$390 Shippiing Charge

[Mike Herlihy]

Nice older Gibson Mandola with a $399 shipping charge! Guess UPS raised the rates when shipping from Uranus

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1916-GIBSON-...E:B:SS:US:1123

[Andrew B. Carlson]

Actually, it could be legit. When I bought my KM-1000 from a cafe member in L.A., UPS quoted him $380.00 to ship it to Alberta, Canada. I told him to check with the USPS and they did it for about $90.00 with insurance included. I think it's something to do with UPS pre-filling out customs forms and paying duties. I had to pay about $30.00 duty when I picked up the package at the post office.

[Raggle Taggle]

Obviously this is an error showing UPS international shipping rates to a US destination. It is true that UPS or FedEx absolutely hose international shipping rates with brokerage fees. Mandolins can easily be shipped via USPS certainly to Canada for much cheaper as Andrew describes. There is considerable risk in using USPS however. The maximum insurance allowed is $2k for Canada Post or USPS. You can declare a value of $3.5K or $5K or whatever, but customs will just use that for sales tax. Read the fine print and you will find that $2k is the maximum insurance the postal systems will pay for anything. With the recent post of UPS ground using trains in the US, it seems that for anything worth more than $2K, fully insured air courier, domestic or international, is the only way to go.

[Andrew B. Carlson]

Had I been shipping a mandolin that was worth more than say, $2000.00, I probably would have opted for better insurance.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

$390... and that's just economy shipping. For that much I can probably have someone courier it from Los Angeles to where I am in San Diego

P.S. I know there's an error - just can't help myself.

[mrmando]

That's not a mandola.

[G7MOF]

I'd expect $390 to the UK, although USPS only charge about $85 to the UK.

[Eddie Sheehy]

It ships from Los Angeles.... I'm 50 miles from there and I get the same $390 shipping... also the no-returns raises a flag for me...

[Mike Romkey]

When some people say, "Plus shipping and handling," the really mean it!

[jim simpson]

I spotted a mandolin on Ebay once that was a 1/2 hr. away from me. The seller had a really high ship rate so I asked if local pickup was okay. He responded in a way that indicated he knew what he was doing and changed his listing to a realistic rate.

[allenhopkins]

...when shipping from Uranus...

Not from mine!!

And, watch your language...

[45ACP-GDLF5]

About 4 years ago, I shipped a mandolin from NC to Anchorage, Alaska on Dec. 23. I shipped it Overnight/Next Day and it only cost me $60 with the USPS. It required a signature upon arrival and I tracked it online. It arrived at it's final destination in 12 hours!!!

$390 for shipping is ridiculous UNLESS it is being shipped halfway around the world! From LA to anywhere else in the US should be less than $100...

[dang]

AND HANDLING. What is ambiguous about that? Think it gets from his house to UPS for free??

[Mandobar]

i just got a varnished mandola from collings. they sent it directly to me from austin. overnight is over $300 now, even from here to pittsburgh, but you know what....I waited just shy of a year for the thing. It has been like the deep freeze here in southern maine, plenty of snow on the ground too. My repair guy is in Connecticut, so you know what, out came the credit card and overnight it was. beats taking the chance on a instrument that was over $5k. now if only i could find a calton for it.

[bugl3t]

[QUOTE=Mike Herlihy;1123141]Nice older Gibson Mandola with a $399 shipping charge! Guess UPS raised the rates when shipping from Uranus

I just bought a pretty mint FM53 Fender mandolin with an AXL case for $150 with only $15 to ship it USPS insured to N. Calif from MD. Took a while, but I am happy now that I have it.

[bugl3t]

Generally, ebay sellers either price low & tack on massive shipping or price higher... I got lucky I think. I would never pay $1000s for anything sight unseen. $150 for my FM53 wasn't too great a risk. I almost bought one for $4, but of course, the shipping was over $100.

[j. condino]

$300 is what Fedex freight charges me to ship an upright bass from Asheville, North Carolina to Los Angeles!

j.
www.condino.com

[Paul Statman]

When some people say, "Plus shipping and handling," the really mean it!

Man, that sounds like a lot of handling..