Rod Shipping - HOLY COW ! UPS wanted 119 bucks

[Falkus]

Holy Cow - Had to ship a rod out today. I used the same tube that TW shipped to me. 

 

Went to USPS - they couldn't accept it cuz it was too big (didn't understand that part) 
Went to UPS - was quoted for 119 buck shipped. I told them "Baloney, I am not paying that".  
Went to FedEx and gotten it shipped with two days shipping for 35 bucks. 

 

My beef is that why would UPS quote me that much ?  

[LonnieP]

That’s crazy. I shipped one by UPS last year and it was around 40 insured. 

[burrows]

Yeah they were charging me 40 and some change 119 ,that’s crazy ?

[RichF]

My experience...none of the branches know what they're talking about.  You never know what you're gonna hear when you visit.  I've never been able to ship a rod USPS (always $100+) but have heard of people shipping tubes priority for less than $20.  I use UPS because it's close to me.  Every rod I've shipped has cost me $35 to $40. 

[Glenn]

I just shipped a rod UPS cross country for $45.

[CroakHunter]

I've heard dobyns sells pre-paid packing labels for rods does anyone know if it's true?

[fishwizzard]

Yea, I have found no rhyme or reason when it comes to shipping costs.  I have paid between $60 to $25 and I cant figure out the differece.  

 

I have a few rods I want to sell but after shipping it isnt worth what I can get for them.  

[Falkus]

I kinda of told myself that this was the last time I will be shipping rods out.

 

I was really appalled by that price...

[the reel ess]

That's funny and ridiculous. It's due to the length. I'm an estimator, among other things, for a company in the construction business. It costs us a min of $250 to ship anything anywhere on a LTL (less-than-truckload) freight carrier. Often we have a part that costs more to ship than it's worth in material. We usually tell the vendor to hold it and add it to a bigger shipment later.

 

It sounds like they quoted you LTL freight when you wanted ground service.

[XzyluM]

11 hours ago, CroakHunter said:

I've heard dobyns sells pre-paid packing labels for rods does anyone know if it's true?

Pretty sure that is only for returns to Dobyns. It automatically puts Dobyns’ address on the label when printed. Otherwise they would be losing a lot of money with people printing labels to ship somewhere else. 

[RPreeb]

$119 is pretty much out of the ball park for a rod.  I just ordered a 13 foot canoe from Cabela's, shipped to my home for $130.  That fee is the oversize surcharge, Cabela's $35 standard shipping was waived.  If they can ship a canoe for $130, a rod, no matter how long, should be less than $50.

[Munkin]

2 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

 

I have a few rods I want to sell but after shipping it isnt worth what I can get for them.  

Same here, maybe us merrylanders can just list what we have to trade locally. Anyone need a 8' crankbait rod?

 

Allen

[Choporoz]

Do you Merrylanders have an annual fishing flea market up there?  Somehow, I completely missed the NOVA one this year.  I blame @dave

[Gundog]

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

 

It sounds like they quoted you LTL freight when you wanted ground service.

I tend to agree with this. They must have given you a quote for a different type of shipping. 

[Munkin]

40 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Do you Merrylanders have an annual fishing flea market up there?  Somehow, I completely missed the NOVA one this year.  I blame @dave

There are two that I like; one is at the AG center in Boonsboro in January, the other is at Gamber fire hall which was last Saturday.

 

Allen

[Falkus]

Speaking of quotes, When I was at UPS getting the quote. I asked him to let me look at the screen. The guy pulled the screen and let me take a peak. It was the cheapest he could find.

 

When I was at FedEx. I asked the guy to let me look at it. I was able to get the price that I was willing to pay.

 

But one thing that puzzled me at FedEx. Ground shipping (5 days) was 108 bucks, but two day shipping was $35. What the heck - I told him to pick the two day !   

 

7 minutes ago, Munkin said:

There are two that I like; one is at the AG center in Boonsboro in January, the other is at Gamber fire hall which was last Saturday.

