I have stock rims/tires from a TJ for sale up on eBay. I specifically state that I won't ship them. However, they didn't sell last time, and I had questions about shipping. This time, after re-listing them, I have another interested party -- but they want me to ship them. They are willing to pay for the shipping, but I said it wasn't worth the hassle.
So, does anyone know what it takes to ship tires mounted on wheels? These are the stockers, so they aren't huge. Where do you get the boxes? How much is it per tire/wheel?
See if these guys can help. They are known for low rates, but not great on protecting the cargo (package it well). I would think it would be pretty hard to damage some tires and stock rims.
I sold the 30" stock tires for my TJ online. When it came time to ship them I took some cardboard and put it over the front and back of the wheels and wrapped them with the shrink rap that they sell in rolls to keep things on pallets.
The cardboard was there just to give a place to put the mailing labels. To say I got funny looks at the UPS place when I literally rolled in with five 30" tires and rims would be an understatement. However the guy behind the counter didn't bat an eye. I don't recall what the shipping cost was, but it seemed pretty expensive at the time. But as you have found out, folks are not standing inline to buy stock jeep tires, and I was glad to have them gone.
I sold mine a few years back and dit it at one one of the MailBox's ETC . I asked him the cheapest way and we shipped them some kind of
3rd Class freight .. It took a few weeks but was fairly inexpensive. Ask your local shipping store about that. If the buyer is not in a real hurry to get them it would be an option.
Kinda OT, but how much did you get for them if you don't mind me asking? I have a set of 4 OWL-package rims from my '99 that I still have to sell. If you don't want to say that's OK :)
I honestly can't remember what I got. I just remember how happy I was to get the space back in my garage. Probably the best place to go for a idea of what your set is worth is eBay's closed auctions. There is get an idea of what the market price is.
I sold my rubicon wheel and tire combo and shipped each tire/wheel for about $35.00... I covered the wheel with thick cardboard and pulled two 3 mil plastic bags (think 'yard waste') over each one, slapped a lable on it and sent it out from a Fed Ex depot. I sent it business to business, it was cheaper that way.
If you don't mind some redundancy, my experience involves a good dozen sets of wheels/tires. The poster who said to slap a cardboard circle on the front and ship 'em is correct. There's virtually no way UPS or FedEx will hurt the tires, but you want to cover the wheel faces. It'll generally cost you $20-25 *per wheel* (depending on weight) shipped this way, and they'll be separate parcels ("1 of 4", "2 of 4", "3 of 4", etc.) of a single shipment. Tire Rack ships tires this way as do other commercial mail order tire sellers. Now, the one caveat: insure them. FedEx *lost* one of the BMW wheels I bought a few months ago. Where you can *lose* a BMW wheel & tire between Nebraska and Wisconsin I'll never know ...
Hey Eric, here is another idea. This is what I did. I went to a local trucking outfit and they put five tires on a pallet and shrink-wrapped the tires/wheels. They shipped this to one of their depots near the buyer. He went and picked it up. I did this on eBay too. I don't remember what he paid but I did have to do some talking to get the best price possible.
I recently sent an entire set, 5, of tires/rims from my BMW via UPS. They weighed in at roughly 30 pounds each. My local America's Tire outlet had received a set of really nice tires/rims for something, and these were wrapped with a sheet or two of carboard and plastic banding. They gave me the carboard sheets (round) free. I suppose I could have lifted them from the dumpster, but the guy cut them off and gave them to me. The local UPS Store cut loose with some small boxes to put the lug bolts in, and I picked up some shipping tape from Lowes. The tape I used is the clear variety, like tape in the dipsensor on your desk, but 2.5" to 3" wide.
I wrapped each tire/rim assembly (technically called a wheel) with carboard on each side, and copiousw amounts of packing tape. I carried them to the UPS Store, where the clerk affixed packing slips and threw them on the back of the waiting truck.
When I listed my wheels on eBay, there was a Shipping Calculator. All that is needed is the dimensions and weight of the wheel, and the Zip Code will determine the shipping cost. It really was very easy. Easier than telling you about how easy it was ...
Total shipping was, in my case, just under $150. The Buyer paid shipping costs, and it was calculated right in the eBay Experience. Had I done it right, the shipping costs would have been separated from my item, and I could have arranged the shipping from my house. I maed it more difficult than it needed to be, kind of similar to what you are doing, and I had to write UPS a check. I could have used PayPal to collect the total sale plus shipping, then used PayPal again to pay the shipping. I screwed up and collected all from PayPal, but then had to pay from my chceking account instead from PayPal.
Your aversion ot shipping is unfounded. It is easy to do, all you need to know that you do not know right now, is the weight of the wheels. Everything else you can find easily, or you can let the UPS Store do it all.
I don't have an aversion to shipping -- just don't want to do it. That's why I said "local pickup only". It's a PITA to get them from my house to anywhere without getting everything dirty (I do wear a uniform to work everyday and can't get it covered in tire grime). Anyhow, I went to UPS and asked -- I can roll them in, as is, and they'll do the rest. For the guy in Indiana it would be $52 a wheel to ship. That's just nuts -- I wouldn't pay that! That's why I wanted to sell them to someone local... looks like I'll just be taking them to a local used tire shop and selling them for next to nothing.
When I worked for a courier company we carried almost anything, if it was small enough to fit in a GMC 3500 van we carried it, for the larger things like large compressors, mining equipment and even the odd Cat diesel engine we used a trucking company, which intern gave us the smaller parcels to carry and deliver. One word of note on shipping wheels, let the air out of them first, 5 pounds of air add to the shipping weight. And strange as it may sound is also safer, one time we had to deliver ten 12'' boat wheels, nothing big, but they were full of air, at the originating depot they placed truck axle gears on top of the wheels in the bin, as we were removing the gears one of the wheels decided to go bang, no real damage done other then the boss requiring a change of shorts. :)
On Wed, 02 Feb 2005 03:11:24 GMT, Eric wrote: [...]
"nuts" makes capitalism go 'round ;-). I wouldn't pay that much either, just for the shipping. However, you and I aren't paying the shipping!
Maybe you can load them into your vehicle the night before and drop them off after work ... or ship them on your day off. I don't know enough details so I'm just offering some suggestions.
Now I want to know how to pack an engine and a transmission ... :-) Anyone want parts from an old Ford BroncoII?
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