shipping an amp...UPS store?

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turmoil

turmoil

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I finally sold my mesa boogie bass 400+....now i have to ship the damn thing :lol: :LOL:

here's a picture of the beast:
mesatop2.jpg


I'm planning on labeling the tubes/sockets, pulling the tubes and wrapping them all up separately to avoid damage.

I also came across this nice post over on TalkBass.com
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f127/want ... ad-245571/

He mentions a "Dish Pack" box and then having somewhere like the UPS store pack it (for insurance purposes).

Is this a good route? I have mixed feelings about every shipping service, but i feel like UPS and USPS are fairly consistent..at least for me anyway :lol: :LOL:
I just want to make sure I do all that I can as far as shipping goes, since this is the first time i've shipped an amp.
thanks :)
 
Prepare for a severe ass raping. They do a good job packing and insuring, but you're REALLY going to pay for it.
 
The only reason my buddy still owns that amp is because he fears shipping it lol.

You would be better off packing yourself, I've seen some very shoddy jobs done by the UPS stores. Just pack it well, and take pictures as you do it. You want your packing material to be thick, but also be able to 'give' a little.
 
I had good luck with the fedex/kinkos store packing up my amp. I watched them do it and they used a ton of the expanding foam packs. It survived the shipping fine.
 
Pull the tubes, stuff some high impact foam between the trannies, and double box with the same foam. You can get the foam at any arts/crafts store. I would never us United Parcel Smashers over FedEx ground, but YMMV.
 
i had an amp shipped to me and Kinko's, in a nice fedex box, did a good job of packing it for him but yeah, you will pay $$$.

my feeling, is pack it yourself so you know what you have and yes, pack the tubes in their own box.
 
Ayrton":2lkcgxxa said:
I would never us United Parcel Smashers
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this made me :lol: :LOL:

thanks for the suggestion everyone! I'm pretty confident in my packaging skills, and I do have some very dense foam laying around...i just need a good box for it, so maybe i will package this thing myself. i'll update this thread over the weekend :)
 
the UPS stores are franchises but under the managment of UPS. I had one rip me big time. Got my money back etc but what a hassle. I vote no. they all suck but fed ex has done the least damage so far.
 
Do yourself a favor and go to a REAL packaging/shipping company. I use one that specializes in packing & shipping antiques and high dollar items. When it comes to amps I prefer the "foam in place" method of packing. Sure it costs more but the amp arrives safely and in one piece. Just figure the cost into your asking price.
 
jerrydyer":2ztxtlv7 said:
the UPS stores are franchises but under the managment of UPS. I had one rip me big time. Got my money back etc but what a hassle. I vote no. they all suck but fed ex has done the least damage so far.
Click to expand...

so, do the UPS stores charge extra for services since they are franchises? I hesitate to ship anything FedEx since i've never personally used them for shipping, but every package i've received from them has turned out okay.
 
FedEx all the way. I saved over $70 dollars using Fedex Ground over OOPS.
 
I've shipped a ton of amps and never had an amp damaged when I packed it (knock on wood) but have had two that were shipped to me and packed by UPS/ Fedex that got trashed. :no: Do it yourself a favor pack it yourself that way you know what you're getting. The insurance is a waste too cause they rarely pay when it's damaged. :thumbsdown:
 
mboogman":2i9fspct said:
FedEx all the way. I saved over $70 dollars using Fedex Ground over OOPS.
Click to expand...

damn, those are pretty nice savings! I think the closest FedEx store is like 40 minutes away though :(
 
I just shipped Mesa Lonestar that was 50lbs with packing and accessories. thru fedex insured for 1200 for about $50. I spent $25 on supplies packing it myself. I packed it well in a box using 2 sheets of 1.5" thick foam on each side of the box.Home Depot has it by the insulation. Bubble wrapped the amp.Slid it in the foam lined box.Used additional packing so it was tight and making sure the amp cant move around. Taped that up well. Put that box into the second foam lined box. Emptied one can of minimal expanding foam into it to fill in the voids. Taped the crap out of it. Added some Fragile stickers to it and sent it on it's way. One trick is to ship it from the FedEX(or UPS) depot directly. I have both by me. Staples,Kinkos,UPS store will often double the actual shipping fee.
 
Out of all the amps I've had shipped to me and have shipped myself, the only one I've ever had damaged was on that was packed and shipped by a UPS store location.

A lot of times the UPS store will not insure the item unless they pack it themselves. The Fed Ex/Kinkos location will insure items for me if I've packed them but the will open the box to check if it's packaged well. Now I've shipped so many things that they know me and don't even look.

Fed Ex is generally a little cheaper but I still have no issues with UPS's service either. If using UPS try to ship it from an actual UPS shipping Depot, the price will be literally about half as much as the UPS store and they'll insure it without forcing you to pay for a poor packing job. Instead of the UPS store I go to a local hardware store which is a UPS shipping center if I need to ship with them.
 
Kinko's was bought by FedEx years ago, and the shipping cost are the same. Places like "Mailboxes Etc" will add to the shipping cost.

You can look up FedEx locations here.

http://fedex.com/Dropoff/start

UPS will automatically deny any damage claim, and unless a UPS store packed it, you have little chance on appeal.
 
Both Fedex and UPS can do damage. Allot of people do not realize it is not an actual person that is the main culprit. Of course damage can happen while it is on a truck or from mishandling. This is not the real worry. Pack your amps, etc. to withstand a fall onto concrete from 10-12' high. I have been inside a UPS hub. The packages come off of the pickup trucks and are placed on conveyors. These conveyors go up to about 12' high. At certain points the packages can back up. Some of the boxes that are forward are forced off of the conveyors and drop from up to 12' high. I wrap the amp in plastic wrap first. Them I bundle it like a baby in bubble wrap. Then I suspend that in peanuts. Sometimes I do double box. If I do not, I beef up the box lining first with extra corrugated. I have never had a package damaged. Like I said if you cannot drop your amp, etc. from 10- 12' high you are risking damage. Scary but true.
 
no way in hell i'd let them pack that amp, heavy as fuck and oddly balanced.


i got a Strategy 500 sent to me in a cheapo road case, and it completely destroyed the cheapo road case. thankfully the amp is pretty tough, but had some trashed tubes.
 
Ayrton":37ojl151 said:
Kinko's was bought by FedEx years ago, and the shipping cost are the same. Places like "Mailboxes Etc" will add to the shipping cost.

You can look up FedEx locations here.

http://fedex.com/Dropoff/start

UPS will automatically deny any damage claim, and unless a UPS store packed it, you have little chance on appeal.
Click to expand...

thanks for the link.
I'm having trouble finding a decent location that isn't really far from my zip code, which is 17042.
that place "The Shipping Box" is a huge fucking rip off and i refuse to go back there with any package. All the other locations seem to do Express shipping only. grrrr
 
Lancaster, Middletown, or Harrisburg...

All between 17-20 miles. :(
 
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