Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I've just bought a '76 4001 and need to organise shipping from Ohio to Australia. Does anyone know if USPS will ship it, despite it being oversized? Does it depend on the postal clerk, or are they pretty tight with the rules? USPS is less than $50, for economy surface, as it's already insured by my credit card. FedEx and UPS don't even start until you get to $250, and that's for air freight, which is a lot extra when I don't mind waiting for economy. Any other cheap options? How can some dealers claim shipping as low as $100? Are they using USPS, or is there something cheaper than UPS/FedEx?

Plenty of down under comment coming right up....

I'm 99.9% sure you'll luck out with USPS, Bails. In my experience they won't touch it! Short of a carrier pigeon the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger, you might struggle. Wonder if sea freight is an option........

$50 economy surface is sea freight (and I don't mind the wait for that price!), but the size limits are specified as the same for air or surface. A bass is only slightly larger than the stated dimensional limit (and nowhere near the maximum weight limit), but is none the less greater than 42" length and 79" combined girth and length. The big question is how strict are they on this*, and if they are really strict, what's the next cheapest option?

*Note: What is the likely effect if the seller says to the Post office that the shipping has already been paid for by me(based on the weight tables on their website), the transaction is over, and he can't take it back home? Will they insist he takes it home again, will they throw it in the trash, will they try to organise another shipper at my cost or will they just accept it and be done with it?

Did you look into DHL? We use them at the lab to send things to Qatar.

www.labwork-bw.com

DHL is the most expensive so far, but I'm still wondering if anyone out there can answer the question about how strict USPS are with their size limits. Is it worth me asking the seller try this, or is just a waste of time?

Getting a claim from USPS is like pulling your fingernails out with a tweezer.

Long & painful. Anf that for domestic US...

Mark, I shipped a 4001 from Houston to Perth. It cost almost $500 via air & I'm in the trade. I had a crate made for it & this brought the weight up to 45kg!! I didn't insure it. It was better than insurance though IMO. I shipped the RM1999 to NY without a crate & the case got speared(we think) by a forklift. The guitar survived & the case was repairable...but, for the cost of a $45 crate this could've been avoided. I used Pack & Send and they used DHL. Shipping cost was US $225 & ins about the same. Shipping using a crate without insurance was about the same & this is what I'd use.
Most companies are very strict with their sizes & weights. Your bass will "cube out" ie it will be charged by volume rather than weight. Sea freight is by far the cheapest but I would ask for it to be crated whatever method you use, it's the best insurance.
email me [email protected] & I'll see if I can help with some contacts.

I don't think USPS will touch it. I was trying to ship something to Turkey earlier this year and I walked in with the box and my buddy behind the counter was just shaking his head....it exceeded their length/width calculations, which I believe is 81" if I remember right.

However, there is good news! We are currently using BAX Global for shipping guitars overseas. Their charges are reasonable, $175-$250. The service is good and the time is good. Their only issue is insurance. BAX Global will only insure stringed instruments for a maximum of $500. If you can live with that, the shipping can save substantial money. We haven't had a damaged instrument so far. So there is an alternative.

From Guitar Den, South Orlando, Florida

Here's my experience: You get what you pay for. The cheapest is not always the best. When you insure an instrument for international trade, there will be duties on the declared value. Remember this cause when you go to pick it up the goverment will have their hand out. These vary from country to country and can be quite costly. For a little extra money I would get a flight case to ship it in and ship with an Air Freight Forwarder like Quantas or Menlo Logistics/UPS Air Freight. You can declare a low value only if you do not want to put a high insurance value on the instrument, this is where the flight case pays off. If you know someone in the military you could have it shipped to an A.P.O. and bypass some of the duties and red tape.

Guitars that I have had shipped surface have taken 3 to 4 months to arrive from the USA to the UK and have often been damaged or completely wrecked during the journey (I am still waiting for one that was shipped over 3 years ago!!!) Whereas guitars sent by air cost 3 times as much but arrive in 7 to 14 days and generally in one piece. Personally I would never ship a guitar by surface again.

Oh, by the way. I am not expecting the $2.5k PRS which has been "missing" for over 3 years to turn up now!

Air Parcel Express (APX): $138.89 USD from Akron, Ohio to Melbourne, Australia.
Transit time 7 days.
The seller 'accidently' wrote the customs declaration out for $107.50 USD, instead of $1,075.00 USD, and upon delivery, I paid a sum total (including duty, GST, clearance, brokerage, landing tax, and all other imaginable fees) of zero dollars, and zero cents. Not sure it will work every time, but this gamble with an unknown carrier certainly paid off!





Yes, it is genuine satin AutumnGlo, and yes, it's from 1976. Akron, Ohio is also pretty close to Canada if you're a good swimmer!

You gotta get past Cleveland first!

Great bass you got there!