Author Topic: Shipping Costs? (Read 255 times)

jalevinemd · « **on:** June 02, 2015, 08:32:58 AM »

What has happened to the cost of shipping a guitar lately? I just got two quotes from UPS and FedEx to ship a guitar next day air from Chicago to California. The price (including packing, insurance and the actual shipping charge) was $615 from UPS and $586 from FedEx. I have shipped similar guitars to similar locations over the past few years and, while the prices were high, they weren't close to these. I just had my new Alembic delivered next days air by UPS and it was significantly lower. Do businesses get discounts to which the public are not entitled? I could buy a plane ticket, rent a car, fly with the guitar and deliver it in person SAME DAY for less than these shippers were quoting. What are other people's experiences?

lbpesq · « **Reply #1 on:** June 02, 2015, 08:41:51 AM »

I've never shipped or had a guitar shipped next day air, so I can't comment on the prices you're quoting. I usually pay around $50-$75 for domestic shipping and it arrives several days later by truck, (or on one occasion, it sat around in back of the post office until I started raising a fuss and they found it). I've paid around $125 for shipping from Japan (which I assume used a real ship). For $600, I'd expect it to arrive by helicopter on my front lawn!

Bill, tgo

jalevinemd · « **Reply #2 on:** June 02, 2015, 09:03:48 AM »

Bill,

I hear ya. But when it comes to custom Alembics or other high end builds, I'm not willing to roll the dice on regular ground. I want that expensive instrument spending as little time in the shipper's hands as possible. So they got me by the shorthairs. Just for the sake of discussion, if you lived in Chicago or New York would you have had Woody shipped standard ground? I'm not trying to antagonize, I just want to see if maybe I'm too much of a worrier.

keith_h · « **Reply #3 on:** June 02, 2015, 09:58:34 AM »

How much were you insuring it for? That might have something to do with the rate.

I seem to recall it costing around $260 to return a bass to Alembic a few years ago, 3 day air with replacement cost insurance and a declared value of $16K.

Keith

hammer · « **Reply #4 on:** June 02, 2015, 11:57:18 AM »

I've had some of the same experiences cost wise with shippers in recent years as well as having to chase down the last bass that I purchased from a club member. FED-EX at first refused to drop it off at one of their stores (located within 2 miles of me) insisting that I needed to travel 58 miles each way to one of their big shipping centers to pick it up. The prices I was quoted last year for shipping my Distillate two states away was over $350 and that was with me doing all of the packing. The only thing that makes shipping with them tolerable is that my spouse works for an airline and we recently found out we now get a 75% discount.

Off the topic a bit but these prices aren't quite as bad as the airlines now wanting to charge over $400 (after one has purchased a ticket for $800-$1,200) to take a bike to Europe.

jalevinemd · « **Reply #5 on:** June 02, 2015, 05:21:57 PM »

Keith,

The insurance was less than $100 of the total. The bulk was the actual shipping cost.

lbpesq · « **Reply #6 on:** June 02, 2015, 09:57:11 PM »

Jonathan:

Are you dealing with UPS directly, or with a UPS store? The UPS stores are individually owned and charge whatever they want, often significantly more than with UPS direct.

As for Woody, as long as there was adequate insurance, and Alembic felt comfortable about it, I would have no problem sending it ground to save $500.

Bill, tgo

stout71 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 03, 2015, 03:44:57 PM »

My advice, for what it's worth - If you have instrument insurance (like from Heritage), just get temporary coverage for the dates the instrument will be in transit. It was $25 the last time I did it. UPS is a rip and you'll be fighting like hell if there is a damage claim. If they completely lost it in transit you'll get paid, but that's it. Fedex has a cap which is REALLY low.

edwin · « **Reply #8 on:** June 05, 2015, 01:54:36 AM »

While it seems like it might be in your interest to do next day to have it in their hands for as short a time as possible, the flip side of it is that they are rushing to deal with it the whole time, so there is the chance it would get more aggressive treatment than if it were going regular ground. I tend to ship guitars ground for that reason.

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #9 on:** June 05, 2015, 08:59:11 PM »

Having worked a few years in freight & being married to someone who worked 30 years in over-night air freight, allow me strongly second what Edwin says.

Peter