Shipping amps ... WTF, over?

[snakum]

I just shipped out a Peavey Valve King from NC to IL, and as usual, I guesstimated the initial costs using the Peavey packed weight and measurements fed into UPS' website, and allowing for the possibility that it might be a bit over once I actually show up. I've always settled up with the buyer and have never had any problems. We usually split the diff. No problem ... everyone knows the shipping cost was only an estimate. I'll eat ten bucks ... it's Christmas.

 

So I get my stuff on the counter and after a few minutes the lithe, little shipping chick says "That'll be eighty-five dollars and blah blah blah ..." and I almost 'sharted' in my pants. What the F@CK lady?!? Seems my little box went into the 'Oversized' category and well ... you know, fuel has gone up since I last shipped an amp. But Geezus H. Christ ... $85 ?!?

 

I can't get in touch with the buyer because he's at work like most normal folks, the place is filling up with Christmas packages to the point I can barely move around with my box ... we finally get it down to $70, but still .... DAMN! They want $19 for the goddamn peanuts used in the second box (required for insurance)!!!! I went ahead and shipped it ... f@ck it, but that blew my mind.

 

Have shipping costs really gone up THAT much in one year?

 

What are you guys paying for an average 1x12 combo four of five states away?

 

Are you guys sending it thru the UPS store/Shipping Depot type places or what?

 

Minh

[jTreu]

i payed $10 to ship a 2x10 cab but that was only about 2 hours away

[blackba]

You would think the Shipping calculator would have taken the oversize of the package and spit that out for the 1st estimate.

I assumed you were shipping the 212 combo? If so another reason to buy heads, easier to ship. UPS ground is generally more than Fedex ground in my experiences.

[kannibul]

Originally posted by snakum I just shipped out a Peavey Valve King from NC to IL, and as usual, I guesstimated the initial costs using the Peavey packed weight and measurements fed into UPS' website, and allowing for the possibility that it might be a bit over once I actually show up. I've always settled up with the buyer and have never had any problems. We usually split the diff. No problem ... everyone knows the shipping cost was only an estimate. I'll eat ten bucks ... it's Christmas. So I get my stuff on the counter and after a few minutes the lithe, little shipping chick says "That'll be eighty-five dollars and blah blah blah ..." and I almost 'sharted' in my pants. What the F@CK lady?!? Seems my little box went into the 'Oversized' category and well ... you know, fuel has gone up since I last shipped an amp. But Geezus H. Christ ... $85 ?!? I can't get in touch with the buyer because he's at work like most normal folks, the place is filling up with Christmas packages to the point I can barely move around with my box ... we finally get it down to $70, but still .... DAMN! They want $19 for the goddamn peanuts used in the second box (required for insurance)!!!! I went ahead and shipped it ... f@ck it, but that blew my mind. Have shipping costs really gone up THAT much in one year? What are you guys paying for an average 1x12 combo four of five states away? Are you guys sending it thru the UPS store/Shipping Depot type places or what? Minh

Last time I shipped something - I used a {censored}load of bubble-wrap, printed off a label, and dropped it off, but, waited for the signature on the insurance piece.

[Reck]

I was amazed when I got a 412 Behringer Cab shipped to me for a tenner, given that they weigh about 60 kilos.

[snakum]

It was only a VK112.

I'm looking at the receipt and sure as {censored}, they killed me on the outer packaging, which was required for insurance:

Manual Weight 51.0 lb
Pkg Wgt. 4.52 (what the hell does that mean?)

Shipping 36.49
Box 11.29
Peanuts 19.72 :eek:
Pack. Service 2.00

Bastards.

Lesson learned.


Minh

[Bostekrisco]

The UPS Stores ( mostly formerly Mailboxes Etc) are outrageously expensive. My experience is you could have done it for about a quarter of that if you had taken it directly to the depot. At least the shipping/insurance part. I never priced boxes/packing material at the depot but I know the Store is way high dollar on that stuff.

