I am learning a lot about the 1968-72 Cutlass and 442s as I buy cars for their parts. With each car I learn more about how they are built as I take them apart, but I am also learning about shipping as I sale off the parts I am not using for my own cars.

Please add to this forum by telling us what you have shipped and how you went about shipping it. What worked best for you and what didn't work so well?

I have learned some of what I know from members here, and some of it came through trail and error. It is not all-inclusive, and there may be better ways of doing this. If you have a better idea, please share it with us.

This is what I have learned thus far:

1. FEDEX has a box designed for shipping golf club bags and it works perfect for shipping a center console.
a. This box cost $10.95 at FEDEX
b. The same box is available at U-Haul for $5.95
c. Shipping a center console via FEDEX ran $49.00 with tracking,
Insurance and signature confirmation.

2. Shipping via Greyhound bus is an excellent option for larger items such as a pair of buckets seats.
a. Shipping via UPS from Birmingham to Chicago was roughly $208.00
b. Shipping via Greyhound from Birmingham to Chicago was $155.00
c. Shipping via Greyhound was no more difficult than shipping via UPS

3. Shrink wrap is a must for protecting large parts such as bucket seats during shipping.
a. Shrink wrap at Office Depot ran $30.00 for a 20" X 1000' roll.
b. The same roll ran $20.00 at U-Haul
c. I used the shrink-wrap and sheets of cardboard to protect the seats
without adding to the dimensions of the package.

4. U-haul is an excellent option for buying boxes when you can't find them for free.

5. It's best to stock up on free boxes and packing supplies when the opportunity arises since packing supplies are expensive when purchased.

5. 4" PVC pipe makes an excellent container for shipping the long stainless steel rocker panel trim. Smaller diameter PVC pipe can be used for smaller trim pieces.

 

Giant "paper towel tubes" used as concrete forms and sold at hardware stores like Home Depot are about $5 each, and great for shipping steering columns - just pad as needed and cut some circles out of cardboard for the ends.

- Eric

 

I've shipped engines, transmissions and quarter panels through Fastenal third party. But a couple things I learned... it must be identified as "Non-cosmetic auto parts" or they won't ship it. That also means if the quarter panel gets scratched in transit they probably won't pay insurance on it. So what I did was hit the local appliance store and go dumpster diving (with the stores permission) and I came up with large sheets of Styrofoam that I covered the sides with. Then used a refrigerator box pulled from the recycle bin at the same store to cover it with. But first I attached two pallets end to end with 1X4's and wood screws. Then secured the quarter panels to the pallets with inexpensive ratchet straps. After that I put on the Styrofoam and cardboard, then finally wrapped it all with stretch wrap. Did the packaging on my trailer which I took to the local Fastenal store where they unloaded it with a forklift. It took some time to do this, but I couldn't sell the quarter panels locally.

I have also purchased 4X8 sheets of Styrofoam at Lowes that was an inch or two thick and used that for packaging... before I learned about all the cool packaging materials being tossed at appliance stores. Not just sheets of Styrofoam, but stuff to put in the corners and even 4"X4" pieces a foot long to help secure parts in boxes.

Bucket seats. I've disconnected the seat backs from seat bottoms and used computer boxes from work to ship them. Computer boxes are nice as they're often double layered corrugated cardboard.

I've got a buddy that works at a upholstery shop and he keeps me well stocked with bubble wrap. He also comes up with interesting sized/shaped boxes that he salvages from the trash. You know you've got a good friend when he dumpster dives for you .


John

 

Thanks! I will see what our local appliance store has to offer. I am alway looking for packing materials.

 

I hit the local body shop for boxes and bubble wrap. They are usually more than happy you take it because they're paying for it to be discarded. I've also shipped sheet metal in boxes that were heavily bubble wrapped through fastenal and tied to a long pallet.

Long pallets can be obtained sometimes at your local truck accessory shop that sells snow plows. I've gotten 2 there that had plows shipped into them. Check Craigslist free items section. Sometimes you can find pallets and shipping materials on there for no charge.

Instead of using cheap ratchet or tie down straps I use cheap rope from Walmart. The thinner stuff is great for tying boxes, sheet metal and even some larger parts to pallets. The heavier stuff like motors, rears and transmissions require thicker rope. I just tie a loop on the end, wrap the rope around the item and the upper pallet slats, put the end through the loop, pull as tight as possible and tie off. Its worked great so far.

