Shipping Bikes 101

I learned something new on Monday....the local pack and ship stores mark up shipping rates through the roof!!!

I went to the local package store to ship my bike to Phoenix.  The bike was already packaged in a nice hard shell bike box so the store did not have to pack anything.  They put the box on the scale, took the dimensions and gave me a price.... $197!!!!!!  shipping a bike ONE way GROUND from Bend to Phoenix!!  So it would be another $197 to ship it back.  After I picked my jaw off the ground I asked them why prices had tripled since the last time I shipped a bike.  They gave me a blank stare and had no reason.  I quickly pulled a 180 out of that store and hustled over to the local FedEx facility thinking it might be a little cheaper.  I thought there would be a markup at the package shop and I figured it would not hurt to get a 2nd price.

The folks at the FedEx facility were super helpful and a lot nicer to deal with.  When they gave me a price of $67, my jaw again dropped to the ground!  Same shipper, same package, same destination and it was 1/3 of the price.  Sign me up!!!

Lesson learned - if you want to ship a bike, take it to the local FedEx facility where they won't triple the price all in the good name of markup!

Unfortunately this might change at the start of the new year as I believe FedEx will be going to a 'volume' pricing model where big bulky boxes (regardless of how heavy or light they are) will have to pay more...hmmm, sounds an awful lot like a bike box to me!  doh!  It might be time to start considering bike rentals if prices go up too much.