UPS in the past, BUT make SURE you request signature service or they WILL just leave it at the door! Also, I would go to the website and enter weight and dimensions every time now just before selling an item to get a current accurate estimate.

You can really get hosed if you don't do this. And of course, you really can't even ship a Rhoads-sized hardshell cased guitar to Europe by USPS anymore unless you basically build the box around the case with no extra room. In other words, if it's big enough to include any padding, it's too big for them to take.

[slash]

RRs require a bigger box than a Dinky = more $$ to ship. FedEx is typically cheaper than USPS for shipping guitars.

[442w30]

FedEx is definitely the way to go.

I found shipping small items USPS is it. There are some things "bigger than a breadbox, smaller than a guitar" that UPS prices well on, but it's FedEx for me nowadays.

Try DHL for really big items. I shipped some servers 85+ lbs overnight and I think they gave me a good deal - can't remember the price cause it was billed to an acct, but it seemed really pretty reasonable.

If you are feeling lucky, you may be able to do Airline Counter to counter for a decent price, but pack it VERY well.

[atomic charvel guy]

Counter to counter is hairy, especially when the chip market was either going up, or crashing hard. "I need these on my dock today!!!!!" I miss those days.

[guitarsjb]

Thanks..oh well, lesson learned.

[delt]

Price of oil goes up ---> price of everything goes up. And this is just the beginning.

[krimson]

Yeah, was surprised as well. I shipped a 1sp rack unit that weighed about 3lbs with USPS and it cost like $15 bucks. I had just shipped an Ibanez RG with OHSC a couple a weeks before using fedex and it cost me $20.