Shipping a Drum Set

[jetter2]

Hey all I have a 5 peice kit with cymbals, stands, throne, pedals etc that I am needing to ship to Cali from here in dallas. The guy is bidding whatever it takes on this set on ebay, and right now its allready up to $510 with still 14hrs to go. In the past 6 hrs alone it has gone up $160!!!


What are some good companies to ship the kit through..and where in the hell do I get boxes big enough to hold the bass drum? Everything else Im sure wont be a problem but thats a hell of a box!

[JeepnDrummer]

UPS and FedEx will ship the drums.  Most mailing/packing stores can box them up and mail them for you.  The set I recently bought was shipped by FedEx, a company I much prefer over UPS, and arrived damage free.

You can save on shipping by removing the drum heads and nesting the shells, so long as you wrap them in bubble-wrap and then fill the rest in with popcorn.

[jetter2]

I too much prefer FedEx and DHL over UPS. So If I just take my drums up to the local UPS store, they can box them all up for me and stuff??

Should I take off the drumheads or what??

[Joe]

Should I take off the drumheads or what??

The former.

More specifically, remove the drumheads from one side; pretend you're gearing up for a recording session with a producer who likes the dry seventies sound.  Then (either you or the packer will do this) get some cardboard circles slightly smaller than the size of the drumheads; when nesting the drums, space them with these circles so as to isolate the hoop from the head.  Wrapping the insides of the shells has been mentioned; use newsprint or newspaper liberally to fill any gaps.  The bottom of the drum should be insulated with bubble wrap to minimize fatigue from the weight of the drums.  The loose drumheads can then be replaced, one by one, screwed on along with the hoop.

The idea is to make a tight-fitting nesting doll, with no rattles of any kind.  Ever see baggage-handlers at work?  Yeah.

Oh, and if you take the drums to the UPS store for packing, aren't they going to want to ship them as well?  Don't you have a private venture of this type around?

[Dave Heim]

Not sure if UPS-type stores charge for packing (I suspect they do), so you might want to pack what you can yourself, and let them handle the BD and other stuff you can't pack up on your own.  It may save you a few bucks.

[JazZzmen]

FedEx!

[jetter2]

Well the Toms and everything else dosent bother me. The Bass Drum is the only one im worried about packing.

Also, how much does shipping a kit usually cost? I need to tell the guy so he can tack it on to the winning bid.

[Vintage Ludwig]

FedEx Ground.........FedEx Air will be cost prohibitive.  You can take the kit to a packaging/shipping center like a Postal Annex, or Mailboxes Etc. and they will professionally pack the kit.  Or better yet, if you have a drum shop near by, they will do it all for you.  Be prepared however, as this service is neither free-or cheap.  Theres a big difference in pkg. a drum kit and having it arrive with damage-or having it done correctly and having it arrive undamaged.  If I buy/sell a vintage kit-which I often do, like a Vistalite kit or my recent stainless steel kit I bought and had it shipped from the east coast to me here in California, I will ship the drums in my padded flight cases and then have the cases shipped back.  You will also need to insure EACH drum individually.  If you insure the WHOLE kit and 1 drum gets damaged, no carrier will give you enough of a claim to cover the cost to replace/repair it-I LEARNED THE HARD WAY!!!!!!!  I had an 18" amber vistalite floor tom cracked by UPS-and they would only pay out 100 bucks for the claim!  As a rough figure-be prepared to spend 150 bucks or so to pack and ship-AND MAKE SURE YOU INSURE THE DRUMS CORRECTLY!

[Dave Heim]

Depends on weight, distance, deadline, etc.  The UPS & FedEx sites have sections to help you calculate.

[jetter2]

Okay do do I take the batterheads off and stack all the drums inside the bass drum or what?

Where would be the best place to go and get these things packed and shiped safely? I obviously want to ship these with no damage at all!

The buyer is paying for shipping, and I have half a mind to go out, buy some drum cases(he will pay for it) and just have the drums shipped in those!

[Dave Heim]

Okay do do I take the batterheads off and stack all the drums inside the bass drum or what?

I believe Joe suggested that a few posts back.  Take the batter heads off - and if they'll fit - nest the drums inside each other and ship as one unit.  But quicksfoot makes a case for shipping them separately.  

Where would be the best place to go and get these things packed and shiped safely? I obviously want to ship these with no damage at all!

http://www.ups.com
http://www.fedex.com

You can insure the shipment, but you won't get a guarantee that they will not be damaged.  Accidents happen. Talk with both companies.  Go with the one that feels best to you.

