What is the cheapest reliable method to ship a uke? I've never done this before. Is it UPS Ground? If so, it would cost around $140 to ship to HI (as estimated on the UPS website).. that's around the same as my selling price!
yep, seconding Jane. USPS Priority the way to go!!!When I've shipped to HI I've gone with USPS, for the reasons you stated. It's around $30-$35 (including insurance) for priority mail.
UPS uses something called dimensional weight, a rather oxymoronical device that basically says that, as a box gets bigger, we make some assumptions about what it ought to weigh, and charge you accordingly. That means a box with a uke and appropropriate packing materials which might weigh 7 or 8 pounds is charged as if it weights about 30 pounds. USPS doesn't do this; for most parcel mail, they have size limits, but within those limits, they charge based on weight. USPS also offers several options, including Parcel Post, which can be very cheap, but also can take weeks.
Use a USPS Large Flat Rate Box. They have two shapes for the large one. Its called a Game Board USPS Large Flat Rate box. Printed out a label for just under 15. The cheapest way, I have found to ship them.
I think I'll probably use this one. Am I correct to assume insurance is a must?
I agree with all posters who suggested USPS Priority Mail. We've gotten several ukes from west coast to east coast in only two days by that method.
Most ukes I receive from individuals are in boxes fashioned for the uke from larger boxes. It's got to be big enough to have a lot of peanuts/bubblewrap/crumpled newspaper to protect it if it's dropped or badly dinged. This may mean your box is a little bigger than the standard USPS "large flat-rate" measurement, but you want to cushion the uke very well.