SignsOfDelirium_bassist Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Hi all! I've finally found a buyer for my LTD, but unfortunately he lives in the states...I wanted to meet up in person to hand the bass over, as I wanted to keep my one and only hardcase, but it seems I shall have to send the bass in that. I've never shipped a bass before, I've never even posted one normally! I've no idea what I need to do, can I get the bass weighed at my local post office? My bathroom scales seem to think that the bass and hardcase are about 9kgs, this seems extremely high to me, the bass never felt that heavy! Then again I'm not sure what i'm comparing the weight too, I've never had to weigh any of my basses, never bothered to pay attention to if they're light or not. So has anyone got any advice? How should I protect the bass? Which company is best to ship with? Which company is cheapest? Is it worth the risk using the cheaper one? Obviously I'm sending it insured, he's paying £450 for this bass (Cost me about £800 originally), how much extra will insuring it cost? If you've got any other advice about something I haven't asked but should take into consideration, please let me know? Cheers Jack. Quote
charic Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 If your really uncomfortable about it all then don't ship abroad. Otherwise he should be paying extra for the Hardcase and the shipping if it was included in the sale. Other than that three points: Lots of cardboard Lots of bubble wrap Lots of parcel tape Best of luck mate Depending on where you are I have a suitable cardboard box if you want it, pickup only ofcourse but free of charge as I got it with a bass from Lorne on here. I still have the packaging he used too Quote
skidder652003 Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 hi jack ive always sold my basses/ guitars by taking em down the local post office. They weigh them, give you a price and the option of how to send (i use parcelforce 48 - never had any probs). Sending to the states might be a bit trickier but i think they can do that as well. The insurance for musical instruments is a minefield however, and you should check very, very carefully if you're covered, a lot , if not most companies will not cover for musical instruments damaged in transit. I always make this clear now in any correspondence to buyers who insist i send the items by post. Good Luck! Quote
Lozz196 Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 I`ve shipped basses to Greece, and Finland, both times using parcel2go (many on here also like Interparcel) I`ve found the best way is to put the bass in its hard case, then to put that in another large outer box - either your local music shop, or bike shop may be able to help. I`ve also over-estimated on the weight, as to be honest, this doesn`t really have too much of an impact on the prcie - it`s the overall volume that seems to be the prime factor in this. Both times, the overall packages came to about 12kg. Parcelforce do not cover musical instruments - they are in their list of exclusions - but will accept your money. Whichever company you decide to use, check the exclusions - some won`t insure musical instruments unless in a hard case ( you`ll be ok here). I`ve usually chosen the DHL option when going through parcel2go, and to date, haven`t had any problems. The extra insurance option is a definate must, in my view, and its a percentage of the overall value - put the details in on either parcel2go or Interparcel and it will show how much this will be. It seems a bit long-winded, but its actually quite painless to arrange - make sure you have a printer though, as you need to print all the documentation to be ready for the collection. Quote
Evil Undead Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Hello My only advice would be - don't ship it to the USA. I've had plenty of people from the states interested in my sales, but postage quotes have always been on the plus side of £100 whichever company I've looked at. Unless he's prepared to pay extra for the shipping and the hard case, it would be a no-brainer for me. Probably not what you wanted to hear though! Quote
SignsOfDelirium_bassist Posted June 27, 2011 Author Posted June 27, 2011 Wow, thanks for all the advice! most helpful The buyer says he's willing to pay for postage and I told him that I'm not taking any responsibility for damage to the instrument in transit. Trust me, I'd really rather not ship it anywhere, let alone out of the country, but I've had such a hard time trying to sell the bloody thing that I just can't be bothered to be picky anymore. It's a great bass an all, but now it's just taking up room! I'm giving him the hardcase for free though, I got it for free so I'm not really losing out as far as I'm concerned. Don't want to charge him £20 for something I got free. Will any old post office do? Or will I have to take it to a larger one? There's one just down the road from me, but it's not very big. Oh, and cheers for the offer Charic, but i'm in london, i'm sure there's plenty of spare cardboard floating around this filthy city for me to ponce, lol. Cheers Jack. Quote
Lorne Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Don't use Parcel FARCE, that's the most important thing If you bathroom scales measure you accurately, then they are probably close on the bass' weight, just pack the heck out of it, put the hardcase in a box with more bubblewrap etc wrap it all up and weigh it again, then measure the package, get your buyer's post code/ address and go to Interparcel.com for a quote (It'll be way cheaper than P Farce) Quote
