Yeah, I Won’t Be Shipping Amps Again…

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skoora

skoora

Well-known member
Haven’t shipped anything big or expensive in a long time…..
Christ on a cracker. Sell on eBay, ups label through eBay won’t cover more than $999 but has a pretty good shipping cost. Amp sold for 2K. Try direct through UPS and run into another 999 wall. Try FedEx and can put in the right value of coverage (shipping price a fair bit higher) but the Lite website (have to use when it’s your own box) isn’t working to take a CC. Call Fed Ex and they say known problem, you need to go to a Fed Ex location (proper, not Walgreen’s etc) and they can take a card or set up an account. Me..will the price be the same? Oh yeah, maybe even a little less. Get my Wife’s help because I can’t lift more than 10lb’s per Doc (post neck surgery). Fed Ex location…price goes up $40 and we haven’t even added signature and insurance yet. Then when trying to set up an account their system freezes and they also confirm while waiting, they won’t cover more than 999 either because they consider it a musical instrument and maybe a Fed Ex depo could. I say fuck you very much, grab my ball and go home..?
Try USPS when I get home and it would work but shipping price gets insane. Try UPS again and find another avenue that gets me the coverage I need but shipping is 90 higher than a label through eBay. Having very little faith in a 44 pound amp making it trouble free from Georgia to NoCal, I want that full coverage, even if they’ll notoriously try and snake out of it anyway. But they’ll also do pickup from my house, so fuck it. Then their site scrubs my CC info 3 times before it sticks and goes through so I can print a label. Plus packing the amp was no easy feat when you have a grumpy wife who has to be the one lifting it around..lol
After this one it’s going to be consignment only at my local store that does it. I’ll take the hit on not having to go through this shit again.
 
I’d say the one plus side to using Reverb is their insurance. Not cheap but it does make me feel better about sending high end gear all over the country.
 
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Aynirar27 said:
I’d say the one plus side to using Reverb is their insurance. Not cheap but it does make me feel better about sending high end gear all over the country.
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Until UPS smashes the fuck out of the box to the point where the amp head falls out and then they tell Reverb it was “improperly packaged”, then Reverb refunds you the money they charged you for their “Safe Shipping” guarantee so they can say it’s no longer covered… True story! Their insurance is a joke, they force you to pay extra for it, but then when it comes time to actually try to get them to cover something they’ll refund you the insurance charge, tell you it’s not covered, then try to get you, the seller, to pay for the damaged goods. They can fuck the hell off…
 
Bxlxaxkxe said:
You need to use Shipnerd (or pirateship I think it’s called). I’ve used shipnerd on my last 7 or 8 amp sales. Can fully insure and the prices are like half of what it would be direct through shippers website. It’s amazing
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2nd that on ship nerd. $78 to ship and insure a $3000 Suhr amp from Indiana to the Carolina’s a few months back.
 
napalmdeath said:
Yep. Reverb's definitely a gravy process shipping. Just have to be prepared, and know how to pack. That's half the battle.
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I had the amp on Reverb too but it was eBay where it sold. Have had a pretty decent experience with reverb the last month. Sold three pedals and two speakers, all pretty quickly and shipping label process was easy and their rates were noticeably better than straight with the shipper.
 
I had an early 70s amp pack ship guaranteed for its value through UPS. They put in in the box upside-down and the 4 front bolts could hold the weight of the 45lb amp rattled loose from the weight, bent the front plate, chassis, broke abunch of plastic parts, solder joints, dented transformer, ect.. They didn't give a damn that it was packed upside down or that I had a recording and pics of the box being opened and finding it wrapped and placed in it upside-down. Refused all liability and denied our claims. The best part was the claims guy calling me, telling me I'm a liar, that he's an expert and there was no way the damage could be done from the amp riding upside down. The amp was then packed loosely in the box, on its side causing further warping and cracking to the plexi on the face plate, and shipped back to me from claims.. I refuse to give them a dime of my money ever again. Their insurance is a scam. If any of you have had luck getting paid, good for you.
 
I've had very good luck, in general. (Always double box with combo amps) but recently had an immaculate dark terror that barely survived. I covered the cost out of pocket because the insurance is a scam anyways. Price of doing what we do, I guess.
 
Bxlxaxkxe said:
You need to use Shipnerd (or pirateship I think it’s called). I’ve used shipnerd on my last 7 or 8 amp sales. Can fully insure and the prices are like half of what it would be direct through shippers website. It’s amazing
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They’re two different companies. You won’t have any hidden fees with Pirate Ship
 
If cost was no issue - I’d like to ship any head in an Anvil case and put a prepaid return label inside to ship the empty Anvil back. You’d need to be working with a trustworthy buyer - and it would add to the cost. But this whole online selling and shipping is getting ridiculous.
 
skoora said:
I’d like to tell them you have my support IF, you actually deliver my package without losing, stealing or destroying it. Stoked they’re getting AC vehicles. Long overdue. Hopefully with a cooler workplace they’ll take more care with what’s on the truck. I want to support them but they need to show they’re worthy of it by fulfilling what I paid for.
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Agreed. I wonder though, what UPS's rates will be after the increases go into effect.
 
The last two large items I shipped were horrible experiences. Ups destroyed a new laney 4x12. Destroyed it. Told the dude I shipped it to just to keep it and salvage what he could. He was able to keep 3 v30’s…that’s it. Ups wouldn’t honor the insurance. I sold my vh4 on here. Packed the shit out of it. In addition to plastic wrap and bubble wrap, I sheathed it in 1” foam insulation board. Ups cracked one side of it. Once again ups refused the insurance claim. So fuck ups…fuck them grudgingly…
 
I used the UPS Store several times. Pay thru the nose so they can’t deny the claim. They packed it, broke it in half, and still initially denied the claim. Not kidding. I laughed in their face, cussed a few people out and got paid lol.
 
I worked for ups as a Christmas temp one year in college. I was the poor bastard unloading the tractor trailers. There’s no way for them to be gentle and get the job done. On peak day I unloaded 7.5 trailers in a little over three hours. Your stuff will be thrown and dropped and kicked and stepped on and buried. Pack accordingly to survive that shit.
 
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