Most economical way to ship a statue out of the US ?

Hi gang

I have a statue I am thinking of selling

Q for the statue collectors

What is the most economical way to ship within the US ?
Fed EX quoted me a rate of $85 with about $1,000 insurance
Ground

For international , it was $1,000 through Fed EX (!)

Wow ...

Thx everyone

From my experience USPS will always be less expensive compared to UPS & Fed-Ex.

I've had much better rates with UPS than Fed-Ex. Domestically, UPS is usually about 20-30% cheaper for me. Internationally, it's not even a contest. Fed-Ex quoted me at $900 to send three statues from New Hampshire to Canada, claiming that the only method they could use was air. I argued that Fed-Ex delivered Ground to Canada and the woman refused, stating that was "the only option her computer gave her". I took it to UPS and they shipped all three Ground to Canada for under $200, fully insured, with delivery confirmation.

Pork Chop Express is right though, USPS will most likely beat the UPS price. Really depends on the size/weight of the package and where it's headed to. I've actually had UPS beat USPS on a few packages this last year.

I'm in MA and I found the same with UPS... although FedEx ground is very close at times...

What about shipping from US to say Germany or China or Hong Kong for a statue ? Does ups ship ground over seas ?

Odd how ups can ship ground and fed ex is air only ?

International shipping I always use USPS. Depending on destination you'll have to make sure your package does not exceed size/weight shipping restrictions (especially on statues), all of which can be found on their website.

Domestic, if I'm not using the post office it's usually UPS.

I use USPS for 99% of my domestic shipping(100% international). They are almost always cheaper, easier on the packages, and just as fast. Using them for 17 years on eBay almost everyday plus the last few years quite a few statues too.

I'm in Australia and all my stuff from Sideshow comes via FedEx.
Most statues are in the $70-100 range. That's 5 day air freight.

Most economical way is to get someone who is traveling to check it in with their luggage. Not joking. I brought back a suitcase full of comics from SDCC.

fishmilkshake said:

I'm in Australia and all my stuff from Sideshow comes via FedEx.
Most statues are in the $70-100 range. That's 5 day air freight.

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This made me laugh. $70-100 per statue from the US to Australia. I try to ship three statues from the US to Canada and Fed-Ex quotes me $900. What a crock. Sure, I don't get the discount that SS gets, but I doubt their discount is 2/3 the cost. Not to mention, it should be cheaper to ship from NH to Canada.

When I buy in the US I always ask for USPS International Priority Mail, very reliable and not too expensive. Mostly between $50 and $100 for shipping to the Netherlands.

Marcel54 said:

When I buy in the US I always ask for USPS International Priority Mail, very reliable and not too expensive. Mostly between $50 and $100 for shipping to the Netherlands.

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Cargolution is also a viable alternative. Their rates are roughly the same.

Be weary.

It's possible you may encounter a scam buyer and you'll be out $ and the statue as well as being SOL when dealing with a high end item as a statue being shipped overseas. The same happens domestically.

Chronos1919 said:

This made me laugh. $70-100 per statue from the US to Australia. I try to ship three statues from the US to Canada and Fed-Ex quotes me $900. What a crock. Sure, I don't get the discount that SS gets, but I doubt their discount is 2/3 the cost. Not to mention, it should be cheaper to ship from NH to Canada.

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Shipping cost for companies with a contract will always be much cheaper than individuals without a contract.

Consider how big the boxes usually are (which is more important than weight), they can be quite expensive unless it is shipped from China which has super cheap rates. Imagine people are sending items much more bulky and heavy, but valued much less all the time over the world. However a thing to note is the longer it takes to deliver the higher the chance the items get damaged. For Sea, there's alot of loading and off loading going on.

DeltaForceChung said:

Be weary.

It's possible you may encounter a scam buyer and you'll be out $ and the statue as well as being SOL when dealing with a high end item as a statue being shipped overseas. The same happens domestically.

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yea buyer could just clip the statue and claim it is damaged and asked for a refund and refuse a partial refund, you either suck it up and provide a full refund (including the postage) and let the buyer keep the item or have the buyer return the item and you pay him back the return postage... buyer could just put a rock inside with a tracking number as long as the tracking shows received you not just lost your statue, postage but also have to pay the buyer his return postage for a rock. you can bring it to the police station but since it's an international purchase what's the odd you winning when ebay always side with the buyer?