SHIPPING speakers?

Specs show the 2CE's as 60 lbs each.packed..I see no problem shipping these packed in factory boxes but fully insured ground cost will probably be almost $400.00....If your anywhere near Seattle,Olympia or Spokane I suggest trying to sell them on consignment through one of the decent audio shops still in business in those areas..

Sell inexpensive speakers locally.  

Reading the other reply, seems they are only 60 lbs and of reasonable size.  I would just pack them up and ship them with UPS or Fedex. 

 I guess you don't have the original boxes.  You can take them to a UPS store and they will pack them for you.  It won't be cheap but less than freight.  

Jerry

Maybe a Long weekend trip meeting the other person half way...Or lower cost of speakers to sell them more local.. Either way its cost to sell items..

That is reason my Harley is in living room..Could not sell unless give away price. So love seeing it as art ..But sure could have sold it but not at that price....

I've had good luck with U-ship for larger items. Craters and freighters also is known to do a good job with speakers. Good luck!

UPS has a pack and ship service. You or the buyer can make the arrangements, I would simply do this:

1. find the closest UPS that does pack and ship (they all do not).

2. give the seller the UPS contact info, the weight and measurements.

3. let seller make his own arrangements, you simply drop them off unpackaged.

IF you have factory packaging, tell buyer you will give it to UPS separately to use or not, his/ups’s choice, after they are dropped off.

I’ve used UPS Pack and Ship successfully 3 times. We can use it to buy something seller says is local pickup only, all seller has to do is agree to drop them off for us.

btw, this keeps the shipping cost out of any system like eBay that both charges tax on shipping, and charges a fee on the shipping and tax amounts.

Don't let UPS or any other shipping company pack your speakers.

I did that and they arrived at the buyer's home damaged.

The best way to sell speakers is getting lucky and having a local buyer.

The next best way to sell speakers is meet the buyer half-way and do the deal person to person.

The last  best way is strapped to a pallet.

@tomcarr I used to get my mail at a UPS store.  So I was there most every day and watched them pack a lot of pacages. None for me as I do my own. 

What I saw was mostly overkill. they used larger boxes and more bubble wrap/packing materials that I would have.  that pack it while you wait with you watching.  They charge for all the material so the more they use, the more money they make. They only lose money if it breaks so they are very conservative in their packing choices.  They aren't cheap.

Add to the cost of packaging the fact that they charge full retail for shipping, not the discounted rate you get when you package it yourself.  If I packed these speakers up I would expect to be able to ship them myself for about $200.  Take it tot he UPS store and you'll probably pay 4-500.  

That is my observations from real world experience.

jerry

If UPS packs them expect them to be damaged. Make sure explain the value and how both speakers need to arrive undamaged. I've in the past shipped expensive speakers and it's risky.

Drop the price, sell locally. Offer to drive them to the nearest city Drop the price sell locally, chalk it up to a loss and move on. If not you might end up paying in your time and stress level.

shipping costs when palleted are in that range there are independent freight shipping services that do competitive quotes

Above craigslist, facebook marketplace could be good. TMR audio might buy them but won’t pay much. Heavy speakers really are a pain but normally worth it until you sell.

$800 to ship those speakers sounds like a good deal, Yes, this is the problem. I had buyers for a set of ribbon speakers and the $1,000 was the quote to box and ship. But there was no garentee that they would arrive in perfect condition and the buyer wouldn't reject time. You want to sell them locally or trade them in. 

Using Pack and Ship, when you buy or sell, puts the entire responsibility for damage in UPS's hands.

Letting buyer make his own arrangement, is why I wouldn't even put them inside factory package, I would give it loose to UPS, let UPS be totally responsible, confirming condition received as they are out of the box.

Another vote for Uship. When I bought my Maggies, the seller used them. It was perfect. On time and undamaged. And the driver helped getting them into my house.

FWIW:

I will only ship them the way that Vandersteen does when they ship to dealers: In their original boxes (which I have), strapped to a pallet so they are shipped upright. Any other way is too great a risk for damage (which is quite common), and as far as I know, only a freight shipper will do this. FedEx ground will not, but FedEx Freight will, and I already described the problem with that. Other shippers are too much $$.

I haven’t weighed them in the boxes, but I would guess that on the pallet total weight would be 160 lbs or so, or 180 if I pack the stands on the pallet. It’s the cubic volume on a pallet that drives the cost, more than the weight, I think.

So, I will hope for a local buyer, or local-ish. Thanks for the replies! I was hoping someone had a magic/secret solution, but alas...

@bjesien re "Heavy speakers really are a pain but normally worth it until you sell."

YES! And that’s why I don’t change speakers often. If I had bought the Treos new, I would have traded in the old ones (but for less than I can sell them privately).

