How are you guys shipping rods? I just tried to ship a rod through UPS and they wanted $200. I looked on the post offices website and they are saying almost $100. I am just shipping a rod in a tackle warehouse tube. How do I ship cheaper?
How are you guys shipping rods? I just tried to ship a rod through UPS and they wanted $200. I looked on the post offices website and they are saying almost $100. I am just shipping a rod in a tackle warehouse tube. How do I ship cheaper?
The only thing you can do is use the smallest, shortest tube as possible. There is a surcharge over certain dimensions. Thats why I only sell local now for longer rods. 6'6'' to 7' is still affordable to ship I think.
Make sure the tube is under 8ft.... otherwise they give u the shaft
U should be looking at around $30 to ship
USPS priority is most affordable under 96". Longer then that, cost is way to high. PVC tube highly recommend. If you do use a cardboard tube, never ship without insurance. Allot of damaged rods with all the carriers.
Open an online account for free for yourself on USPS.com You will pay a good amount less than you would if you take it to the post office yourself. You can choose whatever size box you want to use and just need a scale, dimensions and be able to print your label at home. Get yourself a tape dispenser with a few rolls of packing tape and you'll be good to go. You can even choose to have your mailman (woman) pick it up at your house the next day and save yourself a trip to the Post Office. I recently shipped a few rods from Florida from my parents house to my home in Buffalo in a 7' tube. UPS quoted my mother $45 to ship it, I had her take measurements and weight and I printed the label and emailed her the Packing list PDF for her to print and ship using my USPS account. The same exact tube cost me $16.50 to ship. Once you do it a few times it is simple and will save you a lot of time and $$$.
Thanks guys
Use this link if you have a paypal account and a decent scale.
https://www.paypal.com/signin?return...el%2Fcreate%2F
Usps should be $25-$38 insured
if you go 8ft or over your looking at 200 plus from ups. i shipped a loomis swimbait rod a while back and they quoted 200. Nope. I took a chance with usps which i try not to ship rods with them unless i have a pvc tube but they only charged me 80.00. normal rod lengths are 30ish dollars usually to ship.
Yes under 96” is cheapest - And a skinny tube makes a difference too. I use a 2 inch PVC tube, above 2.5 the cost goes up. I shipped a 6’8” rod recently for $13 and a 94 inch tube for $18.95.
I just shipped that rod using the post office for $14 using the exact same tube I tried to ship with UPS and they wanted $200. That's crazy.
Agree with USPS. Getting really specific on their oversize limits: If it's over 108 "linear inches," you'll see the price jump exponentially. For a tube, they define linear inches as length + circumference. That means you can use 3" schedule 40 PVC (circumference = pi * 3.5" = 11 inches) up to 8'1" long without technically going over. I'd limit it to 96" though, as said above. If you've got a casting rod and can get by with 2.5" or 2" schedule 40 you can squeeze an extra inch or two in length.
Definitely print postage at home using USPS "click and ship" Priority Mail or Retail Ground to save money as well as make sure you don't get a dummy working the counter who measures it wrong or tries to ship it the wrong way which would really screw you.
You can fiddle around with dimensions here: https://postcalc.usps.com/
Using the 3" schedule 40 example, using "nonrectangular" package input with length of your choosing, 3.5" width, 3.5" height, and 11" girth, you'll find the price jumps exponentially when you change from 97" length to 98" length.
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360
It's not just fishing rods , everything I've tried to ship with them over the last few years is ridiculously expensive. I always end up using priority mail at post office and it's 3 days instead of ups 5-7 days. Granted the customer service is better with ups but , it ain't worth that much more imo.Originally Posted by PhilDance
I think zip code matters. I ship in rod tubes from Loomis ect. I cut the tube down to the shortest length. I use pay pal shipping and ship via the us mail. I've had 7' rods ship for under $20 to $40. If you have a longer rod to ship try to find a smaller diameter rod tube to keep overall dimensions down. The other tip would be to check all the different shipping options, 3day, next day, 2day. Some times faster shipping is the least expensive.
It's not just the length but length plus girth. It needs to be below 108 inches to get regular rates. They also round up and measure the girth as a square. So let's say you have a 4 1/2 wide tube which is typical for a cardboard tube. You get 5 x 4 or 20 inches in girth which means you can only have 88 inches in length. That is why some 7 3 ish rods can be very expensive to ship if you don't have a thinner tube.
As one who buys rods all the time (many from members here), from a customer standpoint, I like it when they ship inside PVC. In college, I worked for UPS, so I know how packages are "handled", PVC is a bit more indestructible than cardboard tubes. I've seen even thick cardboard tubing shredded. I just bought a rod last week from a member here (Real Pudd Legend) and that was the best shipping i have ever seen. I don't know what schedule the PVC was, but the UPS truck could have ran over it and the rod would have been fine. He also put the rod in plastic sheeting and wrapped the whole rod in bubble wrap. I say that merely to point out that the next time there is a rod up for sale and he's selling it, I'll buy it in a flash. To a customer, the packaging means a lot on an expensive rod.
....on the other hand, I have bought rods on this board where the seller just throws the rod in a tube with no padding or wrapping whatsoever. A couple of these were really expensive rods. I didn't want to cause a fuss and I'm not sure there is anything to be done anyways. What do you guys do if you receive a really poorly packed rod?
Just used Fed Ex. 87” tube with $400 insurance for $41 and change.
Steve
Good question. Fortunately, I've never had that happen here, but if I did I would post about it where appropriate.
Reply With Quote![](http:///"http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq99/steve1206/?action=view¤t=KYLakeBigBass01.jpg\")