 

Allen

Really There is one ? I never knew that ...I should be on the mailing list ! 

[Paul Roberts]

Don't get it. USPS Priority used to ship long tubes/boxes for $6! Was surprised to pay $30 for a 6' blank this winter. Maybe the Amazon world has increased competition for space on trucks?

[fishwizzard]

2 hours ago, Munkin said:

There are two that I like; one is at the AG center in Boonsboro in January, the other is at Gamber fire hall which was last Saturday.

 

Allen

I made it to the Boonsboro one, but didn't know about the other.   

 

There are a few saltwater focused shows over the winter, but it's not really worth the time to get a table to sell 2-4 rods.  I always found it annoying when people post "local pick up only" WTS ads on non-local forums, but for rods that are going to sell for less then $100-150, I don't see any other way to do it without making it not worth the trouble.   I might take some pictures and post a local-only add myself in the next few days, I need to clear out some space in the rod rack asap.  

[npl_texas]

I’ve shipped usps plenty of times. It’s usually $20-30. The last time I went they said they didn’t think they could ship it but they measured and said it was ok.  Only problem is they are rough with the tubes and I’ve had them break a few. I hate shipping rods. 

[Bluebasser86]

I don't ship rods anymore because the price and headache.

[soflabasser]

On 2/26/2018 at 7:23 PM, Burke said:

Holy Cow - Had to ship a rod out today. I used the same tube that TW shipped to me. 

 

Went to USPS - they couldn't accept it cuz it was too big (didn't understand that part) 
Went to UPS - was quoted for 119 buck shipped. I told them "Baloney, I am not paying that".  
Went to FedEx and gotten it shipped with two days shipping for 35 bucks. 

 

My beef is that why would UPS quote me that much ?  

 

$119 seems to be a excessive amount to ask to ship a fishing rod in the United States. I bought a rod from Australia and the shipping cost me less than $30 to ship the rod from Australia to South Florida.

[Dirtyeggroll]

If you know the weight your tube+rod and know the dimensions you can go to USPS online and print your own shipping label at home and then take it to USPS for them to ship.

 

I have shipped several rods this year doing this and never spent more then $20.

 

If you’re worried you won’t do it right, just make sure when you drop it off you have them weigh and scan it to approve that it will make it all the way to the destination and not get stuck at the nearest post office for someone to pick it up with additional fees.

[waymont]

I recently had the same issue. I was returning a G. Loomis 6'6" one piece rod for a warranty replacement (broken handle) and the USPS quote was $95, so I went to FedEx and they told me it was $50.00. I declined and left the store, then changed my mind went back in and decided to just go ahead and to use FedEx. They punched it in again and it was $32.00.......why? Who knows.

I asked the woman charging me what happened and she didn't know. Chicago to the West coast is always more expensive than a more local shipping destination so I was happy with the $32.00 charge.

And getting a brand new replacement for  12 year old rod was pretty excellent too.

[Falkus]

4 minutes ago, waymont said:

I recently had the same issue. I was returning a G. Loomis 6'6" one piece rod for a warranty replacement (broken handle) and the USPS quote was $95, so I went to FedEx and they told me it was $50.00. I declined and left the store, then changed my mind went back in and decided to just go ahead and to use FedEx. They punched it in again and it was $32.00.......why? Who knows.

I asked the woman charging me what happened and she didn't know. Chicago to the West coast is always more expensive than a more local shipping destination so I was happy with the $32.00 charge.

And getting a brand new replacement for  12 year old rod was pretty excellent too.

Dont blame ya for getting it replaced ..

 

but why does it goes from $50 bucks to $32 bucks. That's my beef.

I told myself that I would never ship a rod again unless it's warranty replacement from Gloomis/Dobyns

[Scrapiron]

I’ve shipped a few rods 3 day priority USPS this winter for about $15- cross country. I go online and create my label and I’m accurate with dimensions and weight. 

 

I have gone in last summer and was quoted like $90 and asked them for a cheaper price- and they found it at $30