Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I sold a bass case to a gent in Australia, and when getting shipping prices today, was STUNNED. UPS and FEDEX BOTH want $334 to ship an empty case to Austraila! WTF?
Apparently the size of the mostly empty box causes them to make the weight 31 lbs. instead of the actual 14 lbs. and therefore more expensive.
I was figuring maybe $150 for shipping....am I just daft or am I missing a method of getting it there cheaper?

Steve, was that by cheapest international rate? IIRC there are at least three different levels of FedEx international shipping, maybe even four (at least, there used to be).

It's a bit funny, I've had both Rickenbackers and Waterstones sent to me . Whilst they were not in a case they were in a dirty great big box and I never paid more than $120usd.
It does seem to matter who you deal with at the desk.... I'm not sure how to help as it seems such a random thing when they set the price.
I'm eyeing Jeff Thomas's 4004c1 but I suspect that the postage will hurt too much...

Eden.

Steve, $350 is probably right for standard air freight/parcel service, and a bass case (and many guitar cases) will exceed the USPS/Aus Post size restrictions. This deemed weight business is a total pain. You probably need to go through every alternative service to find the best rate, which is the last thing a rep wants to do.

As a last resort you could try surface and put the ship back into shipping?

Try the USPS. I'm not sure about size restrictions to Oz, but I've found them to be around 1/3 the price of FedEx and UPS for domestic and European shipping.

weemac wrote: I'm eyeing Jeff Thomas's 4004c1 but I suspect that the postage will hurt too much...

Yay! That makes one of you! A little over two hours to go and no bids yet!

USPS won't touch it, I already tried. Not only does it exceed their 42" length restriction for shipping to Australia, it also exceeds their length + depth + width calculations, which I had explained to me very carefully by the woman at the desk.
I tried the counter AND 1-800 numbers for both UPS and FedEx, and both of them came back to me with the same shine-ola.

Eden, buy the bass, get with Steve and put it in the case, hook up with the case owner and share the shipping.

johnallg wrote:Eden, buy the bass, get with Steve and put it in the case, hook up with the case owner and share the shipping.

HA! I like the way you think, John!

Steve: Are you using a small box; like a RIC case sized box, or a something big like a bike box? I didn't have any problems shipping my Jazz bass in a pretty tight fitting box to Austria a few months ago. I mean, I know that's not quite the same but...

weemac wrote:It's a bit funny, I've had both Rickenbackers and Waterstones sent to me . Whilst they were not in a case they were in a dirty great big box and I never paid more than $120usd.

I was one of those shipments, USPS Global Priority. The box was a Uline box for guitars, 50"x20"x8" unloaded. A little pooching out of the box once loaded. It was greater than USPS specs on-line, but they still shipped it and Eden got it...it was still in one piece by then, right???

The box dimensions are 49" x 6" x 15", and the case fits right snug in it. It is a Stingray case. Still have not shipped it. The owner wants me to hold it until September until he comes to the States and have me send it to him then.
Amazing what people have to do because of these shipping fools at UPS and FedEx.