Shipping Cost

[872375328]

I was hit with (what I thought was outrageous) a bill for $431 to ship a small f tuba via UPS. I showed up with it bubble-wrapped, in a wardrobe box, and strapping tape. All I needed was packing peanuts! They told me that I wouldn't get the insurance money in the box it was in (brand-new wardrobe box) and that they'd need to pack it or I'd have to get a different box. All in all, I felt like it was a huge rip-off, maybe it wasn't. I've seen threads on here about how to pack a tuba and read them before I started. All I want to know is:

What is a normal shipping price for a small f tuba to and from the lower 48?

[Ace]

Shipping costs are very high. I recently shipped by FedEx ground a Bach 42BO tenor trombone from San Francisco Bay area to Austin Texas. The charge was $63. I thought that was much too high considering the size and weight of the package.

The best rate I ever got was $95 from Amtrak for shipping a huge box with a Conn 52 J inside from Oakland CA to New Jersey.

Ace

Addendum: 12/14 I just shipped a French horn to Bedford MA this afternoon------FedEx ground shipping cost was $61.66. That's a lot of money for such a small package of modest weight.

[bort]

UPS ground should be $150 to $200.

[Lew]

I was hit with (what I thought was outrageous) a bill for $431 to ship a small f tuba via UPS.

Did you go to UPS or a UPS STORE? The stores are outrageous - they charge premium prices for packing and the double to triple the shipping cost. I will NEVER go in one again!

Yep, the UPS stores are way out of line on their packing costs in particular. What they charge for boxes alone is multiples of what those same boxes cost almost anywhere else. I don't think I have ever paid much more than a couple of hundred to ship a tuba or sousaphone, and have paid significantly less using Amtrak or Greyhound.

[872375328]

I DID go to a UPS Store. I was unaware that the quote I received online of $208 would be changed to $341 + $85 for them to package it. Greyhound doesn't let you insure over $300 (from what I quickly read). Next time, I will just print off a label from home and buy packing peanuts online somewhere. You live and you learn, I guess.

[ScottM]

I got bubble wrap at either Lowes or Home Depot last year, and they had packing peanuts too.
If you use packing peanuts put quantities in smaller bags so when the horn gets to the other end the person doesn't have to fight with them escaping and making a mess. They just take out the bags and can either reuse the bags or recycle them all once they get the item.
ScottM

[Lee Stofer]

A large part of my business over the past 12 years has been dealing with shipping tubas across the country and around the world. Here is what I've found;

- If you go to a UPS store or other package store, you will pay dearly for convenience. If you want to save money, avoid this.

- If you have Amtrak available, it is a great option. The packing does not have to be bullet-proof, as there is minimum handling, and the price is right. There are weight restrictions for certain stations, so you do have to do some checking before you ship. Generally, 50 lbs. or less will ship just about anywhere that there is a station. Amtrak has not lost or damaged any shipment for me.

- The Greyhound/Trailways bus system works well for me for a lot of situations, particularly less-expensive instruments. Insurance offered varies by destination, from $300.00 to a max. of $1,000.00. Since I carry business insurance that covers instruments that I ship while in transit, I'll also use the bus lines for more expensive instruments to save money. The bus lines has not lost or damaged any item that I've shipped, so their track record gives me added confidence, and it is often the fastest way to send an instrument.

- I have a UPS account, but after several well-packed new tubas were damaged and I went through considerable grief last year, only getting reimbursed on 3 of 4 damage claims, I do not send tubas via normal UPS any more. I have found that a boxed-up tuba, shrink-wrapped to a pallet that is as long as the box (so a forklift cannot "bump" the end of the box), and shipped via any of the motor freight companies is much safer, and no more expensive than the UPS or FedEx package service. YRC Freight (formerly Yellow Freight and Roadway Freight) does a great job for me. In fact, last week I sent a pallet with three tuba boxes stacked on top of each other halfway across the US for just under $200.00.

- I once sent a small Yamaha tuba to an FPO address using the US Postal Service, and the Yamaha hard case just met the size limit. It got there safely, but it would be difficult if not impossible to ship anything larger through the mail - not recommended for tubas.

- If you ship overseas or via freight, make sure that the box is securely fastened to the pallet. I received a new Rudolf Meinl tuba a year ago from Germany where the box was loose from the pallet. The box was not damaged, so the carrier would not pay the damages, and the manufacturer would not pay them, as it was undamaged when he shipped it, and the owner expected a new tuba, so I had to remove the bell, overhaul it, re-install it and lacquer it before I could deliver the new instrument, all out of my pocket. Yes, it was expensive to eat that, but going to court would have been worse. So, make sure the box is securely fastened to the pallet!