1920 Gibson A $500 today only needs repair

[Tom Sanderson]

I used hide glue in all the cracks, etc.

[your_diamond]

I used hide glue in all the cracks, etc.

Prefect!

Did they charge you the full $75 for shipping?

[Tom Sanderson]

Yes

[Jeff Mando]

I was born in Flemington, NJ. Home of the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping.

I was just thinking the Lindbergh case doesn't get much press these days....

[your_diamond]

Did they charge you the full $75 for shipping?

Yes

Ouch! Still worth it.

FYI I shipped a mandolin from Boston to Sarasota, Fl. through pirateship.com that cost me $35 and emailed the sender the label (thankfully, he had a working printer). There are a few of these shipping companies cropping up that get you commercial rates. Hope it helps... next time.

[rodeoryan]

Nice! I would love to hear it in action!!!

[Jeff Mando]

Ouch! ...FYI I shipped a mandolin from Boston to Sarasota, Fl. through pirateship.com that cost me $35 and emailed the sender the label (thankfully, he had a working printer). There are a few of these shipping companies cropping up that get you commercial rates. Hope it helps... next time.

FWIW, as an eBay seller for over 20 years, I think it is bad form for the customer to tell the seller what shipper to use or how to run business, in general. I, personally, would never ship an instrument by a company I haven't used, let alone haven't heard of. YMMV.

[your_diamond]

FWIW, as an eBay seller for over 20 years, I think it is bad form for the customer to tell the seller what shipper to use or how to run business, in general. I, personally, would never ship an instrument by a company I haven't used, yet alone haven't heard of. YMMV.

Jeff, I never tell anyone what to do... I suggest. pirateship.com, stamps.com, shippo and several other competing companies have been around for quite some time. It is a way to save on shipping. I googled it, I tried it, I saved 20%. Worked great. Shipping has gotten expensive. I would not suggest it if I didn't try it. I don't make money off these shipping companies but I do save a little on shipping. ...And there was a time when I had never heard of eBay.
Mike

P.S. How do I get my point across without offending anybody? Should I say, It's the next ebay??? It's not, but I think 6 months from now, everybody will be using it/them.

P.P.S. Tom, sorry for hijacking your thread. Love your Gibson!

[Jeff Mando]

Mike, there is a larger issue when dealing with potential buyers, the psychology, if you will. When a customer suggests something I am not comfortable with and I politely refuse, sometimes they push the issue again. To me that action, shows me they could be just as demanding once they receive the item and nitpick condition, price, etc., sometimes asking for a return or a partial refund. I try to circumvent this possibility before it happens. Returns and refunds are a waste of my time -- I'm not Walmart -- I try to describe the item clearly on the front end with good pictures and my description. I can't read someone's mind and know how fussy they are going to be, but I can try to avoid trouble.

I recently lost a $450 eBay sale, because the "buyer" told me to use another shipper -- one I wasn't familiar with. I passed and blocked him as a bidder for future sales. In the above situation, trying to save $40 might cost you the item, if the seller thinks like me.

Thanks for letting me clarify. Sorry to sidetrack the discussion.

[Tom Sanderson]

75.00 was high for shipping, probably about double. I think some sellers inflate shipping to pad their profit margin. I took that into consideration when I made my low ball offer.

[Jeff Mando]

I guess it is a pet peeve of mine from doing mail order for over 45 years, long before eBay and the internet ever existed. There was something called "shipping AND handling." We know what shipping is, but the handling is the cost of boxing, tape, bubble wrap, peanuts, AND YES -- my time packing it. That is time taken away from doing something else. These are all costs in the process. It's not like someone is buying me a free lunch. It is just so I don't lose money by offering shipping as an option.

Nowadays, most buyers DEMAND free shipping, due to seller competition from the internet sales giants. When they actually have to pay for shipping, they do so reluctantly and are very concerned with being overcharged, it seems. The concept of "handling" has completely gone out the window. Most sellers just consider it the cost of doing business and eat it.

I'm old and remember a time when mail order was not the norm and buyers were grateful for the increased opportunity to purchase something not available in their own hometown. And, as a seller, money could be made by offering such a service. Today, we even buy deodorant and razor blades on the internet rather than going to the corner drugstore.

I'll stop short of repeating my prior rants on this forum concerning instrument damage due to poor packing as a result of inexperienced internet sellers. I would like to think instruments are "happier" when they stay in their own hometown, but there is a fine line weighing the benefits of online selection with the risk of instrument damage. I think every responsible seller has to consider this, all the while having the goal of a happy customer.

[Sue Rieter]

This is getting more than a tad off topic, but folks, there is no such thing as "free shipping". It just means the cost is worked into the cost of the item. If I must buy something online, I'd personally rather pay add on shipping. That way, if something is being shipped from New York to New Hampshire, I'm not paying an amount that would have covered shipping to California.

If you're making an offer on something, you can somewhat compensate for this, but if it's a fixed price ....

[rcc56]

Shipping rates have skyrocketed over the past three years. The last time I shipped a mandolin, I was flabbergasted when UPS gave me the total.

And when I shipped an old guitar case from Tennessee to California last year, UPS's cost was over $120 the slow way. And that was for a lightweight, empty case. USPS was a bit cheaper, but still high.

[Richard500]

The last five SGW mandolins this year, from all over to Connecticut, had Fedex shipping charges between less than $10 to $18. Add-on handling, which involved what looked like a fortune in mostly bubblewrap, ranged between 0 and $8. All based on box dimensions, not weight. Of course, no insurance and no tears if one got damaged.
Can’t remember what my costs were on small things from my business, and haven’t shipped lately, but they generally involved insurance and were valuable items. Big things used point to point direct freight, no transfers, which allowed much less fancy crating, but was also surprisingly economical, and safe.

[Timbofood]

Thanks for saving that from the rubbish! It’s one to be played not relegated to the wall or something even less pleasant.