[tlbonehead]

Originally posted by snakum I just shipped out a Peavey Valve King from NC to IL, and as usual, I guesstimated the initial costs using the Peavey packed weight and measurements fed into UPS' website, and allowing for the possibility that it might be a bit over once I actually show up. I've always settled up with the buyer and have never had any problems. We usually split the diff. No problem ... everyone knows the shipping cost was only an estimate. I'll eat ten bucks ... it's Christmas. So I get my stuff on the counter and after a few minutes the lithe, little shipping chick says "That'll be eighty-five dollars and blah blah blah ..." and I almost 'sharted' in my pants. What the F@CK lady?!? Seems my little box went into the 'Oversized' category and well ... you know, fuel has gone up since I last shipped an amp. But Geezus H. Christ ... $85 ?!? I can't get in touch with the buyer because he's at work like most normal folks, the place is filling up with Christmas packages to the point I can barely move around with my box ... we finally get it down to $70, but still .... DAMN! They want $19 for the goddamn peanuts used in the second box (required for insurance)!!!! I went ahead and shipped it ... f@ck it, but that blew my mind. Have shipping costs really gone up THAT much in one year? What are you guys paying for an average 1x12 combo four of five states away? Are you guys sending it thru the UPS store/Shipping Depot type places or what? Minh

I always use my own packing materials and package the item myself. I'm not a fan of anal rape.(at least,I don't think I am) Everybody in this galaxy knows that you get hosed if you have the place do your work for you. BTW,I recently sold a pair of cast-frame 15"s and sent them from Mn to Texas and that was about $21 for 55lbs.

[snakum]

It was already packed in a Peavey C30 box but had to be double-boxed to be insurable. I didn't have another box ... it was either that or just not ship it.

A deal is a deal. I told the buyer it would go out today ... so in the absence of instructions to the contrary from the buyer ... it was going out today.

Minh

[guitardude24]

Keep the box you got it in and print out your on labels and then just drop it off at the UPS store...I ahve at least 30-50% doing it on my own, rather than having UPS package it up...that and printing your own lables is cheaper than having them print them out...weird how that works....

[onewhiteduck]

That blows. Yeah, UPS rips you on packing. I usually go to a music store near me, and they're always happy to give me boxes from guitars/amps when I need to ship something. Maybe try that next time.

[ratter]

To avoid what you're going through, this is what I do:

1. Avoid shipping amps if it all possible.

2. Buy your own packing materials. You can get heavy-duty boxes at uline.com or at some local places like U-Haul stores. You can get large quantities of thick foam at Lowe's/Home Depot for cheap, and large quantities of bubble wrap for cheap at the Container Store.

3. Sign up for a Fedex membership online and print your own labels and take it straight to a Fedex counter, already boxed, already labeled.

I don't think Fedex has ever charged me more than $17 to ship anything, even a fairly large double-boxed combo or a heavy head. And once you add it up, I probably don't spend more than about $10 on packing materials per item either. So unless it's an unusual case, I just tack on $10-30 (depending on whether it's something like a pedal or a combo amp) to the price of my item and sell it as "including shipping" that way I don't have to worry about going back and forth with the buyer over shipping costs.

[Bopper]

Originally posted by Bostekrisco The UPS Stores ( mostly formerly Mailboxes Etc) are outrageously expensive. My experience is you could have done it for about a quarter of that if you had taken it directly to the depot. At least the shipping/insurance part. I never priced boxes/packing material at the depot but I know the Store is way high dollar on that stuff.

Exactly!

If you take your box down to a retail outlet like the UPS Store, all bets are off. The Ebay shipping cost estimator is no longer relevant at all.

To get those prices, you have to print the label from Ebay and pack it and ship it yourself. Ebay has a special agreement with UPS to get those prices. The retail outlets don't honor this agreement.

I learned the hard way.