Okay TFF'ers, I am getting ready to sell some rods, my question is what is the best service to use for shipping? I have not sold any in a while, so thought I would tap into the superb knowledge base of all the members of TFF. No sarcasm intended!!!

Thanks

USPS delivered my last rod and it was not broken. But they have broken some. UPS has broken a lot. Never shipped or received rods from Fed Ex. So, roll the dice and get insurance.

Ship in a tube! I never had a problem so far with a tube shipped rod. I even keep them when I buy rods for that reason. I bought a case of 12 rods a long time ago. They were shipped in a cardboard box 8”x8”x7.5’. Heavy cardboard, a good box. It was shipped to me USPS. When I got it, it was folded in 1/2 and the ends were taped together. These were 7’ one piece rods” when shipped” seller resent them to me in a tube, UPS and they were all good. I’ll never forget that one.

I always send mine through my boat dealer. They have a great deal with FedEx on rates. Otherwise to walk into a FedEx office and ship a tube will be over $30 per tube.

When I get rod blanks I have gotten them from both UPS and FedEx without any problems. Granted they all used tubes. The ones i got recently sent the blanks in a pvc tube which was kind of cool. I am saving those for later when I have to ship a rod

I buy a lot of rods from EBay. Most are shipped USPS and out of about 30 1-piece rods, I only had one broken. It was in a heavy tube and someone had to work hard to break it. The down side is the USPS makes it so hard to recover a lose caused in the mail it is not worth the time to get your money back. So if they break it just write it off as a business loss.

i ship my rods in pvc tubes. Cap one end using pvc sealant and seal the other end with a cap but duct tape in place. Never had a broken rod. I use UPS.

And wrap them before putting in the tube!

What does it typically cost to ship a rod in a cardboard tube?

This is what prompted me to use my Boat dealer to ship them using their low rate of $20. All of the other shipping companies wanted over $30 to ship from their facility. When you pay Gloomis $100 for a rod replacement they send the shipping label and it cost nothing. Some other warranty exchanges do the same thing.

Cost is usually around $28-$30. I will never use USPS for shipping rods. They've broken my rods twice. Never had a problem with UPS or Fed-X. Maybe just luck of the draw....

Either heavy cardboard like Tackle Warehouse uses or schedule 40 PVC. It's all extra weight (expense) but it will get the job done. Had one bad experience with PVC (not schedule 40) and a broken Dobyn's original Champion Extreme 792 spinning rod. If you follow Dobyn's that was a unicorn spinning rod and highly sought after. Anyway, buyer sent it back just as it came and it was a 45 % bend and rod had broken about midway up. I had wrapped rod in bubble wrap and done what needs to be done to protect the rod. I filed a claim and to my surprise UPS paid. Clerk said they don't normally pay on deals like that but a blind man could see they were at fault. Only regret is that original buyer didn't get his unicorn rod. So take every precaution, pack well, use stout tubing ( even if more expensive on your end) and hold your breath. I have gotten very cautious about selling rods if I have to ship.