I have a set of chairs up right now that I had hoped would go to a local buyer. I've had 4 e-mails this weekend asking how much to ship to CA and Washington state.
I guess the least I could do is find out how much it would cost and if they want to spend the money, its OK with me.
The question is, how do you ship four chairs? These are average weight metal chairs with no arms. They don't stack.
I plan to start by calling Greyhound and a trucking company. I'm also concerned about packaging. I don't really want to get too involved because I don't have a lot of time right now to hunt down boxes and such.
So, if any of you have shipped furniture or large, odd sized items, what worked out the best?
Thank you.
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Do you have a local UPS store? If so, conact them and ask if they offer a packing/crating service.. This might be your best option.
Trucking companies will charge you LTL rate (Less Then Load) but will still be very expensive.
Here's a few freight links where you can get an instant quote from..
http://www.freightquote.com
http://www.freight101.com/
Your trully best bet might be a moving company.. They often handle shipping items without the need to crate them. Give Mayflower (or some other major moving company) a call.
-Jim
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I've found PakMail stores to work great. They package securely and ship them. The local UPS store here doesn't package things that big, and they referred me to the PakMail store and that's where I've gone ever since.
You could also have your buyer work with the PakMail store directly for the shipping charges I've found out. PakMail will take their cc # and charge them. Some PakMails even offer free pickup. If your local one will do that, you'd have the chairs off your hands real quick.
To find a local one, go to their website: www.pakmail.com
Just my two cents worth.
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Please let us know what the range of quotes are as I expect it will be wide.
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Any of you look into peer-to-peer shipping?
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y04/m05/i13/s03
You can hire someone to drive the package for you. They can be unlicensed or licensed depending on your comfort level. I make a monthly trip within my state to buy inventory, so I figure I can make a few extra bucks since I'm going that way anyway.
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Hi.
A few years ago we had a wooden quilt rack up for auction. We ended up cancelling it before it was over because it was to much of a hassle to send, it was to big for fed-ex or anything else. Maybe you could try to sell it on eBay with pickup locally only?
Mel
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Option A: you're packing and taking it to UPS or Fed Ex service counters
- Measure dimensions L/W/H and approx weight for one chair.
- Go to Box Brothers website (http://www.boxbros.com/) and find a box that each will fit in snugly. If you think it needs some packing paper/bubblewrap for cushioning, add about 1" each side
- Take down the box's L/W/H info
- Go to UPS ground website, complete info for one chair (need customer's ZIP & city)
- Go to FedEx website, complete info for one chair
Remember!! If you want to pack it yourself: charge for boxes and packing materials (and time if desired)
Option B: have a Trucking Co. come and pick up:
I've used these 2 trucking co.'s for antique furniture but it doesn't matter if it's new or vintage. Just make sure the customer pays them direct and makes all arrangements with them directly. You should not get involved with the details (read: liability in case of damage/breakage/loss etc)
Make sure you request just to "blanket wrap" (no crating,, no boxing.)
You'll need to supply the height/length/width and approx.weight of each in your requests.
Antique Transport Company (great service and they respond to email quotes within 24 hours!)
Email Quotes: Antiquetransport*cs.com
Philadelphia, Pa.
(215) 844-8330 Tuesday thru Sat. 10-5 ET
Craters & Freighters (more expensive)
website & online quotes: http://www.CratersAndFreighters.com
(253) 854-7622
Fax (253)854-9011
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They may not stack but will they fold together seat to seat? I have shipped eames chairs, goodforms, saarinens, burkes via Fedex as OS3 parcels. The first 2 I managed to get 2 in each box - the last 3 went one to a box.
It's a whole ot easier than messing with greyhound which is the best alternative.
Trucking is hideously expensive.