Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

[Lewguitar]

Just sold this guitar: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=150202705662&ssPageName=STRK:MESO:IT&ih=005

The buyer is in Germany and wants to know how much shipping will be and what method I'll use! I have no idea!

Can anyone here help me out? UPS? FedEx? USPS? And how about cost?

 

[thucydides]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

The USPS has size restrictions on international shipping. I shipped my Strat from Green Bay WI to Australia for $116 because I could take the neck off. The same distance w/my Hamer (set in neck) would be in the area of $500 through UPS. I'm sure shipping to Germany would be cheaper, I'm mostly comparing the USPS against UPS. BTW, DHL was much higher than UPS. I didn't check w/FedEx.

I bought a flight case (the Clam) from Case Extreme in San Diego, to take an acoustic as check in baggage. Someone at that company told me that the USPS will ship oversize packages. He said he had to get a manager out of a Post Office back room to get it approved. I don't know how valid that statement is. The USPS certainly is cheaper, and a Vintage Guitar magazine poll a few yrs back showed them getting the highest marks for gtr shipping.

 

[Sprinter]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

I ship guitars to Europe all of the time. USPS, is the cheapest way to go, and I've had good luck with them. Shipping to Germany will probably be in the $100 to $125 price range.

Sprinter

 

[thucydides]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

Oversize is ok?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

So I'm getting that I should tell the guy $200 and I'll ship via USPS and refund him the diff between the actual cost and the $200? That's what I'm gonna do. I had a guitar shipped from Japan about 8 years ago...cost me $120 but that was with FedEx. I have a feeling this one's going to be about $150...

 

[martin6string]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

So I'm getting that I should tell the guy $200 and I'll ship via USPS and refund him the diff between the actual cost and the $200? That's what I'm gonna do. I had a guitar shipped from Japan about 8 years ago...cost me $120 but that was with FedEx. I have a feeling this one's going to be about $150...

Lew, you probably already know this, but make sure you ship it either International Priority or Express so that you get package tracking to protect you on the PayPal side of things.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

Here's my advice: don't do it.

It's not worth the amount of complications that could arise from international shipping.

 

[pinto79]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

I've shipped a number of guitars to Europe. It's always more expensive than you think. It cost me $390 to ship a Jackson Rhoads to England.

The best bet is to package it up and take it to the post office for a price.

Shipping internationally is not difficult.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

I would recommend shipping with USPS express mail service (so everything is insured and you get a reliable tracking system).....i've received various items form the US (more than 40 items some of them quite big)with no problems at all.....they are fast and reliable and reasonably priced....

 

[uOpt]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

Be aware that Germany has a pretty high percentage of scams going on. IIRC they don't have confirmed Paypal addresses (neither has France). They do all their internal Ebaying using bank-to-bank transfers which at least commits the payment nicely. In your case you can get payed by Paypal and they can easily pull the money back from their credit-card backed Paypal. Since they don't have confirmed addresses you can't make sure it's not credit card backed unless you go through the trouble of using a Paypal address that doesn't accept credit card backed Paypal.

USPS just got more expensive again IIRC. Myself I'm trying to get some gear out of storage in Germany over here to the U.S. and shipping charges are just insane.

 

[scottish]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

ship it fedex imo. any snafus that have happened when ive shipped stuff internationally, fedex has always bent over backwards to fix. make sure you get the money up front, make sure its insured and make sure you detune the strings and pack it properly and almost 100% you will get it there safely.

in my experience, its been a real pain to deal with usps if anything goes wrong. if the guy bought the guitar and its not a scam then he should be willing to pay the extra little bit to ensure it gets there safely in the best possible condition.

 

[Tor]

Re: Need advice about shipping a guitar to Germany

I've shipped a number of guitars to Europe. It's always more expensive than you think. It cost me $390 to ship a Jackson Rhoads to England.

The best bet is to package it up and take it to the post office for a price.

Shipping internationally is not difficult.

390$ ??

I bought a Parker from New York, and the shipping went for 100$..


I would believe extra precautions have to be made considering this is an acoustic guitar..?