So, are you trying to sell guitars on eBay or any other platform to make a living? One of the most significant issues you will face is shipping. Shipping can be quite expensive.
Some customers just aren’t willing to pay such high prices for shipping. Thus, this could lead to a massive drop in sales. So, how much money does it cost to ship a guitar? Depending on several different factors, the price is likely to change.
As such, we want you to fully know just how much money you need to spend on shipping guitars. And some ways to save a few bucks when doing so.
So, let’s go ahead and learn just how much it costs to ship guitars. Make sure to read from top to bottom for more details!
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How Much Does it Cost to Ship a Guitar?
Before moving any further, we need to understand just what makes the shipping price go up.
If we don’t take these things into account, we might end up with incredibly expensive shipping prices. This can be inconvenient if you’re trying to sell for cheap. Here are the main things you will need to keep in mind:
- Where do you want to ship your guitar? Couriers always ask where you want your guitar to be delivered to. Shipping within the US tends to be quite cheap compared to shipping internationally.
- How heavy is the package you’re trying to ship? Weight is the number one thing that couriers ask when trying to export a guitar. Depending on the weight of the item, the price could go up or down.
- What courier are you using for your package? All couriers have different prices as well as separate services. So, you might want to do some research if you want to find the best one for you.
- When do you need it to be delivered? Couriers services tend to get expensive when you need them to deliver your package as soon as possible.
Those three factors will determine the final price for the shipping. After those factors are taken into account, the average price should be about $100 for the shipping.
But for more information on how much shipping a guitar would cost, you could ask your courier, or go to their website and use their calculator. Most couriers do have a calculator for anybody to use.
Costs of Shipping a Guitar Using a Courier
There are hundreds of couriers out there that you could use. Although not all of them ship guitars. Using the right courier service is the most important thing you should keep in mind.
As such, we’ve gathered the most reliable couriers just so you won’t end up with your guitar missing or anything like that.
So, let’s have a look at those popular couriers and how much money you should expect to pay for them:
UPS
Out of all the ones we’ve tried so far, UPS has been the most truth-worthy and reliable. They have a nicely-built website with a calculator that you can use to get an estimated price for the shipping.
For the most part, you should expect to pay a whopping $100 and even up to $150 using their reliable services.
Keep in mind that this number is very likely to change. You might get an $80 bill or a $200 bill. So, it’s always best to use the calculator they have on their website. Or, you could ask them directly through E-mail.
If you don’t know what to expect from using the calculator, here is what they tend to ask you:
- Currency depending on where you are
- Where do you want to ship your guitar from?
- Where do you need the guitar to be delivered?
- When do you need to start shipping your guitar?
- When do you want the guitar to be delivered?
After you’ve provided them with enough information, they will show you quite a few options just so you can specify where you want it to be delivered as well as the total price.
Ship Guitars
The name kind of gives it away. Ship Guitars is a service exclusively made to ship guitars internationally and within the US.
Ship Guitars does business with UPS. Because of that, everything is shipped through UPS. They have a self-intuitive website where you can see just how much money you need to spend for the shipping.
Down below, you can find the tools that this website has to offer:
- You can schedule and set up the shipping through their website
- If you need to print and attach your shipping labels, you can do so with them
- You simply need to schedule a pick-up, and they’ll take care of the rest
The average price that you should expect from using Ship Guitars is roughly $150. Although, depending on some other factors, you might see that number go up slightly.
USPS
You’ve probably seen this one before. Although often mistaken for UPS, they are two different courier services. Out of all these three shipping services—this is the cheapest one we’ve found so far.
Just like the others, they also have an online calculator that you can use to find out just how much money you will spend for shipping. Here is what they first ask you when you use their calculator:
- Where do you want to ship it from?
- Where do you want to ship it to?
- Just when do you need to ship it?
- When do you want it to be delivered?
After you’ve answered all those questions, you should get the final price for the shipping. Just so you have an idea, we’ve found that a 41” X 15.75” X 5” guitar should cost about $60 for it to be delivered in 3 days.
DIY Guide: How to Ship a Guitar
Shipping a guitar can be quite overwhelming if you have never sent anything before. Although this process has gotten a lot easier over the past few years, you must follow some rules for better results.
You might even be able to lower the shipping price if you manage to wrap it up properly. So, let’s go over those steps and find out what we need to do!