If I ever have a next pair of speakers, they might be stand mount monitors, for this reason. 

@tomcarr - I think you're right. 

By the way, nice come up!
now would be a good time to consider donating them to a starving audiophile in Spokane. 🔊

contact Team Worldwide

I've shipped a ton of stuff. The one time I let UPS pack an amp it got smashed. It was a heavy class A integrated and they didn't protect it the way I would have, but like mentioned above, they made good on it.

I can only imagine over time the rules will change so verify. Just make sure you document the ad (with value), take good before photos of the item, really make sure UPS knows the stakes and value, get a screen shot of Paypal transfer or payment, pray.

I'd go one step further and make sure the buyer is willing to work with you if the item does get damaged. Perhaps pull that email aside because it's happened to me maybe 5% of the time. You can usually smell it.

Echo in Portland, Hawthorne and Turntables n Trails in Seattle, Gig Harbor Audio in… all likely to consign…

CL and FB are vibrant markets in WA….

GLWS

Even for bookshelves, which in my case are still usually rather heavy with matching stands, I always insist on local pickup. Might take longer and I might have to sell for a bit less, but the lack of hassle is worth it to me. 

IMHO, this is the only way to ship speakers.  $100 worth of material.  Piece of mind, priceless.  If the speakers are worth this effort..........   Cheers

I'm in the midwest and recently received shipment of large speakers from a private seller located in the Pacific Northwest.  The seller shipped via Old Dominion freight with the speakers standing vertical, banded to a skid.  I got the impression from the seller that Old Dominion was easy to work with.  They provided the skid and worked with the seller at the freight terminal to assure the speakers were safely secured.

I've sold large speakers to TMR and they shipped me a skid with bands and detailed instructions, then sent a truck with a lift several days later to pick them up.  Aside from the low price, it was a satisfactory experience and I will likely use them again, both as a buyer and seller.

I have sold and shipped 3 pairs of Vandersteen speakers. I had the 2Ci, 2CE and 3A signatures. All three pairs were shipped in the original cartons via UPS Ground and insured for the sale price. I had zero problems getting them to the buyers unscathed. I have bought many speakers on Audiogon and they were either shipped via Fed Ex or UPS. I never had any damage except for a new pair of Tekton Pendragon speakers. One was damaged mostly because the boxes used were very flimsy and thin.

I'm in the midwest and recently received shipment of large speakers from a private seller located in the Pacific Northwest.  The seller shipped via Old Dominion freight with the speakers standing vertical, banded to a skid.  I got the impression from the seller that Old Dominion was easy to work with.  They provided the skid and worked with the seller at the freight terminal to assure the speakers were safely secured.

I've sold large speakers to TMR and they shipped me a skid with bands and detailed instructions, then sent a truck with a lift several days later to pick them up.  Aside from the low price, it was a satisfactory experience and I will likely use them again, both as a buyer and seller.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone and @tomic601 !

I will check with TMR and Old Dominion, and local dealers who might take them on consignment. Shipping on a pallet is ideal, but maybe not 100% required. 

@bigtwin - Nice job!

P

Thanks for sharing.  The issue is the cost of freight shipping in my experience.  I’ve had speakers delivered on a pallet but from a manufacturer that had a free return policy in case there were any issues.  I try and sell any gear locally including a pair of tower speakers recently that would have cost more to ship than they were worth.  My most recent freight shipping experience was with boat docks at the lake.  The manufacturer said that shipping was based on volume, how much space it takes up on a truck, so we had to calculate for what I wanted and the cost to ship.  Bottom line was I had the aluminum legs made locally because at 8 and 10 foot lengths it was less than the shipping.  Same with my boat.  One add on piece of equipment was going to cost more to ship than the item and the item was $600.  Crazy.  

pdreher +1. TMR is the way to go as they assume responsibility and it is free to you. They charge a fee to sell you speakers, but you need to compare the costs. 

I just got an estimate of $412 to ship them from WA to Madison WI using FedEx Ground in the two individual factory boxes, with stands shipped separately. That's not awful. Better than the $900 for a freight shipper on a pallet! 

I'd be careful shipping large heavy speakers without a pallet.  It's not a problem, until it is... I learned the hard way, so future shipments (assuming larger/heavier speakers) will be shipped on a pallet.

@pdreher re "I'd be careful shipping large heavy speakers without a pallet.  It's not a problem, until it is"

I know. You pays yer money and takes yer chances, right?  I'll let the prospective buyer decide. I have requested a quote from TMR too. 

