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Shipping question


jrchob

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I have Morningside Mansion on eBay for local pick up. I have had several interested in having it shipped. I have no experience in that. I went to UPS this morning for a general idea of cost of packaging and shipping. It was astronomical!! Any one on the forum that has purchased a finished dollhouse, how was it packed, shipped and cost.

I was thinking using a double walled box with the house shrouded in bubble wrap surrounded by peanuts.

Thanks!

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36 minutes ago, jrchob said:

...I was thinking using a double walled box with the house shrouded in bubble wrap surrounded by peanuts.

Thanks!

That sounds like the way to go.  If you have any ceiling fixtures you might want to cover them with a piece of bubble wrap & tape it to the ceiling for transport.  I haven't shipped any dollhouses, but I think in addition to UPS & Fed Ex I'd see what Greyhound charges

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You can get a rough idea by going to the UPS quotes website. Just pick a California zip code fo destination. UPS is generally cheaper when it comes to bigger, heavier items, USPS is better for lighter, smaller packages. Just to ship my bungalow to Calif would be over $300, not counting the time I'd spend building up a huge box and packing it, which is why it's pickup only. Someone who wanted to buy it but couldn't drive up to Maine called some movers and shippers for quotes to box and ship it, they all wanted @ $1600.

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1 hour ago, grazhina said:

You can get a rough idea by going to the UPS quotes website. Just pick a California zip code fo destination. UPS is generally cheaper when it comes to bigger, heavier items, USPS is better for lighter, smaller packages. Just to ship my bungalow to Calif would be over $300, not counting the time I'd spend building up a huge box and packing it, which is why it's pickup only. Someone who wanted to buy it but couldn't drive up to Maine called some movers and shippers for quotes to box and ship it, they all wanted @ $1600.

I am going to leave it local pick up only. Another thing I've learned is that Fedex and UPS go by dimensional weight not weight of box with house inside, so thesizeof the boxis a big determining factor in price.

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I have all my houses professionally packed. That’s the only way to assure you’ll get the money back on the insurance if it’s damaged during shipping. I feel, if the buyer is willing to pay it all, then offer it. That way, you BOTH are protected . I make no money off of it and I let them know, I’m a professional builder, not packer. I’ve only had 2 packages end up damaged. The last time, it was totally UPS’s fault and they tried to NOT pay up. They did though because I did use a professional shipping company who went after UPS for the cla8m. Had it been me, I wouldn’t have gotten the money back on the claim and I would’ve had to pay my customer back all that money out of my own pocket. I say, if you ship, use a professional! 

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1 hour ago, Minis On The Edge said:

I have all my houses professionally packed. That’s the only way to assure you’ll get the money back on the insurance if it’s damaged during shipping. I feel, if the buyer is willing to pay it all, then offer it. That way, you BOTH are protected . I make no money off of it and I let them know, I’m a professional builder, not packer. I’ve only had 2 packages end up damaged. The last time, it was totally UPS’s fault and they tried to NOT pay up. They did though because I did use a professional shipping company who went after UPS for the cla8m. Had it been me, I wouldn’t have gotten the money back on the claim and I would’ve had to pay my customer back all that money out of my own pocket. I say, if you ship, use a professional! 

Good information. Thanks.

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I have just been through this with an ebay seller, I bought a house just last week  which was advertised as free shipping, the seller seemed to think it could be dismantled but I said no, he then looked at the comments I had sent him  many of which came from here and agreed it could not be dismantled. I offered to let him out of the deal but he said he would pack it in a custom made wooden box but after getting quotes this morning he took me up on my offer and sent the refund. The moral is ..Tracy is right, in order to get it properly shipped it needs to be by a pro who knows what they are doing and both the buyer and seller need to agree up front. I think the seller got a real shock as he thought it would ship from Ohio for under $100. My story ended OK but it could have been a real problem

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1 hour ago, Jeannine said:

I have just been through this with an ebay seller, I bought a house just last week  which was advertised as free shipping, the seller seemed to think it could be dismantled but I said no, he then looked at the comments I had sent him  many of which came from here and agreed it could not be dismantled. I offered to let him out of the deal but he said he would pack it in a custom made wooden box but after getting quotes this morning he took me up on my offer and sent the refund. The moral is ..Tracy is right, in order to get it properly shipped it needs to be by a pro who knows what they are doing and both the buyer and seller need to agree up front. I think the seller got a real shock as he thought it would ship from Ohio for under $100. My story ended OK but it could have been a real problem

Glad it worked out for you. I actually thought of him when I got my quote!!

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20 hours ago, Jeannine said:

I have just been through this with an ebay seller, I bought a house just last week  which was advertised as free shipping, the seller seemed to think it could be dismantled but I said no, he then looked at the comments I had sent him  many of which came from here and agreed it could not be dismantled. I offered to let him out of the deal but he said he would pack it in a custom made wooden box but after getting quotes this morning he took me up on my offer and sent the refund. The moral is ..Tracy is right, in order to get it properly shipped it needs to be by a pro who knows what they are doing and both the buyer and seller need to agree up front. I think the seller got a real shock as he thought it would ship from Ohio for under $100. My story ended OK but it could have been a real problem

I’m so happy you got that resolved! Many times, people don’t understand just how expensive it can be to ship. So glad you got you money back! 

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  • 2 months later...

I had to ship 2 dollhouses that my mother made from Illinois to Arizona. I started searching and the costs were astronomical! I found FreightQuote.com. They were extremely helpful. The 2 houses (1 very large and 1 small) weighed 290 pounds with all the crating and protection we did. I spoke with Spencer Bush and he made all the arrangements.  The crates were dropped off at UPS Freight in Illinois on 9/12/17 and arrived in Phoenix on 9/18. Total cost was $250.00.

We packed all the furniture, etc. and if possible left them in the room.  I bought a roll of dry cleaning bags and stuffed each room with them, leaving everything that was on the walls in place. Then we built the crate. Everything arrived in perfect shape and nothing fell off the walls. I would definitely use FreightQuote.com again and recommend them.

Poohsfolks

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