For shipping consoles I've used those golf bag boxes before and they have worked great, but there's an expense. Now I go to the local food store that has a floral department and ask for their tall boxes, they are usually about 3 feet tall and the same other dimensions as the golf bag. I put 2 of them together, sliding one into the other so the center is more protected, then tape them together with packing tape. Which brings me to tape. Expensive as hell if you try to buy it at walmart or any other store. We get it at our local dollar store. Its not quite the quality of getting it at a Staples or Walmart, but its about 1/3 the price and works!

When you shipped that console through fedex did you have to take it to a hub or did you ship it through a retail location? My issue is the nearest hub is 30 minutes away and there are no retail locations that are close either. Thus, I continue to get fleeced through ups. It seems their prices are always more at the counter than they are when you go to figure the shipping online.

Thanks for your input its helped me, hopefully mine helps out too.

 

For things that can break, wrap it in cardboard
one way around for not so heavy or not so fragile items
crossways also for priceless items.

Corners and protrusions must be covered and protected. Imagine dropping it from at least waist high, and count on that happening.

Put that cocoon into the box, with real packing material such as foam peanuts or foam panels or bubble wrap.

Newspapers are NOT packing material. Never.

The more heavy and valuable, the more attention the packing needs. When I ship a replica intake that is fresh and pretty and very expensive, it gets a wooden crate to which it is bolted. No problems so far.

Carpet stores often have free thick tubes of smaller diameter like about 5"
Great for long trims, columns, etc. Not as sturdy as concrete form tubes or PVC though.

Often free packing stuff can be found on Craigslist.

Your GM dealer [esp. body shop] may have Big Cardboard for free.... Bonus, it says "GM parts" on it. Great for background photos for sale items also.

Anyone can break your stuff in transit no matter how well you protect it. Then what matters is how they resolve the problem. Obviously they fist will blame your crappy packing and try to weasel out of it that way. If your packing was proper, a cocoon with 1"+ real packing material all around, then they will pay- maybe. In my experience:

USPS is the worst, with a painful process staffed by folks who don't care
UPS was mildly painful
FedEx was not so bad. And claims needed less often.

Idiots at USPS literally ran over an item with a truck [tire marks], then tried to deliver it to the buyer. Then shipped it back to me. Then insisted I produce a receipt, never mind the markings and labels they put on it. Then, after all that, they paid me the cost of the part... but not the shipping [which exceeded part cost]. So, basically, they took my money as payment for destroying a part and giving it a tour of the country.

I shipped a pair of heads to TX once. USPS. Buyer calls a week later, no heads yet. A week later he got ONE of them. The idiots at USPS delivered the other a week later... TO ME. *sigh* Send it back on its way. It took almost a month for USPS to get the buyer both heads.

Fedex is often cheaper BY FAR for cast iron heavy pcs especially for long trips. Use the web sites for estimates.

USPS is good for heavy things that can fit into the Flat Rate envelope or boxes.

If the item value is less than oh say $40-50, don't bother with USPS insurance, the time and hassle is just not worth it. Cover it yourself. Send another or a refund if the item is lost/ destroyed.

 

I created an account at FedEx which saves in a couple ways. I get about a 15% discount on shipping costs and have it billed to a credit card. Also I can print shipping labels at home and drop them off without standing in line at the FedEx store. There's one a couple minutes from where I work so I use them a lot.

Tony, our local Kinko's copy store is now accepting FedEx packages. If you have a Kinko's in your part of the country you might check with them.

P.S. I didn't do well in my knot tying class and look for the ratchets on sale. Still more expensive but it works for me

 

Once when I shipped an engine I drained it well, put it on its back and bolted through the pallet to the engine. Just had to do a little notch for the crank to hang through an opening. A couple pieces of rope and it wasn't going anywhere.

I never thought about Kinko's. I have one about 20 minutes from me (back roads) and the state is putting a new exit off the highway right next to it that will shave more than 5 minutes off.

Going to look into the fedex account also. Sounds like it may be beneficial, thanks for the tips!

