Need advice on packing and shipping drums

chap

Junior Member
I just sold a kit (well...part of a kit anyway) on ebay. I had a buddy at a drum shop that was going to help me pack and ship the drums, but he got laid off earlier this week. The drums are 22" kick, 18" floor, 14" and 12" toms. What is the most economical way to pack and ship these drums? It seems like just taking them to a pack and mail type place would be extremely expensive. I've never packed/shipped a drumset before, so any advice would be appreciated.
 
I would say 2 boxes, Put the 14" into the bass drum and put enough packing material around so it does not move and does not damage the inside of the bass drum.
Same with the other two, put the 12" into the 18".
I don't know if you have to ship any hardware., if so try to fit them also into the drums, however always be sure that the drums and hardware never touch each other directly.
 
The preferred method is to have 2 inchs of packing around all product. So the 22 inch kick should at minimum be in a box that is 24 x 24, and then 4 inchs deeper than the bass drum, so 20 x 20 if its a 18 inch drum. You can put drums inside of drums with 2 inchs of substantial packing in between. Not newspaper. When you are finsihed nothing should move inside the box or rattle. Put the hardware in a separate box. Tape it together or wrap it, so again, it doesnt rattle. Spend the time or money now to do it right, or you be getting the drums back, returning the money and own a damaged drum set. We have see enough horror stories on this site of bad packing jobs. I work with UPS and Fed Ex and DHL drivers that deliver to the hospital and if you could see inside of the trucks at times you would cry. You cannot over pack your drumset. Good luck.
 
It means the packages are all over the floor, thrown around like who cares, etc. You could write Fragile in 6 languages and it means nothing. Your box will be pushed, thrown, dropped etc, so pack it good and then go back and pack it better. Pick up the box and turn it over, and if whats inside moves, that is not good. Charge whoever you are sending it to a reasonable amount but dont skimp.
 
Understood. Now for my next dumb question: Where's the best place to get the boxes and packing materials? Buying from packing stores or uhaul?
 
Kinko's ia a FedEx outlet, and the UPS store would have all of this stuff for a price. The post office would cost you an arm and a leg to buy. Check with a local music store for a bass drum box.
 
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