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I guess this is mostly a grumble but sort of a question too.
I have a 2 piece 7' 11" Sage LL rod I'm thinking of selling but a quick check of what the cost of properly ...and probably improperly... shipping it seems to me to so brutal as to make it essentially impossible to sell.
Anybody with a work around?
When I used to ship rods I've sold, I would put them in a heavy duty cardboard tube, wrapped in bubble wrap. I would ship them Priority Mail and Insured for more than the worth of the rod. It generally would cost less than $15 shipped and insured inside the CONUS. I wonder if the handlers saw the insurance stickers, if they were being more careful in the handling. It usually took 3 business days to arrive.
I, as well, always ship in a pretty heavy cardboard tube especially used for shipping. Fortunately my employer receives materials in these and just discards them. I also insure heavily. Last one I shipped cost me $20. I have sent and received probably 20+ rods the last couple years. One time a rod tube was dented but the USPS made good on it. There was no rod damage ever.
I've gotten cardboard tubes from local flyshops a few times just by asking if they have an extra one on hand. You can easily tape two together in the middle if one is too short for a 2 pc rod, or cut them to size. I don't know for sure, but I assume they still get their rods from the factory in these tubes.
When I sent a rod to New Zealand last year, the Post Office suggested that I use their triangular shaped Priority Mail box (it is free), and told me to tape 2 of them together to make the total length for my rod tube. That worked quite well, with a bit of room for some packing around the tube.
I sell things online and ship them all the time. Granted, shipping a rod is a bit more cumbersome that shipping a magazine (for example) but it doesn't seem to effect what I'm able to sell things for.
Incidentally, I traded-in an old, used Sage RPL rod and a Ross Gunnison reel to a fly shop last summer on the purchase of a new Sage Z-Axis rod. I shipped my used rod and reel to him, and he shipped the new rod to me. As I recall, my net out of pocket cost, including the shipping, was something like $80.00. I thought this was an exceptional deal.
Today I received a rod I had left with a friend several years ago as a long term loan a 7' 6" 2 piece 3 wt. he shippped in a heavy cardboard tube he had shipped it approx. 400 miles parcel post for a cost of $6.16. He shipped it Thursday, I received it in good condition Monday.
USPS shipping cost's always seemed resonable to me.
Just remember to INSURE it! In case you end up with a rod blank like the one I received last week. My mailman though it was a hockey stick when he handed it to me.
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Good luck, Tony
I have shipped several ways but one of my favorite is to ship in PVC pipe. The pipe is cheap and you can get test caps for the ends dirt cheap. This is the method I use if a tube is not shipping with the rod I am sending out.
The tubes I order for the rods I build are nice divided tubes and come one to a box. I will normally put the rod in it's tube, pack the tube back in the box I got it in and ship it that way. I usually ship Priority Mail - Insured. The packages get anywhere in the country in 3 days and I have yet to have problems. For some reason, most of the rods I build are 4 pc so they are not long packages and do not have the likely hood of getting bent like that nice rod above.
I shipped a rod back the other day that was high end to begin with, had a high end reel with it, and I had installed one of the new Struble U-21 solid titanium reel seats on it. Insured for close to $2K, it came to about $25 for shipping and insurance.
NEVER ship a rod in the post office triangle box! I have pictures of several that all arrived with a crease at the same point. About 14-17" down from one end....they all had a crease at the same exact point. It looks as if they stack them in a vertical position and weight on top causes them to crumple. Some of them actually open a bit at the crack. One of them came in so bad it was barely being held to the main box by a small section of cardboard. You could just push back on the top and it would flop over and open like a lid on a hinge! It was posted here and someone suggested it looked cut. It did look that way. But knowing they all crease at that point I went back and inspected it more closely. No not cut....just damaged.
I am really amazed at the rod with the bent aluminum tube! That is awful. I sure hope he got MORE than it was worth with an insurance claim.
I have not shipped many rods. But I sent a rod to a repair person in a pvc tube. Only cost me $10. Only cost $10 for there return of it. Not bad at all in my mind. A fairly long tube at that. Probably schedule 40 pvc. It went from AZ to MN and back.
I myself would prefer a good strong pvc tube. I did not put it in any kind of box. Just labeled it with address and mailed it. Came back same way. No box....just the tube. I would also insure it......
just my experience....oh...just received a rod yesterday in a postal round cardboard tube. Came in totally in good shape. I tend to think this would be pretty safe. But the triangle box is a BIG NO NO! I can show many pics of such damage.
I would go wit the pvc.....but just my limited experience.
A couple of months ago I received a blank in the mail from a fly shop in one of those USPS triangular boxes. The four-piece blank was now eight pieces, plus some extra bits. It had been completely folded over. I sent it back for a replacement and just got the new blank this weekend. The mail carrier brought it up to the door with a concerned look on her face. There was a large dent in the side of the box. I opened it while she watched and, luckily, the blank was not damaged.
Whitewolf is right. Don't every ship a rod using just one of those triangular boxes from the post office. It stands a very good chance of being broken. Whatever package is used needs to be able to survive a crushing blow. I like PVC tubes.
Ted
Most of the blanks I get through the mail come in PVC pipe 'tubes'. Never had one of them arrive broken.
Did have some breakage with cardboard, both boxes and tubes, over the years. Long thin packages in shipping trucks and aircraft appear to be a bad combination. If it can be flexed and broken, it often will be.
On the occasions I've had to mail one rod, I've always used the PVC tube to send it in. Never had a problem. Multiple rods go into separate tubes and then into a larger box. again, even though the box may be damaged (almost always some denting or tearing) the rods inside were safe in their plastic pipes.
As to the 'cost', shipping rates have soared in the last few years. Make sure a buyer understands that shipping is 'extra' if the shipping cost would adversely effect your profits. Most folks are used to that.
Good Luck!
Buddy