Best way to ship a mandolin to Italy?

[nwmath]

Greetings,
I need to ship my bowl back to Bescia, Italy. It will be in a hard case and well packed in double-walled box. Which is the best carrier: safest and most reliable? USPS Global Express? Fedex?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. Nina

[trebleclef528]

Greetings,
I need to ship my bowl back to Bescia, Italy. It will be in a hard case and well packed in double-walled box. Which is the best carrier: safest and most reliable? USPS Global Express? Fedex?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks. Nina

I've used Fedex many many times and never had a problem. i reckon i've sent well over 100 mandolins to all parts of the world, but as far as i know USPS Global also has a good reputation. Maybe best just to check who offers best price... and double check what the level of insurance cover is (which always seems to be a problem with musical instruments).. but as long as your packing is good, and it sounds like it is, there shouldn't be any problem with damage.

Hope this helps
Ian

[Tavy]

If you work on the assumption that the folks in the sorting office will play football with your package and pack it accordingly... it should be fine

Like Ian, I have a constant battle finding anyone who doesn't exclude instruments from their insurance cover (usually antiques are excluded as well for good measure), but other than that, I just use one of the parcel-brokerage services and hope for the best - no problems so far - but obviously something will happen sometime - we've all seen the horror stories of parcels with truck-tire-marks on them!

[nwmath]

I've used Fedex many many times and never had a problem. i reckon i've sent well over 100 mandolins to all parts of the world, but as far as i know USPS Global also has a good reputation. Maybe best just to check who offers best price... and double check what the level of insurance cover is (which always seems to be a problem with musical instruments).. but as long as your packing is good, and it sounds like it is, there shouldn't be any problem with damage.

Hope this helps
Ian

Yes, thanks so much. Fedex here seemes to cost 3 times that of USPS Global, which made me somewhat suspicious. I hadn't realized I would need to check on insurasnce coverage. Thanks for the heads up. Nina

[nwmath]

If you work on the assumption that the folks in the sorting office will play football with your package and pack it accordingly... it should be fine

Like Ian, I have a constant battle finding anyone who doesn't exclude instruments from their insurance cover (usually antiques are excluded as well for good measure), but other than that, I just use one of the parcel-brokerage services and hope for the best - no problems so far - but obviously something will happen sometime - we've all seen the horror stories of parcels with truck-tire-marks on them!

Thanks, this is helpful. Nina

[Jeff Hildreth]

I'll assume Brescia.

In my experience USPS Global was more reliable and more prone to compensation for damage and loss.

The best way to transport is hand carry on a plane, whether you or a friend.

[nwmath]

I'll assume Brescia.

In my experience USPS Global was more reliable and more prone to compensation for damage and loss.

The best way to transport is hand carry on a plane, whether you or a friend.

Thanks, Jeff. Have you experience with Fabio Bonardi's work? He was recommended by Lorenzo Lippi, who looked at my Pecoraro when I was in Milan last month. I should have left it there, then, in hind sight. But I hadn't gone there with the idea of having it restored.

[Al Bergstein]

My wife worked with UPS and said she would never send an instrument via UPS. She said the trucks can get over 110 degrees in the summer, and freezing in the winter. If I were going to ship overseas, I would pack the instrument in a hard shell case, then pack the case with a deep layer of packing material inside a carboard shipping case, and insure it for full value. A friend had a very expensive flute stolen from UPS last year, when it was shipped from the UK to Seattle. It was stolen in St. Louis apparently in transit.

Also, when I had a custom instrument shipped by UPS a few years ago, it came and developed a crack just after arriving. I couldn't pin it to the shipping heat or cold, but I drove down and back to get it fixed. Luckily it was in Portland only a few hours away.

[Mchiara]

Hi, you can see some of Fabio Bonardi most important restoration works on his website: www.falpius.com .
Have a good day.

mchiara