Shipping a guitar

[American Red]

If I were to have a guitar shipped from Atlanta to Florida, what precautions or what advice would you offer?
Is paypal the best way to handle payment?
This would be an individual owner selling to an individual, not a business or music store transaction.

I am a new forum member with 13 posts and the individual only has 6 posts, 5 of which are about the sale of his Taylor.


 

[Captain Jim]

Hi AR,

I had two guitars shipped to me last week - both arrived in perfect condition.  One was shipped in a Taylor box, with the form-fitting caps.  The other was well packed with heavy-duty bubble wrap, the pillow bags, and all sides of the box lined with styrofoam.  Definitely have it insured for the full amount.

You can use a credit card with PayPal and get some buyer's protection via the card.  One of my transactions was with a Taylor dealer, well known on the forum.  The other was an eBay purchase.  There was also the eBay buyer's protection through that sale.  Wasn't necessary.

Does the other individual have any web presence anywhere else (like on the AGF, eBay or a personal website)?  I did buy a pedal from an individual on here shortly after I first signed on... smooth, easy transaction.

There is a leap of faith involved in any long-distance transaction.  You have to go with your gut.  A couple years ago, I sold a very nice Twin Reverb and extension speaker cabinet on consignment through a music store.  We were heading out on an extended trip... I contacted the owner, was told the amp sold, and "the check is in the mail."  FOUR TIMES.  When I went back to the place, it was closed up and he was gone.  I found him on the web, selling "custom guitars".  A local newspaper had done an article on him and had a place for comments on their website.  I posted my experience with the guy and immediately got a call from him.  And then a cashier's check a few days later.  It took me a "few days" to get around to letting the newspaper know that he had resolved the situation.  Nobody wants bad PR... thus my reason for asking about any other web presence.

Good luck with the transaction.  Keep us posted.

Best wishes,
Captain Jim

[briguysm]

Hmmm...first of all, how did he even post anything for sale with only 6 posts? I commented on someone else's sale thread and my comment was immediately deleted, per forum rules. You need 50 posts before you can post in the for sale thread. So, I'm a kinda wondering how that works for him. I've got some stuff I'd like to sell, but I have to wait as I'm still very new here.

Also, I've shipped several guitars and sometimes I just used crumpled up newspapers, other times bubble wrap, other times towels I didn't care about, lol. I've never had a problem. The biggest pain in the butt, though is those packing peanuts, they get everywhere.

If you use paypal, I believe there is a way for you to pursue the seller if they don't come through on their end of the bargain. I'm not sure though.

I've never had a bad experience with selling or buying long distance, but that doesn't mean you won't.

Good luck.

[drbob1]

I don't feel old until I realize that I've been buying and selling guitars since before there was a functioning internet (anybody remember BBSs?).

Anyway, good advice so far. If you follow all the rules about how to pay with Paypal, they're actually really good about recovering your money, even if the guy drops out of sight. Sellers actually have it much harder with Paypal than buyers now days.

As for the shipping, I've never received a guitar damaged in shipping, and we're talking hundreds. Make sure the strings are somewhat slacked, the headstock is packed so it can't shift around and the guitar is secure in the case (no sliding). Case in box with either paper or bubblewrap to prevent it touching the sides/ends. Insurance is a problem, most shipping companies won't insure expensive guitars any more. If it's really a worry, get the serial number and buy insurance with Heritage for the guitar before it ships. It's not super expensive and they'll repair or replace at market values.

[jjrpilot-admin]

Some here, have less than 50 posts and posted their ad before we initiated the new rule which went into effect in early October.  I decided not to pull down all the ads previously posted, as that wouldn't have been fair.  Hope this helps to clear things up! 

[American Red]

I don't feel old until I realize that I've been buying and selling guitars since before there was a functioning internet (anybody remember BBSs?).

October 1994 there were 10,000 Home pages.. By the end of December that year there were 10 Million Home pages..
I remember BBS's when we had very fast 300/600/1200 baud modums and the only way to run one was to type in the program and save it onto a cassette. Things were far better by the time we had 14400 baud Modums, a Multi line Mustang Wildcat BBS and could telnet to a FTP site like Jungle Net and ALOHA.net.

Ahh, the wonder years of 1979.. At 300 Baud you could watch them type their name one letter at a time as they signed in to view a few files or perhaps just your directory...  You could then enter into a chat..  One member at a time.. 

Never sold a Guitar on a BBS, but we did have a lot of fun..

[drbob1]

I think Harmony Central was the first guitar oriented buy/sell site I found. By that time I'd been buying guitars using the online classifieds from (for example) the California newspapers and reselling locally to fund my habit. It was pretty funny phoning up someone from Los Angeles and asking if they'd ship a guitar to Wisconsin at the time... Ah for the old days when everyone didn't know everything!

[Fraz]

I think this has been mostly covered already... but I've had guitars shipped from overseas and chose to go with Paypal because they offer compensation should anything go wrong along the way. Read the Paypal terms and conditions and judge for yourself if it is worth the risk.