My older ($17K used) Raidho D2s were shipped LTL on a pallet from Chicago and arrived in Colorado Springs in immaculate condition. I shipped out three pair of mint condition loudspeakers all together in their original cartons on a pallet and they arrived in Chicago in perfect shape. This was back in 2016 so who know what has changed.

All these suggestions of UPS or FEDX are wrong. If you have a small package, that might be a good idea, but only IF you have factory packaging that is in like new condition. If you have old packaging or beat up packaging, don’t do it. The cardboard loses strength after a few shipments.  Anything over 40 lbs is likely to be dropped and have corner damage.

Pallet Freight is the only way to do larger/heavier speaker, especially anything that is floor standing. I highly recommend to have anything large or heavy crated. Crating is not that expensive, usually $200 or less each. A crating company, that understands how to pack stuff, can usually do this and you can usually find them around airports (especially larger market cities with major airports). This package nd ship stuff is 100% terrible. We get so many speakers sent to us by pack and ship with ridiculously poor packaging that invites damage. The owners almost always face major damage they must repair, even if it’s sold to someone else. It’s a mess that can take a year to get paid back by Fedx or UPS and you ache to present the damaged item to them so thy can inspect it themselves. It’s a nightmare. (We recently received a 60lb speaker in nonfactory packaging from UPS store and it had one layer of the smallest bubble wrap you buy on the bottom and none on the top, some on the sides that had fallen down to the bottom of the box. The speakers were a complete loss and the shipper, who sent them in due to blown drivers now has to file a claim with UPS/FEDX and wait wait wait wait. We get some benefit because we are big shipper if our shipments get damaged, but as a solo shipper or one time customer, good luck getting them to pay attention to you). These pack and ship UPS stores/FEDX stores are NOT qualified to pack and ship anything valuable or heavy. Real corporate UPS or FEDX offices do not want to pack anything because then they are responsible for the shipment and they want to avoid that at all costs.

Don’t ship UPS/FEDX for anything that is tall or set up vertically. If it can fall over IT WILL. And then the damage is usually concealed; which creates a long term mess for both buyer and seller. Strapping a tall item down to a pallet is the way to do it UNLESS the product is so tall it will "hang over" a standard pallet because its dimensions exceed the pallet dimensions. Then that will surely be damaged by a forklift as they push the palleted freight together in a truck.

The post about raising prices due to ship damage is absolutely true. Once covid hit, they starting hiring untrained laborers and the freight damage went up dramatically and has not stopped.

Brad

@lonemountain re "Pallet Freight is the only way to do larger/heavier speaker, especially anything that is floor standing. I highly recommend to have anything large or heavy crated."

Vandersteen ships their speakers in factory boxes, vertically on a single pallet, and that's what they recommend. Using a freight company or FedEx Ground. A crate would be idea, but more expensive. In my case, shipping $2000 speakers on a pallet and spending $800 to do it didn't make sense. I got lucky and a local buyer wanted them, so I gladly delivered them to him 2 hours away, and set them up. If they were $20,000 speakers I would have crated them for sure. I note that some really high-end $$$$$$ speakers are shipped by the manufacturer in custom reusable shipping cases, like rock bands use to move their concert gear. 

FedX ground does not take pallets, nor does UPS ground.  As an importer for ATC, I deal with this stuff daily. 

Crates are preferred as they are cheap and you don't have to get them back. cardboard still needs a pallet so big boxes still mean truck freight.  Crates don't need an additional pallet as the crates have a pallet built in. With road cases, which cost at least $750 each and up, you just doubled the freight bill when you have to get them back (empty case is the same cost to ship as a full one) Plus the investment in road case inventory (that you never sell) is a lot of extra $.  So built on-site crates is the way to go with 90% of big or tall speakers shipped new.

BTW "Ground" does not mean truck freight, it means "small package" freight.    

@lonemountain I remember your connection to ATC. Curious how those are packaged coming over the pond and say for example..on to TMR ? It’s a serious inquiry..

@patrickdowns  So glad you got a local sale…. I’m praying for that in the Spring….

Best in music to all.

Jim

@lonemountain

Re: "FedX ground does not take pallets" - CORRECT!

I misspoke. I was talking about FedEx Freight and I spoke to them several times. Unfortunately, their closest outlet to me for them was two and a half hours away.

@tomic601 Lemme know when you're back! If you need some help let me know. 

@tomic601 

Depends on what it is.  Smaller to medium speakers in cartons (shipped on pallets), larger speakers and subs in crates.  All of it is air freighted to me then shipped to TMR or?  We occasionally do containers (sea freight) but this takes a lot of extra time.  This is more useful to the high volume brands.  ATC is all custom built to order.

Brad 

@lonemountain Thanks Brad… appreciate knowing it’s all built to order…

@patrickdowns Will do ! April ish to chase fish