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Shipped a two hander ..... cost $102.01
Ouch !

I recently sold a two hand claymore , boxed it up , and took it to the US Post Office !

By the time I insured it , for $800.00, and paid the "over-sized" rate, I was out $102.01 .... * Gulp *

I'm sure FedEx , or UPS , would have been cheaper ,but I was in a hurry and just couldn't be bothered to go find out !

So beware being the nice guy and putting free shipping in your sale *g* ( at least for these big boy swords :-)

Mac
Was this priority or parcel post?

I recently recieved a sword USPS next day and it cost over $40 (TX to MA). I think the buyer was well aware previous to shipping but he must have figured it into his bottom line price. I guess the other advantage to the next day express service is that it's free if they don't make it on time ;)

Can you break down the cost, as to oversize and insurance?

Insured parcel post may be the way to go if you're not in a hurry. If it doesn't get lost, it will get nationwide about as fast as UPS or FEDEX ground.

I just opted for USPS over FEDEX on a clothing order, just because I know I would miss the truck for signature required. Same cost from the vendor.

I wish I could have saved you the shipping by snagging that and arranging pick-up but finances just sock right now.

Cheers

Glen
Hi Glen

They said the box I shipped it in was 1 1/2 " inches over their normal limit ( I forget the measurement ?)
Here's the breakdown , as shown on the receipt . , Mac

Parcel post - 102.01
Weight - 18lb. 6 oz.
Base rate - 19.58
Services
Insurance - 9.20 (value 800.00)
Surcharges
Over size parcel post - 73.23
Destination - Texas ( from Massachusetts)
Good gosh! 1½" over cost $73 ! Arrrrrggghh!

That is incredible. Live and learn.

Cheers

Glen
Recently I recieved a rather large and heavy sword for review. After I was done with my part I shipped it off to Nathan for a photo-op. The eienstein at the shipping point accidently sent it COD. For some reason Nathan didn't want to shell out $2900.00, so back it came to me.

I then took it back to the shipping point and, wouldn't you know it, their equipment was broken, so no UPS service. I then tried the USPS. There was a $64.00 surcharge because of the item being oversize. Needless to say, no USPS.

At Nathans advice I shipped the sword myself via UPS, using their website. I printed out the shipping label myself, attatched it to the box, and gave it to the first UPS truck I saw. It cost me twelve dollars and change. That's the way I'm going from now on.
Good point about the website Patrick.

My company flip-flops back and forth between FEDEX and UPS so we never know if we're up to date with dedicated equipment. Right now we're set up for FEDEX and have to print the UPS.

Both FEDEX and UPS websites will let you initiate shipments via computer (print labels/request pickup) [note, I think there is a charge for pickups]

Cheers

Glen
Re: Shipped a two hander ..... cost $102.01
Thomas McDonald wrote:
Ouch !

I recently sold a two hand claymore , boxed it up , and took it to the US Post Office !

By the time I insured it , for $800.00, and paid the "over-sized" rate, I was out $102.01 .... * Gulp *

I'm sure FedEx , or UPS , would have been cheaper ,but I was in a hurry and just couldn't be bothered to go find out !

So beware being the nice guy and putting free shipping in your sale *g* ( at least for these big boy swords :-)

Mac


That is so odd. But then again, how big was the box? I always ship my swords in the flatest boxes I can find. The biggest sword I ever sent was a 55" William Wallace sword, about 12 pounds in total with packaging, and there was an oversize charge too. Cost? About $25. I didn't have to insure it for so high though, $800 insurance was probably about $14 by itself.
Well, I've got similar nasty surprises here in Sweden. The Post Office don't deliver packages longer than 1.5 m (5"), which is a bit of a pain in the rear... Until I found out that one can send big packages by the national bus network, and a lot cheaper at that! :)
Yeah, I also found out the hard way that sending anything through the US Post office that is oversized is hugely expensive. $102. Ouch.
FWIW since I've got a lot of experience shipping longer swords... So assume you're mailing a 5 foot sword. The sword is 60 inches, and assume you're packing securely with 4 inches on top and bottom for packing material so you'll need about 68 interior inches. Assume 70 inches external for the box. So you go out and buy some gigantic box to hold it in and also pack securely around it.

So you get a 70 inch tall box that's 12 inches square. So a tall box one foot wide. So the nice USPS person gets out their tape and measures. The base of the box is 48" around, the box is 70" tall. The total is 118. That is considered a "very large package" and you're in for an extra charge.

If you had a box that was 9" x 9" x 68" instead you'd be just a hair under the limit. And a lot cheaper.

