Shipping a 6-piece

M

moldmaker

Member
This is not intended to be a shameless "buy-my-stuff" plug. I have a 6-piece kit (2 rack, 2 floor, kick, snare) plus gig bags for everything listed for sale online. I'm even willing to meet someone halfway to help with delivery. I'd like to be able to offer shipping without getting destroyed on the cost. I'm having trouble seeing a way out of needing two boxes for everything. The floor toms won't nest inside each other and neither will the rack toms. I can nest a rack into a floor.

I have gotten washer and dryer boxes from a local store before. Is it acceptable to unscrew the lugs from the sides of the shells? If so, everything will fit inside each other, except the snare, inside an appliance box. Meaning, if you were buying it, would you want to have to deal with that much assembly? Have any of you shipped a large kit like this before?
 
Yes .... take the lugs off the shells and nest all the shells, with bubble wrap (or something) between them.
 
Hi there,

I'm afraid I have some bad news for you.

I have a DTX-532 for sale. I even have the original boxes. I was looking to sell locally when someone on the forum expressed interest in it. The cost to ship? ~$225. Dealbreaker for everyone involved.

So take a breath, consider local-only, because shipping is going to kick the crap out of you.


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Well, I just got a reality check. A hypothetical 24"x24"x24" box that weighs 50lbs costs $132 from my zipcode to Seattle, about the farthest from me. I might have to rethink this.
 
Lee-Bro said:
Try the shipping calculator in Paypal - for some reason it's been cheaper on a few things for me rather than regular UPS or USPS websites. Also, check out UPS's Freight option:

https://www.paypal.com/shiplabel/create/
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Regardless of what PayPal or any other shipping estimator says, you still have to pay actual shipping costs. So even if PayPal says $1, you'll still end up paying whatever the shipping company actually charges in the end.

I recently bought a used 4-pc kit shipped from NC to Los Angeles. The seller took off the lugs to nest the shells, but it still took two boxes. Ended up costing $200.
 
I gave up on UPS. A box (16" floor tom) was gonna cost $153 to ship to Kentuckey (eBay Global center). I shipped it to Sweden by USPS for $117.
 
Let's just say it costs $200 to ship everything. I think you might get a better response by telling the potential online buyer "free shipping" with your price already inflated to handle the additional $200. Sometimes it's a mental thing. Buyers can't believe the shipping costs that much and will stay away. But if you advertise "free shipping", they'll definitely take a look at least. It's somewhat cloak & dagger when you sell in this manner.
 
Bo Eder said:
Let's just say it costs $200 to ship everything. I think you might get a better response by telling the potential online buyer "free shipping" with your price already inflated to handle the additional $200. Sometimes it's a mental thing. Buyers can't believe the shipping costs that much and will stay away. But if you advertise "free shipping", they'll definitely take a look at least. It's somewhat cloak & dagger when you sell in this manner.
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I buy lots of car parts and see this all the time. The same part will be $99.99 + $50 shipping on one site, and $149.99 with free shipping on another. I've often wondered which sells more, as the price ends up the same.
 
Bad advice. You sell me a kit and then take all the lugs off of it and I'm gonna send it back and say screw you. I'm not gonna want to buy a kit and have to re-install the lugs. No way. Horrible advice there.

And yes shipping is terribly expensive now.

When I'm buying something I always look at total cost. That great vintage Premier 4 piece kit in mint condition for $699 with $200 shipping now becomes an $899 kit. That's $900.

When selling I usually include my estimated cost of shipping in price and offer "free shipping". I assume someone in California is gonna buy it (I'm in KY) and costs are gonna be high. I prefer to sell on Reverb and allow offers from potential buyers. So if I'm selling a Classic Maple 3 piece kit for $1,000 and someone from Tennessee offers me $800 I might accept that offer, but not if they live in Seattle and offer me $800. I suggest baking estimated shipping into sale price, offering free shipping, and selling on Reverb and allow offers.

If you live in major metro area like NYC Boston Atlanta Miami Dallas LA SF etc. then local Craigslist makes sense. A large market. You can also sell on Reverb that way and, in addition to shipping, offer free local pick up or meet within x miles or hours. Even though I am in KY, I always offer to meet buyers within a 2 hour drive. I've sold many kits on Reverb and driven an hour or so to deliver. Saves cost of shipping, cost of boxes and materials, hassle of shipping, and risk of damage during shipping. And no taking off lugs lol.

harryconway said:
Yes .... take the lugs off the shells and nest all the shells, with bubble wrap (or something) between them.
Click to expand...
 
It's been up on Craigslist for awhile now. On Reverb, I've offered free delivery within 100 miles, so that takes care of northern Illinois (Chicago) and southern Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee). I'll try the "free shipping" and inflated price.
 
You may wish to search for a 3rd party parcel agency. I don't have any company names in the US, but in most of the world, you can find such services. They work by volume rates with key providers such as UPS, DHL, etc. Essentially, they negotiate trade rates, then sell their service for a commission. Can comfortably be 50% lower cost than booking direct with a provider. Major providers really load rates to private individuals, because they know they're usually not in a repeat business relationship - i.e. you have no leverage.
 
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