TubeNet

FexEx and UPS rates are now based on what they call "dimensional weight." The easiest way to explain it is that you're paying for size and weight now, but not always paying for actual weight, but will always pay for actual size. Clear as mud, right?

Shipping is just expensive these days, though I've always been rather amazed that shipping these days is what it is: I can, for the right price, even ship something to another country and have it arrive the following morning and, in some cases, even on the same day it was shipped.

I once asked for a price quote for a gig bag from a company in England (not Wessex).

They were reluctant to even give me a number, because they claimed that the shipping costs from the UK to the US would be about the same price as the gig bag itself.

I never really believed that... but yes, shipping gig bags is expensive.

That said, I always want to ask in these situations. What did you think it should cost?

Shipping in the ConUS is a bit expensive, but not too bad. I worked on shipping a Sousaphone to Australia recently and found a real mess. It turns out that the only viable way (that I found) to ship to Australia was UPS or Fed-Ex. Any of the freight carriers are very reluctant (aka won't touch) a large package from a private customer. All their work is for companies for which they have a relationship and have vetted. The issue is "contraband". They don't know what is in the package. It could be a whole host of illegal or dangerous things. They just don't want to chance it. UPS and Fed-Ex charge twice as much as the going freight rate and insist on packing it in "their" packaging. I think this is their way to insure what is in the package. By the way, the package I had was a sousaphone in a standard case. The actual weight was 50% of the weight they would ship under based on size of the box. The UPS/Fed-Ex cost for shipping a sousaphone in a case with paperwork for customs was close to $2000 to go from Minneapolis to Australia.

When I got my huge Cronkhite bag from a user here, I was floored by his shipping method. It came in an impossibly small package, I actually thought I got the wrong thing before I opened it. It was rolled up into the tightest cylinder possible, tied off with string like a sleeping bag, and stuffed in the box. Unorthodox, but I'm sure he saved a fortune on shipping.