a question for all and sundry....

most of you have already seen the table i built for this year's state fair. after the fair is over, i have every intention of listing it, and the coffee table from 2009, and selling them. with that, i have one thing that is stopping me in my tracks, how would i go about packing and shipping said tables, if the buyer is from out of town? i could see no problem obtaining a pallet, and knocking together a crate from dimensional lumber and plywood. but if you guys happen to have any better ideas, i'd like to hear them. thanks!

I think the crate approach is the best way to protect the furniture. The pallet may not be necessary if the crate is dolly-able. Here in LA there are crating companies that specialize in packing and shipping furniture and artwork. (My boss used to work for one.) There are similar outfits in your area. You could at least get a price quote from them to see if it'd be worth doing it yourself or not. By the time you source and purchase the lumber, plywood, foam, bubble wrap, and screws, build it, and find a cost-effective shipper, you might find the commercial shop is less expensive than doing it yourself. (Possibly not,though.) A good commercial shop would also be insured in the event of loss or damage.

The other solution:

Road Trip!

One way to ship larger pieces that a lot of poeple don't think about is the Bus, Greyhound Package Express handles a lot of frieght.

Some agencies have home delivery available, and some have to be picked up at the bus depot.

Just another option to keep in mind.

I guess the method of advertisement will in one way determine if it is a roadtrip or needs shipped. Think I would build the crate, 4-4x4's attached underneath spaced whatever the spacing on standard pallets so forklift forks fit underneath. Mark this side up and fragile. Good luck, I would be very nervous until it was at its final destination.

I would think the best method would be to contact local moving company, Mayflower, Bekins or such and have them handle the move... at the buyer's expense... they could wrap them in blankets and put on a truck with other furniture... save the crating and still be able to ship with with maximum protection... Crating would be pretty cost prohibitive... it usually done on a per volume basis and a table crated would be mostly air anyway... as an example a 40 x 60 x 30 inch table would be roughly 45 cubic feet and generally crating costs (at least at the company where I worked) run about $2 per cu.ft. internationally it could be even more.

Dan i would think Chuck has a very good idea to find a furniture moving company and see what they would want to add it to the truck.

I would focus on finding a buyer first then negotiate with the buyer as to the best most economical method to get it to them. Dont focus on the shipping when you advertise the items. Let the person fal in love with the item then at least that helps them overcome the shipping issues.

My bet is local is going to be the way to go. Craigslist or Etsy etc. Good luck.

I shipped a rocking horse from Cali to Illinois quite a few years ago.

I made a crate and dropped it off at the yellow freight depot. It tweren't cheap, but it got there in one piece...

This is interesting. The one reason I have not posted on EBay because of shipping.