It's Never Too Big to Ship

Don't you love estate sales? You're wandering from room to room, grabbing up a few treasures along the way. Then boom! You see it. A 1928 wood panelled commercial refrigerator, still in use. You drool over the gleaming steel hardware, the enamel lined interior and the inset glass doors. You dream of the mansion this should be in and contemplate the $$ value. Then you shudder.....ship THIS? No way!! And away you walk, leaving thousands of dollars behind you. 

A reproduction built by Iceboxes.com

This has happened to every online seller I know at one point or another. In all of our minds there is THAT item that we won't even deal with because of the shipping risk. But I'm here to say don't be intimidated by big. Big can be good. Very good.

1960's Kidney Shaped Table by judygovintage

There are several shippers that will help you and if you've got a hot enough item, your buyer will be willing to pay. A low cost option that I adore is Greyhound. Yes, the bus company. According to their website (which is very easy to use), package dimensions need to be within 30 inches x 47 inches x 82 inches. The weight limit is 100 pounds. These size limits are very generous and allow for a huge range of items. (My Danish modern teak sideboard, 73 inches long shipped this way!) 

Rustic fruit dolly table from honeystreasures

A high end option is Craters & Freighters. They will come to your home or place of business, pick up the item, build a crate for it and ship it anywhere. I have used them for over 2 dozen items and been very pleased. The most recent was our family heirloom 6' high clock, built by Great Great Grandpa. It arrived in fabulous condition, wrapped, padded & in a custom crate.

South Texas long horns from ohmermaidme

 If your item is too big for Greyhound and not worth the cost of Craters & Freighters, consider shipping it via truck. This means you'll be packaging it up yourself. The easiest way to ship is via "less than load". This means you don't require an entire truck, just a portion of it. It's important to find out if your customer can pick their item up at the local freight terminal, since delivering to a residence really hikes up the bill. To find trucking companies that offer this, type "LTL shipper" into Google. This will bring up a whole range of companies that cater to that need. 

Tiffany protege window by BeautyInfusion

While some of these options may require some major elbow grease, the items involved are generally worth it. Nothing kills a potential sale faster than by saying shipping isn't even an option. By taking a little time to educate yourself about these options now, you'll be prepared when you run across that Have-To-Have-It find this Summer. A much better option that trying to make an uninformed choice on the spot. Go Big!