If we are not already expecting your instrument, please be sure to contact us by phone or email before shipping any instruments to us! Thanks!
SHIPPING YOUR INSTRUMENTS
The safest way to send your instrument is with Federal Express or UPS. This is also generally the least expensive way to ship. Avoid the Post Office.* Also be aware that the commercial mail box places can double
or even triple the cost of shipping an instrument. If you are planning on using one of those services, you might call first to find out what they would charge you. On high value items, they will often insist on their own boxes and packing materials, which also increases your bill and, by using an oversized box, they can charge a small fortune for what is called dimensional weight. We have a couple of suggestions for keeping your shipping costs down. First, avoid large boxes with all those dimensional weight charges. Our single oboe boxes are 16X10X6. This is the largest size UPS or Fed Ex will accept without charging dimensional weight. If you are sending two oboes together, or an English horn, there is no way around dimensional weight. You will always get the best price at a customer counter at a UPS or Fed Ex office. If that is not convenient, the UPS Store charges the same for freight as the UPS shipping hubs do. They charge about three times as much as the customer counters charge for insurance though, as they do not actually insure with UPS; they use a private insurance carrier. In some cases, homeowners or other insurance will cover an instrument in transit. It is often worth calling your insurance agent to check.
PACKING YOUR INSTRUMENT
Find a good box or reuse our box if you have one. But before you do anything else, put your name, address and phone number on a piece of paper and put it in either the case cover pocket or the inside of the instrument case itself before you close it. Do this for each instrument you are shipping. That way if the box is damaged, the contents will still have identification. On a practical level, we will also know whom the oboe is coming from without having to search through the packing material in hopes of finding some identification. Be sure the bottom of the box is well taped with good quality packing tape. For packing material, you can use plastic peanuts, bubble wrap, single sheets of crumpled up newspaper, or any combination of the three. Wrap each instrument in a clean plastic garbage bag. This protects the case or case cover from the packing materials (plastic peanuts leave permanent white marks on cases and case covers). Put the instrument down flat on top of some packing material. Fill the sides with packing material and then fill right up to the top. Put in as much stuffing as you possibly can fit into the box, since the packing material really helps prevent damage to the case and/or instrument.
Second Day Air generally works just fine. (For the states closest to us,
Ground UPS is just fine. These states are CT, VT, RI, MA, PA, DE, NJ and NY. Be aware, though, that Ground service does NOT guarantee day of delivery. It gets here when it gets here, but there are rarely any problems.)
If you need to ship overnight, most shippers offer an afternoon delivery, which saves money over the Guaranteed Before Noon services. Second Day Air is a guaranteed two day service. For your own protection and peace of mind, you may wish to insure the oboe with the shipper if it already belongs to you and isn’t otherwise covered by your own insurance. If you are shipping an instrument of ours to us, it is already covered with the company that insures our inventory, and you do not need to insure the instrument.
Now that you will be shipping your instrument safely, please remember to keep the tracking number and the paperwork!*If for any reason you must ship with the U.S. Post Office, use only EXPRESS MAIL. This is the overnight, priciest service they offer. This is the ONLY service they offer that gives you an air bill with a tracking number with an 800 number to call. All of their other services—Priority, Registered, Certified, etc.—have no way to track a package, and a minimum of six weeks before the Post Office will even put a tracer on it after it is lost. So, if you must use the Post Office, don't leave until you have an air bill, tracking number and 800 number in your hand. If you don't have those items in hand, it isn't Express Mail, no matter what anyone tells you.
Nora Post, Inc.
52 Lounsbury Place,
Kingston, New York 12401
845-331-4845
fax: 845-331-4846
email: Norapost@hvi.net