Things You’ll Need
Shipping a guitar on your own is quite easy as long as you gather the right tools. All the things that we’ll be using throughout the rest of the tutorial are quite easy to get.
So, it’s not like we’ll have you go to several different stores just to get a few items. Here is what you need:
- Packing peanuts to fill up the rest of the box so the guitar won’t get damaged
- A box to put the guitar in (we’ll go in-depth about the right box you need)
- Tape to seal the package
Once you’ve gathered these items, then you can start following the following steps:
01. Choose a Box
As you might know by now, we need to store the guitar somewhere. We also need to get a specific size for the box, so it falls under regular priority mail rules. Here is what you need for that to happen:
- These boxes can be found at local guitar centers. So, go to your local guitar center and get one. Most of the time, they’ll charge you for it. But if they’re nice enough you might get one for free!
- The box must be 84 inches for it to fall under the proper headlines.
- Make sure you choose a sturdy box. We’ve seen some horrible things happen to our guitars when not shipped correctly. So, make sure you take the time needed to ship successfully.
Once you have found the right box, let’s move on to packing and how to do it properly without having to worry about inadequate padding.
02. Wrap The Box Up
Before putting the guitar inside the box, we first need to wrap it up using bubble wraps. The idea behind using bubble wraps is to protect the guitar from suffering any damage and stopping dust from getting into it.
To wrap up your guitar, here is what you need to do:
- Grab the bubble wraps and lay it out on the floor, or whatever surface you’re working on
- We recommend using the bigger ones for better results
- Once you’ve done that, you want to fold the guitar with the bubble wraps one by one
- You must make sure that you tape the guitar tightly
- Do not leave any parts of your guitar exposed
So, now that we’ve wrapped it up, let’s move on to the next step and find out what we need to do from here.
03. Place the Guitar Inside
So far, we’ve only wrapped up the box, but now we need to place it inside the box we just got. But we need to do it carefully so the guitar won’t break. To do that, here is what you need to do:
- Carefully grab the guitar and put it inside the box
- As you put it inside the box, make sure you do it slowly. Otherwise, you might drop the guitar, and it might break if you do so
We’ve now successfully put the guitar inside the box. But we simply can’t leave it like that. Right now, there is much space inside the box. The guitar could move around and possibly break.
If you’re having trouble trying to figure this out, we strongly recommend watching this video:
04. Fill up the Box
You can’t just leave your guitar without filling it up. If you don’t fill it up, the person you’re sending the guitar might not get the guitar in good shape. To prevent that from happening, here is what you need to do:
- Get some packing peanuts to fill up the rest of the box. However, if you don’t have packing peanuts feel free to use newspapers instead
- Make sure you fill-up the box with the packing peanuts. Doing so will create a stable and safe environment for the guitar. So, no need to worry about your guitar arriving in poor shape!
- Now you want to close up the box and seal it
- If you want to make sure that everything has been sealed properly, try to shake the box slightly. Do not apply too much pressure. All you want from doing this is to make sure that the guitar does not move around
And now, you have successfully sealed your box. It is as simple as it can get. As long as you gather the right materials, your guitar should be in good shape after it has been shipped to the customer’s address.
Alternatively, if you’re more of a visual learner, you could give this video a try:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Even after going through all those steps, you might have some questions that were not adequately covered throughout this article. As such, you might find them in this section.
How much it costs to ship a guitar USPS?
Figuring out how much money you’re going to spend for shipping depends on the dimensions of the guitar and how heavy it is.
For example, a 41” X 15.75” X 5” guitar being shipped from Miami to New York should be about $60. Although, you can always use their calculator to find out just how much money you need to spend.
What is the most affordable way to ship a guitar?
The best and cheapest way to ship a guitar is to go to a local guitar center and ask for a guitar box. If you’re lucky enough, they might give it to you for free.
Now all you need to do is to fill it up with packing peanuts and then ship it using USPS.
Conclusion
So, how much does it cost to ship a guitar? If you ever have that questions again, you already know what you should take into account when trying to ship a guitar.
Although it is hard to get a rough estimate of how much money you will have to spend on shipping, there are hundreds of tools out there to help you out.
You also know just what you need to keep in mind to ship guitars across the US. Now, you can safely ship your guitars and know just how much money it costs!
