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I don't ship many things, and what I have shipped recently has not been large. Is the cost to ship an item getting prohibitively expensive? I ask, because I'm looking for a larger sign to place on a particular wall. I've starting browsing (particularly Feebay to see what's out there) and I've come across a couple of possibilities, but with shipping costs listed at $130+ it makes what I've seen too costly. I'm just curious. Granted these are signs that are larger (I think 56" x 32" or so) and I've only been browsing the past few days.

Are you asking if sellers are charging more for shipping? The actual shipping fee's from both UPS and PO are still about the same. What has come down quite a bit is uship pricing. You can get great deals there for the larger items. The down side to that is people are desperate for work, that is never good.

I think if you are searching eBay, people are starting to add more $$ to shipping because they don't pay fees on the shipping cost just the final sales price. Just a way to get around the fees that they charge to sell. Just my .02.

Not
Not so much are they asking more, just if cost have gone up. I see $134 to ship a tin sign and think, "That seems like a lot to send that UPS Ground". But, I don't ship much and it's been years since I have mailed/shipped a larger sign.

What kind of sign are you looking for?  If you find something in the NC area, I still make trips up to DC once a month or so.  Planning on being up there in a few weeks, I can keep an eye out for a deal for you around here.

           With measurements, weight and destination, you can log on to the UPS website and get your own shipping estimate.
Signs probably have a large girth which increases the price.
If sellers shipping price is too high, you could always ask him to box it up and send him a prepaid UPS label to stick on it.

Alot of the shipping depends on the sellers on Ebay. I had a seller want $100.00 to ship two Coinco mechs from California to Ohio. After getting the weight  and package size I was able to get them shipped thru UPS for $35.00.
 I recently purchased a complete cooling deck and tall boy coin mech from another member recently and they weighed in at 80 lbs and it cost me $70.00 for shipping. I also arranged shipping for another member of three packages two weighing 61 lbs each and one at 51 lbs and total shipping was around $90.00.
 I have my own UPS account because alot of my part suppliers were charging way more for shipping than what it really costs. Two factors are the weight and size of the package. If you can get that from a seller you can estimate shipping cost online and see if they are being honest or over charging for shipping.

Thanks. I'll keep an eye out in NC.

Something like the 27" x 56" cardboards would work  http://www.ebay.com/itm/1950s-Two-sided-Coca-cola-Cardboard-sign-27-x-56-framed-and-rare-/281086118266?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item417209c97a&nma=true&si=vrTo58gZMKjqlr%252BvY6RrM5gdMB4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 , or a sign about this size:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1940-Original-tin-Drink-Coca-Cola-sign-Large-56-3-4-X-32-Very-nice-original-/310661576660?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4854df77d4

A nice 18" x 54" horizontal sign would work too. I have a nice Diet Rite one, but it just doesn't go well color-wise.
It doesn't have to be Coke.
We cleaned up our office/computer room of all my son's old toys. Repainted it and making it more "grown up". I hung two 36" buttons, an 18" x 54" vertical sign and some thermometers, but we still have one empty wall and I don't want to clutter it up with a bunch of the smaller signs.

I agree with Ken - being over-size will KILL you in shipping charges.   

Even though larger diameter signs are definitely under the weight limit, you get hammered for being over-size.  It cost me well over a hundred dollars to ship a 48" sign from PA to NY.

Jim

The last big item I shipped was a 200 lb range hood , The person who bought it called a shipper in my area and I dropped it off and he gave them a card number. That may not always be available but at least you would know you were paying just for shipping.

I shipped a 48" round porcelain marathon gas sign to MI a few months ago. I used FedEx ground which was the cheapest cost was around $150.00 + $35.00 in materials. Keep in mind shipping a large sign is not an easy task and takes time and money to prepare it correctly for shipping. In order for it to get there safely!

Joey

Good to know Joey - that price compares almost exactly with the cost I paid to ship a similar sized sign this winter via UPS ground.   At least I know I didn't get ripped off ... well, either I didn't or we both did!   :biggrin:

Jim