Another rod shipping question

[smirkplug]

Now that i have 2-3 of every rod i have wanted over the years and have never gotten rid of any, im faced with ebaying the old to make room for the new !! (You guys were very helpful in helping me decide to ship in p.v.c.) Im now faced with who will ship these rods at fair prices around the U.S.A. and even places like Japan, Europe, etc ! From 9' one piece saltwater jig sticks, to breakdown backpack rods, i would like any suggestions on how you guys have handled this confusing problem with becoming a shipping agent yourselves ?? all suggestions are helpful as im way in the dark.

[CrazyFish]

You lost me when you said "fair prices". Good Luck!

[rodtrader]

Hold onto your pants, your about to lose them. Shipping companies calculate price based on the amount of space your package will take up in a shipping container. The length/weight ratio of lengthy rod tubes trip a formula called "dim weight". The shipping companies computer rationalizes the extreme length to light weight by figuring the package is a large empty box of equal proportions and calculates the space needed to ship it within a container. So even though a rod tube takes up very little space when vertical your paying for 6,7,8 or 9 feet of horizontal space.

Back to your question : I once packaged a blank in a 7 foot cardboard tube and took it to the three major carriers, FedEx ground, UPS and the U.S. Postal service. I requested a price to ship it to an address on the other side of the country, Seattle Washington, at each shipper.

UPS wasn't even in the ballpark. They were 8 dollars more than the other two. The U.S mail had the lower price but you had to pay extra for insurance, tracking number, signature upon delivery, ect...

FedEX ground turned out to be the best deal because they cover the insurance on the first 150.00 and they give a free tracking number.

In real life situations the U.S. mail has the fastest delivery times.

Of course, every situation is going to be different but I hope this helps.

[Mattman]

One thing I'd like to add to rodtraders observations, which are similar to mine...

While USPS is the cheapest...forget package tracking, even when you do pay for it. And forget damage claims. Absolutely hands down the most painful experience you'll have. I won't even consider USPS any longer.

FedEx...great tracking, poor service. I have more damage from FedEx with fewer shipments. And while I have always been taken care of, it could have been less painful.

UPS...a little spendy, but the best shipper in my opinion. Fewer damage claims, spot on tracking, damage claim service is excellent. I ship UPS almost exclusively.

[itchy]

fedex is cheapest for builder and sellers to send with when you factor in insurance.

*Warning* if you do not have insurance on the item when shipping via USPS its just plain to bad when it comes times to put in a claim.

If you are lucky you will get a "sorry" about your package being lost and nothing else.

If your unlucky you will just get a NEXT.. called in your face LOL.

Signature confirmation means nothing also if theres no signature and the pacakage is lost they are still not resposible. So forget about every other extra service they offer its a waste of money. All you need is insurance.

I also notice alot of companies I order blanks and rods from either ship USPS or Fedex Im pretty sure they ship alot more than stuff than us so they would not be using one or the other if there was a major consistant problem with either of them.

I would go with one of these but again make sure you have enough insurance on the package or be assed out when they lose or damage a package.

[smirkplug]

I talked to a clerk from u.p.s. and they quoted $102.00 for shipping to japan !!! Was that a misquote ? At the U.S. post office they claimed they will not send anything over 60 inches at all anymore, is that true ?

[itchy]

I talked to a clerk from u.p.s. and they quoted $102.00 for shipping to japan !!! Was that a misquote ? At the U.S. post office they claimed they will not send anything over 60 inches at all anymore, is that true ?

UPS is expensive and overseas is just plain expensive remember those are Via Air packages so you are like paying 2 day or 3 day air prices.

In the case of the post office not taking big packages anymore I think thats bull many times I have gone to different post offices and they all claimed different rules. Once I recited the rules and asked for the supervisor. They suddenly learned how to open up the manual and saw that my tube was within there limits. Two times the supervisor didnt even know what the limits were and just said that tube is to long until i forced them to measure it.

Here are the size limits for a large package.

PackageWeight cannot exceed 70 pounds.

Length + girth (distance around the thickest part of the package) cannot exceed 108 inches. (Parcel Post cannot exceed 130 inches.)

Heres a tip for shipping rods with USPS.

If you are shipping a 6'6" or less you can stay under 84" with lenth and girth if you use a thin tube you will pay something like 12 bucks to ship it with insurance via priority if I remember right. After 84" the price really jumps.

[shfishinsticks]

Using USPS:

2 weeks ago, I sent 2-7' finished rods to a customer in NY. 3" cardboard tube, $300 insurance and no tracking #....cost me $18.95?!?!

Last week, I sent 2-7' blanks back to AmTak in Florida. 1" PVC tube, $150 insurance, and tracking #....cost me $8.90

I'm still trying to figure out the difference. I think it was a combination of the heavy cardboard and the extra insurance.

I'll NEVER ship in cardboard again. Customer said the tube was twisted and unwrapping when he got it. No damage to the rods though. Why is it when I receive blanks in cardboard, there's never an issue, but when I ship in cardboard, it gets destroyed?

[CrazyFish]

I'll never use cardboard tubes for shipping, nor will I buy from a supplier that uses cardboard for shipping. No less than 50% of those shipments arrive damaged, regardless of who is used for the shipping.

[gat0r]

This might be a real dumb question. Where do you get the PVC or Cardboard tubes from? A friend is starting up a business and said the product he intends to ship would fit perfect in the tubes rods are shipped in. It's unrelated to fishing but he's a fish head that thought it would work for him. I guess he's looking for a low cost supplier of the tubes themselves since he expects a large volume. Didn't know if some of you had been down that path already. Thanks.

[CrazyFish]

I generally pick my tubes up from Lowe's or Home Depot and I NEVER ship in cardboard tubes. I just cut the tubes to the length needed, cap and ship.

[smirkplug]

Thanks guys, ive been using 3 inch solid irrigation pipe from homer depot, then stuffed newspaper and heavy duct tape,, but im changing to caps and a screw end to save trouble and give some value to my rods. Im still afraid to use the perforated pipe because im afraid to csratch the rods.