So measure around the largest width of the box and add that to the length. FWIW the measurement points are:

More than 84 inches but less than or equal to 108 is a "large package".

Over 108 but less than or equal to 130 is a "very large package".

Over 130 is not shippable via USPS.

I think there might be times when a "large package" gets an extra fee, but I'm not sure. I know the fees get complicated with "very large packages" especially when shipping distances.

The bottom line is to work very hard to keep the package under the 108 inch limit. That's usually not so tough if you're willing to break the box down a bit and rebuild it so that the widest part is a lot smaller. Ironically I've made boxes that were probably a serious pain to ship because of their shape but I kept it under the 108" limit.
I forgot to mention one thing. Often I'll buy boxes from Bugei since I do some custom work for them and they will do me a favor. I've *long* told them that they should consider selling their boxes right off their site (and I don't know if they will or not to the general public if you call). I don't recall the dimensions but they use a custom made box that is double-walled cardboard, long, wide enough for most swords' curvature and "extra stuff", but not that tall. And they have a foam insert pre-cut for the boxes (with a die-cut katana shape inside, but its easy to cut the stuff up and make a different internal shape). The bottom line is that the boxes come in under the dimensional rules by design and they're strong, tough, near bullet-proof, and the sized foam insert makes packing simple. They're not cheap even in bulk -- I looked into it myself. Which is why I keep suggesting they consider selling the boxes for sword lovers.

But anyway, the point for me is that I now build in a pretty significant fee for shipping/handling/etc. with long swords. The boxes end up costing me a lot. But when the sword is easier to pack and you know it is protected *and* the box won't cause incredible charges on the shipping side they are worth every penny.
Well Evan Carter recently shipped me an RMJ Singman tomahawk at a weight of 10lbs all up including packaging and it came to $152 via UPS...now i'm not sure but i havnt shipped any swords from the states in a while but has UPS prices gone sky high. cause for such a small package for my tomahawk it was 3 times what i payed to ship a Hanwei Godfred from Maryland (not to mention this time i got hit by import duties :cry: ), any input as to why shipping has recently taken an uphill climb? :\

i ask cause i was going to use USPS to ship a custom from odin blades but i'd prefer the cheapest method yet still able to have it fully insured...any help on this will be appreciated and sorry if this has de-railed the thread, it seems its on shipping and the extreme pricing so a question dont hurt :lol:.

Cheers,


Robert.B
Oddly enough I've found that shipping swords is generally cheaper by USPS priority than standard (and faster). Seems there are different size and weight criteria (or something). Regardless whenever shipping with USPS have them figure the rate for you using serveral options. Don't just assume that standard shipping is the least expensive rate.
Interesting point, Joe .... I'll be sure and double check my options in the future , and not just assume standard
is the most inexpensive way to go !

Just for comparison .....

The other day I shipped off a Tinker claymore , via USPS, which had an overall length of about 50" inches, with scabbard.
(add another 3" inches, or so , for the box ).
It was sent to Canada, from Massachusetts, with an insured value of $675.00 ( which was the maximum allowed)
Here's the breakdown :

Air Parcel Post - 30.45
Weight - 9 lbs. 1.20oz.
Base Rate - 22.25
Services
Insurance - 820

Total $30.45

Mac




Joe Fults wrote:
Oddly enough I've found that shipping swords is generally cheaper by USPS priority than standard (and faster). Seems there are different size and weight criteria (or something). Regardless whenever shipping with USPS have them figure the rate for you using serveral options. Don't just assume that standard shipping is the least expensive rate.
Robert W. Betten wrote:
Well Evan Carter recently shipped me an RMJ Singman tomahawk at a weight of 10lbs all up including packaging and it came to $152 via UPS...now i'm not sure but i havnt shipped any swords from the states in a while but has UPS prices gone sky high. cause for such a small package for my tomahawk it was 3 times what i payed to ship a Hanwei Godfred from Maryland (not to mention this time i got hit by import duties :cry: ), any input as to why shipping has recently taken an uphill climb? :\

i ask cause i was going to use USPS to ship a custom from odin blades but i'd prefer the cheapest method yet still able to have it fully insured...any help on this will be appreciated and sorry if this has de-railed the thread, it seems its on shipping and the extreme pricing so a question dont hurt :lol:.

