The Steel Guitar Forum

Shipping costs have just gone up a solid 15% at the post office, UPS, and FEDEX.

Must be due to rising cost of fuel......

Last guitar I shipped via UPS was $124.00 at a local UPS Store....which by the way was about $30.00 higher than the online quote I got?

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I just shipped an s-10 from Chicago to Minnesota. Including insurance and home pickup, the charge was $28.xx. SpeeDee Delivery. Unfortunately, they only operate in a few states.

I did a UPS quote online to ship a D10 to the UK, and it came up as $1,900. It seems pointless so i'm going to drag it in on an aeroplane, to my dis-comfort chaps!

Larry Bressington wrote:I did a UPS quote online to ship a D10 to the UK, and it came up as $1,900. It seems pointless so i'm going to drag it in on an aeroplane, to my dis-comfort chaps!

USPS International Priority is the way to go from the US to the UK. I've used them a lot and they're a lot cheaper than UPS or Fedex, and the customs clearance charges on this end are a lot less as well.

there nare some private company's springing up on the net . They have vans going across the us and will charge only about 1/4 of UPS or anyone.

I notice that a lot of folks in the U.S. don't want to ship to Canada anymore. Wondering what the reason for this is. I send items from Canada to the U.S. and have'nt experienced any problems so far.

Nigel,
I think one of the many problems is the shipping cost.
The US calls shipping to Canada "International" and that drives the cost up.
I cannot justify buying from US companies any longer because of the shipping costs. It just makes the item's end cost being out of this world. It doesn't matter much that said item is a bit less money to buy in the US. Places like Stew Mac - forget it, because of shipping cost.
Add to this frustration, the border costs like HST and not the least, the horrendous brokerage fees they charge
Steadily, I am sourcing my items here in Canada and that's the way it will have to be. Shippers have priced themselves right out of business.

Another thing I have experienced is that USPS/Canada Post operate with different charges for brokerage fees, different minimum cost of item before becoming due for border charges, and also the brokerage fees, because there does seem to be a minimum item cost.
If I insist on receiving the item via USPS/Canada Post I am treated differently than having the same item shipped via one of the couriers.

I know it's pointless to complain, but I just UPS'd an SD-10 to North Carolina from Arizona and it cost $110 insured. He sent me a double neck guitar from the same location and it cost him $174. UPS is clearly the winner in this transaction :/

Everything has been a direct result of steep fuel cost.You can,t even drive anywhere without shelling out every dollar in your wallet.Someday there will be other altenative fuels but for now we are stuck.