Shipping cost for 2.3TL's

Bubinga99
Bubinga99 Posts: 283
edited May 2010 in Vintage Speakers
Someone asked me via PM about the shipping costs when I sold my 2nd pair of 2.3TL's to Brock (bsturgeon89) about a month ago, and I figured others might also be interested.

The shipping, packing, and insurance costs vary all over the map depending on several things. The numbers below are for shipping from Phoenix AZ to Findlay, OH. I got an initial quote from the UPS store that was right in that $750 range. The UPS online calculator was about the same. Obviously that's too much to be practical, so the next place we checked was Craters and Freighters ( http://www.cratersandfreighters.com/cf/home.do )

C&F gave me several different quotes, depending on whether it was my packaging or theirs, whether there was damage insurance, and whether they pick them up from the seller and whether the delivery is a residential or business address with a dock.

I had the original factory boxes, and I added about $40 worth of extra styrofoam inside because the factory packaging was pretty weak. So I packed and sealed the 2 boxes, and delivered them to the local Craters and Freighters facility. That cut about $50 off the total cost. C&F can send a truck to pick them up from your house, but there's about a $50 charge for that.

Brock had them delivered to a business address with a loading dock. That also cut about $50 off the total, compared to delivering them to a residential address.

With those two $50 subtractions in mind, the freight charge (from AZ to OH) was $280, but that might be lower than typical. The last quote they emailed me about a week before I brought them in was $360. That might be more typical for this distance.

C&F works with several freight companies, and they put the package out for bid. The actual freight company used was Vitran Express. Sometimes there can be a freight company that has a barely filled truck and it's only a couple days away from shipping, so they bid low to be sure to get the shipment (unfilled truck = lost revenue). So I think there was some lucky timing involved in the $280 amount compared to the previous quote of $360.

I had them wrap the 2 boxes together (driver face to driver face) and then strap them to a pallet. That was included in the $280. Note that C&F would not insure the speakers since I packed them (i.e. as far as they know the speakers could have been damaged when they were packed). They cover them if lost or stolen, but not for damage.

If you want damage insurance, you have to bring them the bare speakers (or unselaed boxes) so they can see the condition. Then they build a custom crate for them, with custom padding inside. That includes damage insurance. The quote they gave me for that was $728. Subtract off about $50 if I delivered the speakers to C&F, and another $50 off if they are delivered to a residential address with a dock.

The local Craters and Freighters people were great to work with. If you have a local C&F facility near the seller I highly recommend them. But if the seller doesn't have the original factory boxes, it's going to be pretty costly to have them build a custom crate and packaging. In other words, the original factory boxes are worth a few hundred bucks!
Post edited by Bubinga99 on

Comments

  • michaeljhsda2
    michaeljhsda2 Posts: 2,186
    edited May 2010
    Great information. Thanks for sharing.
    SDA SRS 2.3TL's
    Silk Audio MS-90-BT integrated tube amp
    Yaqin MS-20L integrated tube amp
    SDA 2B TL's
  • bsturgeon89
    bsturgeon89 Posts: 128
    edited May 2010
    I really don't have much more to add. Dave pretty much described in detail how things went down. He did a great packing job and the speakers arrived unscathed! I'm happy and was lucky that Dave decided to ship those.

    Kudos!!