 

They should. FedEx bought Kinko's back in 2004, and since 2008 the stores have been called FedEx Office. Some stores may still have Kinko's on them somewhere, but all are owned by FedEx, and, obviously, all will accept FedEx packages for shipment.

 

When ever I go to Menards, Lowes, or Home Depot, I'm always looking in their small in store dumpsters. They strategically locate these & you might have to look around a bit to find them. But that is where they put the empty boxes that they use to restock stuff. Also most of those stores have a carpet section & you can get big empty cardboard tubes that the carpet comes on. They are really heavy duty & you can cut to length. Also, like has been said, I haunt car dealerships & furniture stores looking for big boxes & packing material. With a little work, you should never have to buy packing material. I had a local furniture store that supplied me with about a years worth of bubble wrap before they went out of business.
All my family & neighbors know I'm a box ***** & I rarely have to buy them either.
I have a post office 5 mins from my house & 98% of my stuff gets shipped through there, usually with no problems.
They have a A.P.C. automated postage center that is available 24/7 in the lobby. It's a touch screen with a large depository. You can pay for & print out the postage & drop the box in the depository or bypass all the people in line & put the stuff on the counter.
One very important thing I do is lay all the packages on the floor so you can see all the names & address' & postage along with the receipt & take a picture with my phone, maybe two if there are a lot of them. Zoom on them if your camera is not that good. That way you have some proof that you did ship the items if it becomes necessary.

 

you guys are lucky , try gettin parts shipped to australia.....the freight nearly ends up as dear as the part....

 

I've only once shipped small parts down under. From what I remember, yes the shipping was almost as much as the item.

 

This is a meaningless standard by which to judge shipping costs. Shipping costs are based on size/weight of the package and distance shipped, not on the value of the item being shipped (although that could come into play if duties are required to be paid or something like that). I've often paid more in shipping than I paid for the small part being shipped, and in the U.S. So what? Am I going to say to myself "I'm not going to get that $3.00 part I need because I have to pay $8.00 to ship it?" Of course not.

 

That's exactly what I say.

I won't pay more than the value of something just to ship it.
I'll wait until I can order several things from the same place, or I'll find a place where I may pay more, but the total is less than the cost would have been to ship it.

- Eric

 

Very useful thread! I used your advice when shipping a center console to Ohio!

 

mate , 8bucks to ship something i would be in it, i will give you a couple of examples ,a few things i bought off derbay lattlley i have a 66 dodge dart convertible ...set of gt hubcaps $60 to buy $190 in postage, a $40 2nd hand booster for my 64olds , postage $107, or the best one , i have a rambler770 hardtop , bought a "better console " for it , $225 , +paid $50extra for vendor to make a wood box for it all good ...$350in freight by fed x..+insurance .and they lost it , gone , never ever found or turned up , tried to make claim , a zillion pages of b/s 20 milloin emails and then i had to pay em a $300 excess claim fee....f/that .......still havent seen my console and that was 18months ago ....and lost over $700 with oz money conversion
ps ..ebay freight calculator is a joke + overpriced ,

anyway happy xmas guys

 

You don't need to show me examples. I believe you. But remember that you're living on the other side of the world from where these items are being shipped. What do you expect? I'm sorry, but life's a bitch, and then you die. If you don't want to pay high shipping costs, find another hobby.

Merry Christmas to you, too!

 

This only works if the item you originally wanted is something you can do without for a while. If it's something needed to, say, get the car back on the road, it might not be feasible to put off the purchase. I've done this, though, in some instances, although I often find myself adding items to my "cart" that I really don't need.

I don't understand this comment, unless you mean a local place where you pay more and the total including sales tax is less than the cost plus shipping from the mail-order place.

 

i agree with you , but sometimes i think freight costs are never really worked out correctly just a "figure" is pulled out of the air then muliplyed by their cats age.........i think i have 2 expensive hobbies ... collecting 50/60's "yanky" cars and ol fender/gibson electric guitars.... believe my buyin a early 60's fender strat in original condition makes buyin a ol car look cheep, bloody cars and guitars i should have collected spoons or matchboxes

 

Uh, my comment WAS about shipping something to Australia, not something shipped in the US.
It was a 100 hot air tube that would have fit into a medium priority mail box. Cost damn near $70 to ship there. So, it cost almost as much as the part as it did for shipping. Thats the way my comment was intended.

