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Topic: Do old Valco lap steels weigh over 40 pounds? |
Todd Weger
From:
Safety Harbor, FLAUSA
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Posted 22 Apr 2006 11:01 am |
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The reason I ask is the $50 shipping charge this seller is asking.
Auction on eBay.
Maybe it's me, but I shipped a lap steel a few months ago, and in a box with about 6 inches of packing bubble strip around it on all sides, it went for about $17 (and insured for $300). This was from Florida to New York.
Maybe shipping costs have tripled since fuel prices have gone so high?
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Todd James Weger --
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, A6, B11); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, B11/A6); Regal resonator (C6); 1938 Epiphone Electar (A6); assorted ukuleles; upright bass
[This message was edited by Brad Bechtel on 22 April 2006 at 01:55 PM.] |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 22 Apr 2006 11:09 am
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| You are correct. Some sellers make extra money on the shipping. |
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Colin Brooks
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Posted 22 Apr 2006 1:54 pm
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| I had a really nice Supro and case shipped by air from New York State all the way to the UK for $56 a few weeks ago. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 22 Apr 2006 2:22 pm
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Some sellers have UPS box the guitar, and charge the buyer for that service. That's an extra $25 to $40, and is a total rip off IMHO. It's just laziness or inexperience on the part of the seller.
Some sellers charge a crazy high flat fee. In cases like this I email the seller and ask them why the shipping charge is 3 times what it should be? I also point out to the seller that a lap steel guitar may be shipped anywhere in the USA for less than $20. They usually have some flimsy excuse about packing costs, additional shipping fees, insurance, etc. Sometimes I tell a seller that their high shipping fee inhibits bidding, and is working against them. In any event, I would never pay market value for a lap steel if the seller charged $50 for shipping.
My worst eBay shipping experience: I bought a lap steel in "excellent condition" and the seller charged me $47 overnight shipping! I did not want overnight shipping. The normal 2 or 3 day shipping would have been fine. The seller was only 300 miles away from me. He insisted on the $47 overnight shipping charge, so I paid the $47 shipping/total using PayPal. He did not ship the guitar for over 2 weeks! He would not answer my emails. I had to contact eBay and get his phone number, call him, and his wife mumbled something about how busy they had been lately. 10 days after my phone call the guitar arrived… That was a shipping rip off. If I had not called those people they probably wouldn't have shipped the guitar at all. And the guitar was not in excellent condition. The MOTS finish was entirely peeled off on one side, rust on the hardware, etc. That seller was eventually kicked off of eBay.
98% of my eBay experiences have been excellent however, and I think the system works well if buyers are careful and knowledgeable about what they are buying.
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My Site | My SteelTab[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 22 April 2006 at 03:36 PM.] |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 23 Apr 2006 4:42 am
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This is just my 2 cents on this topic...
As an Ebay seller of lapsteels, I charge a flat fee. But I call it "Shipping and Handling." It takes me at least an hour to pack a steel, Address the box, fill out a UPS shipping form. Drive down to the UPS store, ship it and drive home. (Not to mention the cost of gasoline, and bubble wrap, tape, styrofoam peanuts etc.) My time is worth something? no? Oh yeah, Ebay and Paypal then charge me fees for listing, photos, final value and Paypal seller fees.
Now that I think of it, I need to raise my "handling fee"
I enjoy building the steels, it's a labor of love, but the shipping is a pain sometimes. Sincerely;
Dom Franco
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George Manno
From:
chicago
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Posted 23 Apr 2006 5:42 am
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I purchased this same exact model from Elderly last summer$150.oo plus $15 shipping.
It arrived insured, doubled-boxed with bubble wrap and peanuts.
It is obvious that some people are in the business of serving their customers and not filling the pockets with a little something extra.
For $50, there ought to be a Twin Reverb in the box with the guitar. |
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Ben Jones
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 23 Apr 2006 6:57 am
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| ebay is gettn ridiculous. I left a tuner over at my teachers house. He joked that he was gonna sell it on ebay. I told him the way ebay was these days he'd be doin me a favor. sell it for three times what its worth and charge double whats it worth for shipping. i could then buy five new tuners. |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 23 Apr 2006 9:22 am
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REMOVED
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 28 Feb 2011 3:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Derrick Mau
From:
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 23 Apr 2006 10:18 am
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| Quote: |
| a lap steel guitar may be shipped anywhere in the USA for less than $20. |
That's only if it's within the continental US, not to include Hawaii or Alaska.
The shipping cost to Hawaii and Alaska is more.
Also, for less than $20.00, it will be sent USPS Ground or Parcel Post, the slowest shipping available.
Todd, I would e-mail the seller in this case as he never mentions what method of shipping he'll be using. It could be a quoted price for overnight Express Mail, which is why his shipping quote is so high.
The seller must have recently made adjustments to his ad since you read it; it now says he has a new shipping rate for $20.00
I also would like to say that styrofoam peanuts are not a good thing to use when shipping steel guitars or amps. Why? Because they tend to shift during shipping leaving other parts of the instrument exposed to potential damage.
The scary thing about buying through E-Bay is that the majority of sellers don't know the first thing about proper packaging.
When your amp or steel comes to your doorstep damaged, the post office will refuse to be responsible even if you have insured it, and put the blame on the seller for improper packaging.
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Ron Bednar
From:
Rancho Cordova, California, USA
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Posted 23 Apr 2006 11:47 am
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I wrote to the guy and asked why the shipping was so high. I told him the guitar could be shipped for $20 via US Postal Priority. He wrote back and said he would be happy to ship for $20.
Sometimes it pays just to take the time and ask rather than assume.
Cheers, Ron |
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Todd Weger
From:
Safety Harbor, FLAUSA
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Posted 24 Apr 2006 1:07 pm
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| Quote: |
| The seller must have recently made adjustments to his ad since you read it; it now says he has a new shipping rate for $20.00 |
Cool! I had emailed him too, and asked why the high s/h cost. Ron did too, and he may have gotten even more asking that, since he did come down. I basically just said that I'd love to bid on it, but just couldn't with $50 s/h charge.
TJW |
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Ron Bednar
From:
Rancho Cordova, California, USA
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Posted 24 Apr 2006 4:57 pm
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It's all yours Todd, I'm not bidding on it!
Cheers, Ron |
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