Cheers,


Robert.B


Now wait a minute, Robert. You're telling us it cost $152 to ship that little hatchet? Is that US or AUS? Who paid?
thats US dollars and Evan and me split the shipping (which i cant thank him enough for) as it increased what was estimated by a lot!!! :eek: we were really supprised by it costing that much and considering it fit into a PVC pistol box which then had an external cardboard box but hell $152 to ship a tomahawk, Native american flute and a copy of Shotgun News is rediculous. it was insured at USD$500 but i still cant believe the price, as said the chen godfred i shipped and it came to a total of $74 fully insured via UPS Expedited..

but in the end what can ya do, i had to get it here some how :eek: *thinks about scary shipping fee for large odin blade*
Quote:
You're telling us it cost $152 to ship that little hatchet?

You can imagine my surprise when the lady at the counter told me the cost! :eek:

I was thinking something along the lines of $40.00, no big deal. I actually came back home and emailed Robert, telling him about it and verified that he still wanted the 'hawk. I also went to the UPS website and calculated the shipping cost, rounding the measurements up to the next inch (it was kind of a non-standard box) and it came out to something a little over $200.00. I had emailed UPS and asked why it cost so much (and of course I got no reply). Asked the lady at the counter and she really had no idea (her answer was that "it had to be flown and that's really expensive"). Gee, really???
Robert W. Betten wrote:
thats US dollars and Evan and me split the shipping (which i cant thank him enough for) as it increased what was estimated by a lot!!! :eek: we were really supprised by it costing that much and considering it fit into a PVC pistol box which then had an external cardboard box but hell $152 to ship a tomahawk, Native american flute and a copy of Shotgun News is rediculous. it was insured at USD$500 but i still cant believe the price, as said the chen godfred i shipped and it came to a total of $74 fully insured via UPS Expedited..

but in the end what can ya do, i had to get it here some how :eek: *thinks about scary shipping fee for large odin blade*


Now wait a second, Robert. A little bit above, you said the shipping on the hawk cost three times what it cost to ship the Chen sword. Now your telling us it was twice as much.
Evan Carter wrote:
Quote:
You're telling us it cost $152 to ship that little hatchet?

You can imagine my surprise when the lady at the counter told me the cost! :eek:

I was thinking something along the lines of $40.00, no big deal. I actually came back home and emailed Robert, telling him about it and verified that he still wanted the 'hawk. I also went to the UPS website and calculated the shipping cost, rounding the measurements up to the next inch (it was kind of a non-standard box) and it came out to something a little over $200.00. I had emailed UPS and asked why it cost so much (and of course I got no reply). Asked the lady at the counter and she really had no idea (her answer was that "it had to be flown and that's really expensive"). Gee, really???


Something's just not right here.

You're telling me if I want to ship a 10 lb fruitcake to a friend in Australia, it's going to cost me well above $100?

You're saying the figure you got at the site was over $200 for UPS, but Robert is saying the UPS fee was $152. Am I missing something here?

Does this have something to do with it being a weapon?

Just how "non-standard" was that box.

How much did the weight factor in (the hawk itself can't weigh more than a couple of pounds [I hope]).
Quote:
You're saying the figure you got at the site was over $200 for UPS, but Robert is saying the UPS fee was $152. Am I missing something here?

The original estimate (which I did on the website with "approximate" measurements) came out to over $200.00. After getting the exact measurements, it was estimated at $158.00. At the time of shipment, the cost was $152.00. There was something on the website about "size vs. weight" which I did not fully understand and I had thought that this may have had something to do with the cost. They offered a formula for figuring it out, but I couldn't really figure it out either (I've never been the coldest beer in the fridge). When I actually sent it, the gal stated something about a certain fee (I want to say "hardship", but I don't think that's the right word), but did not say how much that fee was in the total cost. I'm still waiting for an answer to that one.

As a side note, I emailed a copy of the invoice and way-bill to Robert to show that I was not "padding" the cost at all.

Quote:
Does this have something to do with it being a weapon?

As far as I know, no. I emailed UPS (the one and only response I ever got back) and requested a list of restricted items and nothing in the package entailed any of those (alcohol, furs, etc.).

Quote:
Just how "non-standard" was that box.

It was about 2' long, 1'5" tall, and about 1' wide. I think that if the box was smaller, it may have been less, but I'm not quite sure. Robert may be able to answer that better than I. There was really no room between the walls of the box and the case containing the items, perhaps a couple of inches on one side.

Quote:
How much did the weight factor in

The gun case I sent it in weighed, perhaps 2-3 pounds. The hawk, I'm not quite sure, maybe 3, with the other items and padding, 10 pounds.

I guess if there was a plus side to this, the 'hawk traveled twice across the U.S. and landed in Australia in just over a week's time.

I've been racking my brain to see if there was a cheaper way to do this, but have had no luck. I thought UPS was the better way to go international, perhaps I was wrong. :(
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