I want to buy a frame off a dude and have it shipped interstate.
Dude wants to charge me around $50 for the cost of getting his LBS to pack the frame.
I want to know: has anyone paid for this sort of service before; if so how much??
packing a bike is a pain in the arse if you don’t know what you’re doing.
i imagine $50 is probably the usual considering it cost me $30 to have a headset installed and steerer cut which i imagine takes about 5 mins.
careful, most bike shops wouldn’t have a clue how to pack a bike for post/courier
Try to ask them to box it half-assembled rather than fully-unassembled. But to pack it half-assembled is a bit pain in the ass when it comes to bubble wrap them.
I Just purchased a roadie which is being boxed at the sellers lbs in Sydney for $45. But the seller even covered this cost for me
$50 for just a frame, or even frame and fork is excessive. As there are no moving parts, and not a lot of parts that can rub against other parts to scratch them. Bubble wrap and a layer of cardboard is all that’s needed for posting. Maybe some thin foam if it’s a brand new frame for some extra protection.
$40 to $50 bucks is more the charge for packing a whole bike, though some places will do it for less, depending on how busy they are. And Spirito and Gravity both make good points.
But if your just buying a frame, get the seller to wrap it himself/herself: Carefully in bubble wrap, fixed with rubber bands and tape, then take a large cardboard box, and cut it with a stanley knife so it fits around the frame snug and cover the whole thing in tape. Then write your address on, add some stamps and it’s away.
don’t forget rear fork spacer (not sure if thats the proper name) so the rear triangle doen’t get accidentally squashed
the guy is a lazy prick. a roll of tape and a roll of bubble wrap will come to a grand total of about $4 and he should be able to get a bike box and frame spacers off a LBS for nought.
Jeez Jams, you must be living in 1967 still. Packing tape is $3/roll, bubble wrap ain’t that cheap, plus there’s the seller’s time to run around bike stores getting boxes and spacers, then wrapping it up. How little is your time worth?
Yeah I’m figuring the dude has less time than the most of us, and less inclination to do shit himself and figure it out. Maybe he’s lazy, or maybe he’s a partner at a law firm who lives in 6 minute blocks. I did mention to him the ease of doing it himself, but he also did notify me of his intention to seek out the LBS before I bid, so I’m in a position to persuade but not push too hard.
It still stands, though, whether $50 is reasonable for the LBS to do it. So thanks Lenny for identifying that this would get a full bike packed. I’ll keep that in mind when dude gets back to me with a final packing cost (the original was an estimate).
i went to 5 bike stores before i found one with spacers lying around then they charged me $5 for something they get for free. i was so shocked i just paid it but it shows how desperate bike shops are for money.
For the record: it turns out it cost $20 once the dude took it to his LBS. Fair price. I’m happy.
last time i got bubble wrap it was $2 a roll. so that takes the grand total up to $5. if i’m selling a frame on ebay the least i could do is wrap the friggin thing. if you live more than 10 minutes away from an LBS get out of the suburbs. there are 2 within 10 minute walk of my house and i’m sure one (though probably not the other) would give me a box and spacers.
so maybe i’d charge a nominal fee (say $20 at most for the ‘effort’). and remember you’re doing it for someone who is buying something unwanted off you.
FTFY
i bought a frame from tassie and all the guy did was wrap the thing in about 10 layers of bubble wrap, stuck on the address and away it went.
He did brace the drop outs, and then wrapped the headtube with some styrofoam, all taped up like a mother fukker
took me half a day to unuwrap the thing!
i would gladly pay $20-30 for someone to pack a bike for me, and thats with me supplying the bubble wrap, tape, box etc
done enough of them to know i hate doing it
i would gladly pay $20-30 for someone to unpack a bike for me, and get rid of the bubble wrap, tape, box etc
done enough of them to know i hate doing it
getting rid of the box is annoying, then trying to find one a few months later when you sell something else is just as annoying
i’d be happy for someone to pay me $20-30.
i’m glad i’m still at the stage of giddy excitement whenever i unpack a new bike
they don’t have recycling wheelie bins in your neighbourhood?
i now know enough not to trust JAMs to pack a bike for me… and given bike shop labour is about $50-$80/hr (estimated) the cost to pack a bike above (25-50) seems in line with the time you would hope they would take.
as above, the price is reasonable if the proper care is taken. its a ripoff if they just drop it in the box and tape it closed.
it doesn’t take much for a dropout to get bent or something to get wrecked in transit and then you suffer all because you tried to save what % of the purchase price?
if you’ve received a frame from spirito you know what good packing looks like. it’s all in the details.