absolutpepper Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Never use parcelforce. Guitars are on their exemption list so if theres any loss or damage they won't compensate you. I got burned by them recently. Quote
BigRedX Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 If you read the small print for all the parcel delivery services, then technically anything with magnets in is on their exclusion list... Quote
Delberthot Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 DON'T GO TO THE POST OFFICE There we go. Any bass I have posted or received from the US has been shipped with the neck off with the exception of my 20th Anniversary Stingray The main ones I use are Parcelmonkey and Interparcel depending on the weight or size. I do it that often that i don't even think about it now. Again, check the terms for the insurance as others have said, they're quick enough to offer you it (and in the case of Parcelmonkey you HAVE to take it or it doesn;t let you place the order) Just clicked on the Transglobal Express advert at the bottom of the page and got a quote based on rough sizes of 130cm x 40cm x 20cm of £68 Quote
redstriper Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Did you sell it on ebay? If so ebay can refund the buyer if the bass arrives damaged no matter what personal arrangement you have made with him. Just a thought. Quote
spinynorman Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 If you book with Interparcel or one of the other agents that's been mentioned, you get a choice of services from different couriers, so you can either pick the cheapest, the fastest or just one you've heard good things about. They'll come and pick up the parcel from you, which is good, because you don't have to haul it down the PO, but may be tricky if there's no-one at home during the day. On the other hand, most work places have couriers in and out all the time, so probably won't mind one turning up for you. The reason the agents are cheaper - and that going direct to ParcelForce or the PO is more expensive - is the agents generate a huge volume and can negotiate better rates. If you went direct to DHL or UPS as an individual, that would be more expensive too. It's also possible that couriers are a bit more worried about the service they give through an agent, as being dropped by Interparcel et al would be quite significant. Quote
tom1946 Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Right, I've just sent a guitar to Hawaii and it isn't difficult. I used Interparcel and it went via Fedex with no problems at all. Cost me £77 without insurance. USE A BIKE BOX and cut to size, the shove the spare cardboard around the case, buy a roll of Fragile tape and plaster it on the box. Make your own big labels (28 point arial black in caps') Bike boxes are very strong as they use them to ship bikes here from Chinapangapore and other places. HTH. Quote
SignsOfDelirium_bassist Posted June 27, 2011 Author Posted June 27, 2011 Awesome! thanks fellas, most helpful indeed I can't really be bothered to carry on trying to sell it, it's been so long since I started, dropped the price below what I want for it, and I'm sick of it being there, lol. Also, sadly I can't take the neck off, it's a neckthru, so nuts to that option Cheers Jack. Quote
Pete Academy Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 Ask your local music shop for a couple of boxes (we get asked all the time). Make sure you double-bag it in two boxes. Trust me. Quote
4000 Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 I always take 'em to Mailboxes Etc and let them do it all. As long as the buyer's happy to pay, it saves me a lot of hassle. Quote
Mr. Foxen Posted June 27, 2011 Posted June 27, 2011 [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=121822"]Thread on it here.[/url] Quote
charic Posted June 28, 2011 Posted June 28, 2011 [quote name='Lorne' post='1283971' date='Jun 27 2011, 12:34 PM']Don't use Parcel FARCE, that's the most important thing If you bathroom scales measure you accurately, then they are probably close on the bass' weight, just pack the heck out of it, put the hardcase in a box with more bubblewrap etc wrap it all up and weigh it again, then measure the package, get your buyer's post code/ address and go to Interparcel.com for a quote (It'll be way cheaper than P Farce)[/quote] Didnt you use them for my bass Quote
Lorne Posted June 28, 2011 Posted June 28, 2011 (edited) [quote name='charic' post='1284917' date='Jun 28 2011, 08:19 AM']Didnt you use them for my bass [/quote] I F***in' hope not, it was sent via Interparcel and TNT express, so Parcel Farce shouldn't have entered into it! Edited June 28, 2011 by Lorne Quote
charic Posted June 28, 2011 Posted June 28, 2011 Oh yeah that's the ones, well they did a good job there anyway Quote
Lorne Posted June 28, 2011 Posted June 28, 2011 [quote name='charic' post='1285113' date='Jun 28 2011, 11:34 AM']Oh yeah that's the ones, well they did a good job there anyway [/quote] Ha ha ha, ya git, I was having a heart attack here, building blood pressure, about to phone Interparcel and vent my spleen at 'em ! Quote
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