SHIPPING speakers?

Y’all, HOW do you ship speakers that you have sold?

I just a like-new pair of Vandersteen Treo CTs to replace my super clean Vandy 2CEs. The DILEMMA is shipping them! I have listed them online, and got a query from WI who asked me to check on shipping them from here in WA. I called Vandersteen and they say they ship all their speakers strapped to pallets, with the boxes in vertical orientation. They use freight companies including FedEx Freight, but told me nightmare stories of speakers getting damaged in transit, including a new pair of Sevens ($70K) that a forklift driver punched a hole through with the fork on his machine. WTH? They said that their price increases in the last 2 years are in large part because of big increases in shipping costs.

I called FedEx, and was told that the closest freight office is 2 hours from me, and the speakers have to be dropped off already on a pallet, ready to go. That’s 200 lbs of speakers! I have no way to do this—no van or pickup truck, nor a forklift. Plus, I can imagine that if something goes wrong and the speakers are damaged, they will weasel out of it saying that I packed them on the pallet and surely didn’t do it correctly.

I got a freight quote online from another LTL freight company and it was $800! For a $2200 pair of speakers. So, I am trying to sell them locally, within a 4-5 hour drive (I will deliver or meet halfway).

I don’t ship gear often, especially speakers, and it’s a real hassle for larger speakers. Someone I know who builds great amps etc (you’d know his name) bought a used pair of big Borresens (250 lbs each iirc) and rented a van and drove from the Midwest to TX to get them, because shipping was going to be a small fortune.

Thanks.