Shipping Rods

[Brett's_daddy]

Okay, I haven't really shipped any rods (unless it was paid for by the manufacturer)...which is cheaper, the USPS or a courrier service like UPS or FedEx Ground? I know rods are tall but they weigh next to nothing even packed in a pvc tube and they're skinny so why would it cost $30+ to ship? I have a rod I'd like to put for sale but it's 7'5" and I don't want to pay an exorbitant amount of shipping.

[browne762]

Shipping cost isn't always based on the weight, but also the size of the item. 

 

I have generally had the best cost shipping with USPS, but I would always get prices from UPS and FedEx as well. Sometimes they will be less.

 

BTW, don't go to a UPS Store or a FedEx store and pay them to ship an item, they always charge you a premium. Just sign up for your own account, print the label yourself and then bring it to FedEx or UPS store.

[GReb]

Look up the size limits on USPS priority. Last rod I shipped cost around $15 but I had to go to several offices before the person measured it correctly. It is based off length and diameter of tube. 7’ rod barely makes it 

[Scott F]

I just shipped a rod at a UPS store, a 7 footer, in a cardboard tube, and the cost was almost $35. It only went 200 miles away. 

[A-Jay]

Seems shipping rods of whatever length, using whatever shipper we chose, 

is going to cost a few $$$.

Price of doing business these days.

At this point serious buyers and sellers alike know the deal.

A-Jay

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Keep the tube under 8’ and avoid oversized charges. Priority Mail is usually cheapest but yes not every clerk knows how to measure it. In PVC  $20 average. 

[kayaking_kev]

Can you ship in the same tube that TW sends you?

[Hammer 4]

18 minutes ago, kayaking_kev said:

Can you ship in the same tube that TW sends you?

Yup, just save the plastic end caps, wrap the tip in Styrofoam, or bubble wrap.  

[Bass Junke]

17 hours ago, Brett's_daddy said:

Okay, I haven't really shipped any rods (unless it was paid for by the manufacturer)...which is cheaper, the USPS or a courrier service like UPS or FedEx Ground? I know rods are tall but they weigh next to nothing even packed in a pvc tube and they're skinny so why would it cost $30+ to ship? I have a rod I'd like to put for sale but it's 7'5" and I don't want to pay an exorbitant amount of shipping.

Since most packages get on a plane, space is usually more important than weight. That is why in the shipping business we have dimensional weight. Now a rod tube is long but does not really take up a lot of room. Unfortunately 80"-90" is a large dimension and bumps up the price. The shipping industry will never make exceptions for shapes. 

[jbsoonerfan]

Here is my story on shipping rods, hopefully the ethics police don't come out in full force. I have shipped a number of rods and here is what I have found. If I take the Rod to the PO before noon then "Rick" does the measuring and I am looking at between $30 - $40 to ship usually anywhere. If I take it after noon then "Kay" does the measuring and it is about $20 - $25 every time. I asked her one day why there was a big difference, she told me that she just just measures diameter and not circumference so that makes a big difference. How true that is, I don't know, but she gets my business from now on. 

[Chance_Taker4]

I go through USPS every time. I good way to get the right price is to do it yourself. When I go into the post office it costs around $25 but when I do click-n-ship through their website it is usually around $15. I usually get way cheaper prices doing this on everything I ship USPS.

[FryDog62]

I mail USPS and the price break point is around 7 feet long.  As stated above, be sure the clerk measures diameter and not circumference.  I have sent rods 7 feet and longer in the standard TW type of cardboard rod tubes for typically $25-28.  However, last week I mailed a rod in a much skinnier pvc tube that I had received from Kistler rods.  And, the length was only 6'7" so the cost was down to $13.50.  

 

Another good practice, is to tape the rod down inside the tube, and bubble wrap it or use other packing.  This keeps the rod tip from jamming into the end of the tube and breaking.  I talked to the guys at one of the online stores that has a trade-in program and he said many fishermen are professional anglers, but amateurs when it comes to shipping and too often they receive damaged rods that can't be accepted for trade.  

[RichF]

I've tried going with USPS multiple times and every single time, they've wanted to charge me $65 to $100+ for sub 8ft tubes.  I think @jbsoonerfan experience is what's happening with most folks.  It's going to depend on how the postal worker measures the tube.  Some will do diameter, some circumference. It will make a huge difference.  I haven't been lucky yet so everything I've shipped has gone through UPS and has cost me $30-$40.  It's never really worth it honestly.

[Chance_Taker4]

Click-N-Ship is everyone's friend. Seriously you get cheaper postage no matter what you are shipping plus you schedule your mail carrier to pick up the package. I run a small soft plastic business out of my house and every label comes from either Paypal Shipping or Click-N-Ship. Then I set a pickup date and leave the packages on my porch when I drive off to work. When the carrier delivers my mail she grabs the packages I have waiting for her on my porch. Fast, easy, cheaper and never have to go into a post office again.