 

Yes, but my questions still stands, too. So what?

Whether you're sending an air tube or a carton of marshmallows, it's the fact that you're sending it from the U.S. to Australia that costs the $70. The value of what you're shipping has nothing to do with it.

 

Why turn this into a negative comments thread? Is it your strive to start a pissing contest? Others may want to know WHAT. Thats why. If you dont want to know WHAT, then dont comment to the thread, and you wont be subscribed to it. SMH SFP

 

I asked only one simple question, which you still haven't answered.

Why does it matter whether or not the cost to ship an item is more or less than the value of the item shipped?


Someone in Australia needs a $25 part and it costs $75 to ship it there, then to him it's not a $25 part, but rather a $100 part. He needs to decide if it's worth $100 to him. If not, he doesn't buy it. If he needs it, he pays the money. It's as simple as that, and the same reasoning applies for any item of any value shipped anywhere.

 

That may be a way to look at it. But still if you need it you buy it, just like you said.
I thought the goal of this thread was for us all to try and figure out how to ship an item as cheaply as possible, (thats how I interpreted aussie's comment and that is why I made mine about the exuberant cost of shipping down under,) And to share shipping experiences to help those who may not be as experienced as others?
I, just like you have paid more for an item than the shipping when needed to finish a custom brake install. Yes, if you need it you buy it.

 

The flat rate boxes from usps are rarely the cheapest method except in cases where the item is heavy and going a long distance .

I see fedex has now come out w flat rate boxes I expect those will be the same as the USPS ones I have not investigated the fedex fr boxes yet tho

 

I did find that a qjet carb with the fuel filter housing removed will fit into the medium flat rate usps box and ship for $12. It was cheaper going to Atlanta from NJ than in a regular box.

 

One thing I've learned from USPS is sometimes that a regular brown box is mostly cheaper then the flat rate boxes. I get both prices before shipping anything. UPS is pretty fair on international shipping also as long as you mark it DDU ( Delivery Duties Unpaid) in the Commercial Invoice section. As for USPS you can pretty much declare any price you want without an investigation. As for trucking companies if you have or can use a dock your price will be about 60 dollars less for accessorial charges or drop it off at a local terminal. I know all the little secrets for shipping Internationally also with them. We they cry about brokerages and Shipper Letter of Instruction (SLI) and how much it will cost you. Tell them to Send you the form and send it back completed Otherwise your basically paying someone to write down your address and whats shipping for ya... Brokerage is responsibility of the Consignee not the shipper Make that clear and you will have an awesome quote. Sadly this is what I do for a living, at least its auto tools.

 

That's what I thought it was, too, based on the original post. But it seemed to degenerate quickly into a general railing against the injustice of high shipping costs or the injustice of having to pay more to ship something than the thing itself cost. Both of these are totally counterproductive.

But suggestions on how to save on shipping is a great topic for a thread as it's something that anyone in the old car hobby encounters all the time.


I figure that people using shipping services fall into one of two categories.

As a buyer, you're at the mercy of whatever shipping methods the vendor uses. They will usually offer a range of methods, and you can always choose the cheapest one, but you usually can't use something they don't offer.

If you sell parts regularly, shipping costs are borne by the buyer, so you can be a nice person and offer to ship things by methods ranging from the very cheap to the get-it-there-yesterday, but this is a decision made by the buyer, not you, and it's their cost, not yours.



What I don't like, and it seems that Rockauto, an otherwise very good vendor, is at least one vendor guilty of this, is when a vendor has parts warehouses in several places around the country, the parts you order might come from different warehouses, and they charge you a separate shipping cost for each of those parts.

The most expensive part of shipping something is the decision to ship. Adding on to the shipment doesn't usually increase the shipping cost a great deal. So buying one part might cost $10 in shipping and buying five parts all at once might cost $12. With Rockauto's method, if those five parts come from five different places, you'll pay $10 shipping for each part, or $50 total. That's nonsense, in my book, and I'll avoid a vendor like that, if I can. The decision to spread parts around the country and the costs associated with that are theirs, not mine.

