is there a preferred shipping method for ukuleles?

rainbow21

rainbow21

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Have to choose a shipping option from the East Coast to California. Thinking that two day is logical choice to balance costs and not leaving it in shipper's hands for too long in heat or cold. Uke is a soprano solid wood in a gig bag.

What company do you use as first choice? What about insuring it? Other thoughts?
 
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rainbow21 said:
Have to choose a shipping option from the East Coast to California. Thinking that two day is logical choice to balance costs and not leaving it in shipper's hands for too long in heat or cold. Uke is a soprano solid wood in a gig bag.

What do you use as first choice? What about insuring it? Other thoughts?
Click to expand...

Absolutely insure it for its value. If something happens and you did not insure it, you are out of luck. Insurance doesn't cost much but it is worth every penny.

I have had a couple of flutes damaged in transit to their new owners and, because I had gotten insurance, all was covered.
 
I prefer USPS with tracking.
I have received and shipped domestically and internationally.
I have had damage using UPS and FedEx.
My opinion only.
 
I like Fedex. The nice thing is that it can be picked up at a Fedex/Kinkos store if the buyer(?) can’t be there when it is delivered. I’ve done that in the past when I didn’t want something sitting on the porch. You can also request a signature if you feel that is needed.

John
 
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I've had deliveries with USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL. I did ship via FedEx from the East coast to California. Due to cost I shipped with 4 day delivery and signature required. At the time, I didn't do much research. But if I were to repeat the exercise would check rates, insurance costs and speed. You're into the hotter weather and would personally prefer quicker due to the heat and humidity. Good luck. Please let us know which way you do wind up going.
 
One piece of advice I got from the lady at my post office was that she would always do 2 day Priority Mail for musical instruments. The weight of packages that go Priority Mail is a lot lower than regular shipping. Handling is supposed to be better also. Less chance of a very heavy item being chucked on top of your ukulele box.

So far, I’ve had got luck with USPS with insurance & tracking.
 
USPS has always been my preference. I’ve shipped and received dozens of stringed instruments, both inside the US and worldwide, without problems.

When items I’ve purchased were shipped USPS, I have never had problems on the receiving end that were not caused by poor packaging on the part of the seller.

I have had problems with damage in transit by both UPS and Fedex....including packages delivered to me on rainy days and left out on the front porch in the pouring rain by Fedex.
 
USPS Priority 2-Day shipping, all the way. Tracking, insurance, and peace of mind are worth whatever extra I pay vs ground or FedEx/UPS.

I think a lot has to do with your local offices. Our UPS driver at work is amazing, the FedEx one not so much, and I’ve asked HMS to send each purchase I’ve made via UPS rather than their standard FedEx as a result.

I have also learned that the local USPS Office won’t deliver the half mile down to us here at work, so I have to go pickup from them. And they aren’t the sharpest team, either, so now all USPS gets sent to my home instead.
 
Why don't you ask the person you are sending it to how they would like to get it? I used to live in a condominium that was gated and FedEx wouldn't deliver to us. UPS would leave packages outside the gate on the sidewalk. USPS had a master key. Who would have known that if they didn't ask first?
 
USPS Express Priority is the fastest, with best treatment of a package. It's a bit more expensive than Priority which may or maynot make it in 2 or 3 days.

I have had good luck with USPS, FedEX, and UPS ground deliveries. Lately, I've been getting the best prices and service from FedEX. 4-days coast-to-coast. Great tracking.

The most important thing is to pack well. I always ship ukes in case. If you are using just a gig bag, double box it.
 
Good information.

Here at our local Post Office, if you put a hold on your mail, it may or may not reach the package/parcel people. After have packages left at my door while we were away, one was a ukulele, I called and asked the PO office why that was happening. He had no idea. I mentioned that I was told the package and mail people didn't communicate with one another. He paused and said that other than Amazon packages, they certainly do show up on each other's delivery information. And he would make sure the carriers and truck got the message.

The UPS truck is filthy and the packages I've been getting are covered in dark dirt.

FedEx seems to be more careful with handling the boxes.
 
I have mostly used Auspost/USPS for shipping Ukes to the USA but have also used FedEx. Never had a problem but then again I’m very OCD when I package an instrument for shipment.
 
rainbow21 said:
Have to choose a shipping option from the East Coast to California. Thinking that two day is logical choice to balance costs and not leaving it in shipper's hands for too long in heat or cold. Uke is a soprano solid wood in a gig bag.

What company do you use as first choice? What about insuring it? Other thoughts?
Click to expand...

I always ship USPS Priority Mail. Go to click N Ship online, and you can print the label and add insurance. You can also go to a USPS site to get the cost ahead of time, based on zip codes, size, and weight. Distance makes a huge difference in the cost. I often use sheets of bubble wrap to wrap around the uke. It's better to have the box a bit larger with more padding than to save money on shipping with a smaller box.

UPS is also very good, but it's almost an hour's drive round trip for me. I've never had a problem with shipping or damage, and I've sold thirty ukes in the past year.

EDIT: Shipping is amazingly fast. For example, three days from Hawaii and Nicaragua. I have a uke in Ohio as of 5:00 AM, and I expect to receive it in NY in a few hours. Amazing!
 
Also be sure to check what the insurance says regarding packaging. UPS can be pretty nasty about paying out insurance if something is not packed at a UPS store, or is not double boxed, and/or photos of the shipping/packaging are not available at the time of the claim. Same holds true for FedEx, etc. I've had good luck shipping and receiving ukes from around the country and world, usually they are in a hard case with some extra padding around the headstock, then the hard case is backed in bubblewrap/peanuts/additional padding in a very thick box. However, I had to submit a claim to UPS for a camera (shipped double boxed but packed by me) and one via FedEx for a monitor (also shipped double boxed with lots of bubble wrap and peanuts), and both times the initial claim was denied and I had to appeal it before getting paid. Each time the outer box looked like someone had played kickball with it.....

Also, be aware that some shipping sones in the US are way more expensive to insure USPS packages than others (parts of California and Texas for example). Ran into that last week when I had to pay twice as much to insure a uke going to California as I had a more expensive uke giong to Washington a few weeks back.
 
Probably depends on where you live.

Mail delivery is not reliable in my area. When I have to mail anything important, I try to go to another town.

What usually works best for me, if I can't be sure of being home to accept a delivery, is FedEx. There are places all over here that can accept delivery and allow me to pick up the package at my convenience, so I don't have to worry about being home, or someone stealing a package left outside my door.

I tried to find a place where I can do the same for UPS, but haven't found an option for that. They're probably out there, but I just haven't found them.
 
As others have said, it can depend on where you live. Also, if coming or going to a location of extreme temperatures (ie: New England in the winter, Florida in the summer, etc.), look for the fastest shipping.
 
Joyful Uke said:
Probably depends on where you live.

Mail delivery is not reliable in my area. When I have to mail anything important, I try to go to another town.

What usually works best for me, if I can't be sure of being home to accept a delivery, is FedEx. There are places all over here that can accept delivery and allow me to pick up the package at my convenience, so I don't have to worry about being home, or someone stealing a package left outside my door.

I tried to find a place where I can do the same for UPS, but haven't found an option for that. They're probably out there, but I just haven't found them.
Click to expand...

Probably wouldn't work for you, but one can arrange for UPS deliveries to your local post office and pick them up there. I used to have a post office box and I did it all of the time as UPS couldn't get through the gate at my condo so they left the packages on the sidewalk. The post office would put a notice in my PO box when a package arrived. But you have to subscribe to the service I believe.
 
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