Re: What's the best way to ship a tuba?


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Posted by Max on July 25, 2001 at 12:31:44:

In Reply to: What's the best way to ship a tuba? posted by Maria on July 25, 2001 at 10:42:27:

This may be more than you want to know but...

I have successfully shipped two tubas.

The first was via UPS (scary, I know) from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. I packed it tightly inside the case (with newspapers or something, can't quite remember), then placed everything inside a big cardboard box filled with styrofoam peanuts and sealed with strapping tape. (Folks at the the third MailCenter I talked with were experienced with shipping large expensive items and were real helpful, especially since I was paying extra for packing materials.) The cost to get the horn there in 3 days or so was nearly $250 (including insurance to the hilt) for this 3/4 size horn. Jeez! To protect herself, the buyer in Anchorage did not pay the money to me beforehand. Instead, she gave the money order to the UPS agent after the horn was delivered to her door and after she made sure I hadn't sent her 30 pounds of rocks or something. UPS delivered her money order to me several days later. (They charge only a little extra for this service and it worked for me.)

By the way, I'd be very cautious of sending a horn of mine to a prospective buyer without some sort of theft insurance or other strong security precautions. Probably all would be OK since, ahem, almost but not quite 100% of all tubists are responsible law abiding citizens, but you really want to avoid getting it stolen, smashed, disappeared, etc. Think about the worst that could happen and protect yourself. As much as you can, make it impossible for this to become another tuba shipping horror story.

For the second horn, I flew to Salt Lake City, then drove South Provo, Utah from Austin (using a free flight I had earned) to try out, purchase, and transport it. I paid for it with a bunch of $100 travelers checks because these were safer than cash for me (and my bank didn't charge extra), and the seller was willing to accept them (personal check wouldn't do for him - too much risk from someone he didn't know). I shipped it back to Austin via Southwest Airlines freight service for $80 (one way of course) in the wooden case (no cardboard box this time). Southwest was GREAT - very careful, cordial, helpful, etc.

So that's my story. I guess the moral's are 1) protect yourself and your (perspective) buyer from potential misunderstandings or conflicts before you let the horn out of your sight, and 2) where there's a will there's a way.

Hope this is of some help in your own creative shipping effort!


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