[Joe]

...But quicksfoot makes a case for shipping them separately.

That he does.  I also wasn't thinking of the height of the floor tom, which would make nesting them a bit tricky if the floor tom is taller than the width of the bass drum.

Upon thinking a bit, I would go by Guitar Center (or another music store if you like) and ask how the drums are shipped to them.

In any event, be sure that the drums are packed well.  Count on the boxes being tossed about like bundles of newspapers.  Be sure that no part of the drum is in direct contact with the structure of the box itself.

[jetter2]

I called Guitar Center and they told me they were shipped with all the drums nesting inside of eachother. I can only fit the floor tom, and 1 rack tom inside of the bass. The snare and other rack tom are going to have to be shipped seperatly. No biggie!

I am going though a local shipping company called Pakmail(www.pakmail.com) they have done many drumsets before, and he was just snatching numbers out of the air...saying possibly around $300 for shipping. The UPS store wont do it and I kinda prefer it that way. That $300 is everthing from them being all crated up, to it all being insured.

[Showguy]

$300 to ship your drums? Do the bidders know that?

[Vintage Ludwig]

$300 bucks to pack, insure and ship certainly seems reasonable for sure.  But hey, Im used to shipping very rare and very expensive drum kits.  I have a Ludwig Vistalite pattern C  kit in Bonham sizes that is the candy cane stripe pattern.  Its the ONLY kit like it that Im aware of.  I paid 600 to have it shipped and insured, and I was pleased when it arrived unharmed.  Im the guy who has no prob. paying for service, piece of mind, and paying to get what I want!  I dont know what I would have done if any 1 of those drums was damaged.  Yup-piece of mind goes the distance in my book-

[JeepnDrummer]

$300 seems like a lot to me.  I paid about $100 to have a set shipped to me via FedEx.  It's a five piece set (kick, mounted tom, two floor toms) and was shipped in two boxes.

[Showguy]

$300 to ship a priceless, one of a kind drumset is certainly worth it.  Is that what we're talking about here?

[JeepnDrummer]

$300 to ship a priceless, one of a kind drumset is certainly worth it.  Is that what we're talking about here?

No.  Read the first post. ;)   BTW, the set I have was shipped from Dallas, TX to Utah, and is a Maryland kit.  Not exactly cheap stuff.

[Showguy]

No.  Read the first post. ;)   BTW, the set I have was shipped from Dallas, TX to Utah, and is a Maryland kit.  Not exactly cheap stuff.

I DID read the first post. I was hoping for a little info about the set since there is nothing specific mentioned.
My point is this: People run into problems with ebay for a lot of reasons, with one of the big ones being shipping. $100 to ship a $2000(?) drum set like a Maryland is reasonable. $300 to ship a $750 drum set  is not, and increases the possibility of the buyer backing out.

[JeepnDrummer]

Yeah, I know.  See my :wink: smilie

[Buddy Bryan]

I'm in North Carolina. In April my band recorded our debut cd in California. I shipped my drums out there FedEx. Well everything made it but the kick drum. They never found it. I had it insured and JUST got the check from them today.
It cost a little over $300 to ship them out there. It was like 7 or 8 pieces. I had to pay more to ship them back cause I had a local mail service  pack the whole thing on a pallet and ship it as one big piece.
I don't think I'll do that again. If we go back, I would rent a kit and maybe take a snare or two.

[Vintage Ludwig]

I'm in North Carolina. In April my band recorded our debut cd in California. I shipped my drums out there FedEx. Well everything made it but the kick drum. They never found it. I had it insured and JUST got the check from them today.
It cost a little over $300 to ship them out there. It was like 7 or 8 pieces. I had to pay more to ship them back cause I had a local mail service  pack the whole thing on a pallet and ship it as one big piece.
I don't think I'll do that again. If we go back, I would rent a kit and maybe take a snare or two.  Aw maaaannnn.....thatsa drag for sure.  Hopefully the amount they paid you covered the replacement cost of the drum.  So I kinda rest my case ;D
Alot of prof. musicians just rent their gear if the situation warrants.  But for me-I have no problem ponying up the bread to PROPERLY pack and ship a drum kit-

[Buddy Bryan]

I came out pretty good. When I bought the set in 03 the kick was around 5 or 600. I insured it for more than that. The suggested retail on these is a hair over $1000. which nobody pays you know. So I got my check from FedEx for one thousand something. I'm happy.

[Vintage Ludwig]

Sweet Budrock-you did it EXACTLY how one should!