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Joined:
February 2009
Posts: 194
Location: Huntington Beach | I have use FEDEX, UPS and USPS all with equally good results. Lately I've used USPS for lower cost. Packaging is the hardest part. If you can get your local music store to give you a guitar shipping carton that is sized for a full size acoustic in the case - great. Put a little bit of cushion inside the case so that the guitar is snug. Make sure there is cushion at the top and bottom of the case inside the carton. Check ahead with whatever shipper you use to verify shipping cost of the package - too big and it will be very expensive. Just shipped an Elite in case for just under $30 cross country insured for $500. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | UPS or FedeEx?
Maryanne or Ginger |
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Joined:
November 2009
Posts: 152
Location: Corpus Christi, TX | I have no particular preference between UPS and Fedex but I have had an experience I would like to relate.
I needed to ship a guitar from Texas to Mass. so went to the local mail joint by my home. Turned out that Fedex was cheaper so shipped it Fedex. With Insurance the cost was $120.
After seeing shipping costs on evil bay quoted much lower I became curious and went online to both UPS and Fedex, input my package weight and deminsions and the destination and lo and behold the price was more than 50% cheaper.
I was miffed because I have a UPS store a block from my office. So the moral of the story is, use the mail forwarding for convenience but be prepared to pay a huge premium for doing so. |
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Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 3969
| Those "UPS Stores" and other multiple mail/shipper drops are independent, paying a fee to use the shipper name. So they can (and do) charge a premium above the going shipper rate to recover their "franchise" costs. You always get a much better rate going directly to your favorite shipper's website, entering the package size/weight/insurance, paying the charge online and printing out the shipping label yourself.
I once tried dropping off a high-value guitar (requiring a signature on a separate form that says it's packaged correctly) by dropping off the pre-paid package at my local UPS Store & they refused to accept it. It was close enough to the time the UPS driver comes y that store so I just waited and gave it to him directly, no problem. |
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Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | I had to chase the mailwoman (?) around the block one saturday to get a guitar out on time.
I have no problem using priority mail to ship a guitar. |
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Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 548
Location: Up North | I had a guitar shipped from Hawaii to Ontario, Canada for $50 with USPS. No problems at all. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15677
Location: SoCal | Originally posted by CrimsonLake:
I had to chase the mailwoman (?) around the block one saturday to get a guitar out on time.
I have no problem using priority mail to ship a guitar. I have no problem chasing the mail woman..... |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
I have no problem chasing the mail woman..... Just wait a few more years...  She might slow down fer ya. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | How do you think he met his wife?
She let him catch her... |
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Joined:
February 2009
Posts: 194
Location: Huntington Beach | With regards to ups store etc. - Staples turned out to have the cheapest Fedex and UPS rates and great service. |
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UPS or Fedex?