 

I tend to look at a total price, delivered, like ePay can sort stuff. If I see an item I want on ePay and the delivered price is attractive, it tends to happen. I bought a manifold the other day, and FeePay said the shipping was $12.... I know that is bullshed, so I will be sending the seller more $ to make sure his costs are covered.

Many folks are hung up on the cost of shipping exceeing the cost of the item, whereas they are entirely unrelated. If I buy a Bridgeport mill for $1 in Alaska and need it shipped to me in Lansing, it is a different scenario from buying a diamond ring for $10,000 from across town.

 

I have used shredding material for packing and cushioning,plastic Folgers empty coffee containers are very useful for small items with 1/4" or 1/2 " styrofoam , most Ford bumpers come wrapped in a large foam sheet that serve you well for lot of shipping and not a bad knee pad/pavement cover when working under a car

 

I hate getting anything that is packed with packing "peanuts". The damn things get everywhere and the static cling makes it almost impossible to deal with them. Not to mention the little bits that get everywhere as well. I'd rather use/receive bubble wrap, foam sheets, or even balled up newspaper than those stupid "peanuts"

 

Wadded newspaper is NEVER packing material
If it's so light that newspaper would work, then it's not needed.
It offers zero crush or drop protection.

As for the plastic peanuts, I agree that picking the bits out of every nook in the part sucks, but there is an easy solution. Wrap the part first. stretchy wrap, Saran wrap, even a shopping or garbage bag. Enclose and tape. Then wrap it in cardboard. Then pack that cocoon wit proper foamy material all around it.

I just received an exhaust manifold in peanuts. Opened the box over the wastebasket. It was ok and not filled with bits because the sender had wrapped the manifold in cardboard first, which protects the ears of the casting as well.

 

Thanks for the input, I have leaned a great deal. Let's keep the information on this thread rolling.

 

... Unless the seller is shipping it from his place of employment, using his employer's shipping account...

- Eric

 

What I don't like, and it seems that Rockauto, an otherwise very good vendor, is at least one vendor guilty of this, is when a vendor has parts warehouses in several places around the country, the parts you order might come from different warehouses, and they charge you a separate shipping cost for each of those parts.

The most expensive part of shipping something is the decision to ship. Adding on to the shipment doesn't usually increase the shipping cost a great deal. So buying one part might cost $10 in shipping and buying five parts all at once might cost $12. With Rockauto's method, if those five parts come from five different places, you'll pay $10 shipping for each part, or $50 total. That's nonsense, in my book, and I'll avoid a vendor like that, if I can. The decision to spread parts around the country and the costs associated with that are theirs, not mine.[/QUOTE]


hi guys , first thing im not tryin to make this thread into a s/fight or have a cry over freight costs ....the fact is i accept havin to do this being in Oz, and if you want a yanky car there is a price to pay , however "rockautos " freight system is b/s .... last nite i tried to buy a auto oil filter for my 64 v8 rambler ...fine $4.20 ...postage ...$57 bucks????, then a master rebuild kit $20. freight from another warehouse $36.36, fair enough...it way heaveir that a single filter but the post cost is way dearier........ i am now tryng to source a filter somewhere else , and no im not joking about the price check yourself

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/catalog.php


yep the total cost concerns me , and so gettin advise from you guys on other ideas is great ,
happy new year matey

 

Interesting choices for comparison. In each case, your total cost (part + shipping) is $10,001.

 

You young whipper-snappers don't know how good you have it. I've been playing with these old cars longer than most of you are old and that pre-dates eBay, Craigslist, computers, etc. Back then we relied on yards or others in the hobby with the same brand loyalty to source parts. I remember when the reproduction parts business started and at that point the hobby changed. Now, you can literally build a car from a book of available parts from your living room by hitting buttons on a computer or by threads such as this. A phone call or a couple minutes on the keyboard and days later that "missing link" shows up on your doorstep. Trust me, it's a bit different than it was 40 years ago. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

 

I dunno, Gramps - that there sounds a lot like what we used to call "bull-shipping."

Happy New Year!!

- Eric

 

Can someone post pics or in-depth info to ship an engine? I have a buyer for my engine but want to ship for the lowest properly cost.

 

FedEx raised there rates at the first of the year. It was $35 just to ship 2 exhaust manifolds from Indiana to NY. USPS was $38 for the same thing.