Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on May 19, 2015 at 1:50pm

According to Mr. Speal he had custom boxes made... The trick is to keep the dimensional weight down.  34x4x10 is about right, and works out to be $15 Priority Mail via USPS...

Unfortunately, that is an odd size box, and getting them made costs like $8ea, with a minimum of 20... I'm not ready to invest $150 in boxes...

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Permalink Reply by Cigar Box Nation on May 22, 2015 at 1:27am

I pay $1 a box.  I use a local factory who likes to help out small businesses.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on May 23, 2015 at 5:04am

Again, it's all about location, location, location... It's probably a volume question, too.. This is a sideline for me, not my livelihood.

Though at those prices, if they ship, paying $30 in shipping for a bundle of boxes still makes them cheap! Maybe Ben can start selling bundles of "Shane Speal Signature Cigar Box Shipper Boxes"    :-)

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 19, 2015 at 1:55pm

 ups are  crooks  . and  careless . 

  regular  post  office   will  be  cheaper   within  the  states  .  and   internationally   from  you  . 

keep  the  box   no  wider  or  longer  than it  has to  be  ,  but   still  with adequate     padding  .  

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on May 19, 2015 at 2:02pm

That seems steep - I have used a company called Flagship, they co-ordinate everything thru all the other regular couriers and it cost about $25 from up here in Ontario down to Indiana. See if you can find a company that acts as a broker of sorts. The way it works is, if you are a large quantity shipper, you get better rates and the couriers don't care if it is picked up, second party and shipped to third party. I can't explain it very well.

Maybe this explains it better - http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/3333-Reducing-Shipping-C...

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on May 19, 2015 at 9:46pm

Getting custom boxes should be that expensive: here in the UK I get mine made  for about $1.50. minimum order of 25. You should be able to find plenty of people out there on the web making custom packing boxes.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on May 21, 2015 at 6:40pm

I did find one company willing to make them for $3, but shipping for 20 of them cost $33.  ugh.  Still looking.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on May 21, 2015 at 7:20pm

Just ordered from ULine:  20:  34x10x6.  $51 shipped.  Since the boxes are a little high, I figure I can cut down one dimension.  USPS Priority mail is $20ish paid online, for a box 35x10x4.   Parcel post is like $15.   (The extra sub $5 is worth the faster turnaround and tracking...)

I'll let you know how it goes.

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Permalink Reply by jawbone on May 20, 2015 at 2:01am

I would make my own boxes out of flat cardboard - it sometimes seemed that it took longer than the CBG !!! It took all the joy out of the build.

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Permalink Reply by Clarky on May 21, 2015 at 11:56pm

I wrap bubble wrap around the whole thing several times, then use flat cardboard and parcel tape and wrap it around the guitar pretty much so that it's still the same shape but bomb proof.  It ends up not much bigger or heavier than the actual guitar and here in sunny Scotland it costs me something like £12 - £15 and that's Parcelforce, I could probably get cheaper from another courier.

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on May 22, 2015 at 1:34am

I use the unline boxes like John Sawyer.   Dan Sleep told me about them.   Quick, easy, cheap enough and they save on shipping compared to what I used to do.  Size does matter.  

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on May 23, 2015 at 5:05am

Do you cut them down, or use them full-size?

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