How do you ship your Ukulele?

Alain Lambert

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 18, 2013
Messages
61
Reaction score
7
Location
Trois-rivieres,Quebec
I am planning putting a ukulele on ebay. As this can result in a buyer in another country or even continent, I am curious as to how builders who sell on ebay pack their ukulele to insure they arrive undamaged. Do you send them by the postal service? Do you take an insurance as well, etc.
Thanks
 
If you don't want to ship overseas you can remove that option in the auction settings. (Overseas shipments are BEYOND delayed thanks to COVID-19.)

Always insure the shipment unless you're ok with possibly losing the instrument AND the money from the sale.
 
I'm not a builder, but I recently shipped three bass ukes. First they all had gig bags. With all the extra paper shopping bags we get now, I crumpled them as stuffing inside the gig bag. I happen to save the boxes I get when I order a uke or bass so I use those and also stuff all around with the shopping bags.

When I brought the box to FedEx, the person said it needs to be in a second box to prevent a sharp object from hitting the instrument, but when I told him it's in a padded gig bag, he said that's good. I have received items in a second box, even when they're in a gig bag. I always insure, especially now with the wonky delivery situation by all the services.

You can state in your listing that you can only ship to North America.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 39)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
I buy high quality hard shell cases. The cases come shipped to me inside a very sturdy cardboard box. The case itself inside the cardboard box is inside a cloth type bag. There is padding all the way around. Basically all the work has been done for you and all you have to do is open everything up and put in the ukulele. I like to place some bubble wrap between the peghead and the top of the case as additional insurance. Where an ukulele can be damaged is at it its most vulnerable point at the peghead to neck connection. If the box was dropped in shipment you do not want the ukulele sliding in the case and the peghead slamming against the top of the case (see Newton's Law: every reaction has an opposite and equal reaction Crunch/Snap) so make it secure and tight. Close. Address. Ship. Pass along costs to buyer.
 
I do a fair amount of eBay selling (and buying). I generally limit my international sales to small, non-breakable (or at least easy to protect) items. I'd be very reluctant to ship something as bulky and fragile as a ukulele to an international destination. Additionally, the shipping charges are ridiculous for anything over a few ounces. If I was you, I'd limit the eBay shipping terms to just Canada, and maybe the USA if you're willing to do a fair amount of extra work.
 
The current situation has made extra firm packaging a necessity. Mail volumes are up (30%higher than previous Christmas peaks according to Australia post) and care being taken appears to be going down. I have just had the misfortune of seeing a photo of a uke I made delivered that looks like someone along the way stepped on it.
Mail to many places is now going by sea and I just got close to finishing a uke for a guy in the Philippines only to find mail services between Australia and the Philippines have been suspended.
 
I hope you're not limiting this to builders.

I'm ashamed to admit that I have a garage full of ukulele shipping boxes and packing material. I figure I'll sell some, and I want to have boxes ready to go. You have several concerns - size, weight, and protection.

Use a sturdy box and lots of packing material around the uke. I prefer those little plastic inflated pillows that are so common in shipping now. Putting extra pieces of cardboard inside the box provides extra protection. An alternative is a box within a box, but that adds size and weight. Tape all the seams with 2" packing tape. Have the buyer's and seller's names and addresses inside the package. Insure it for the full value, and expect shipping to be expensive. Figure $50 to $150, depending on size, weight, and distance. I prefer to have the buyer pay shipping.

Choosing a faster shipping method will have it in the pipeline for a shorter period of time. Buy some "FRAGILE" labels and put them all over the box.

UPS will package it for you - for a price.

If you're shipping the uke inside a case, that's extra protection, but put the necessary padding inside the case so the uke doesn't move around inside.
 
Last edited:
I ship overseas from Australia at least 60% of my instruments.

I had some double layer cardboard boxes made up. All instruments are shipped in a hardshell case. As well the box is packed out with air fill bags.
 
Top Bottom