Thanks for this post, valuable information here.

I have used Michelle 3 times (4 games) , no issues yet, about to do another from Cali to Tx
Always $450, because I live in the middle of nowhere. Can’t find another company who will deliver to me

What sucks with STI is if they destroy your game (total loss) they will only pay 65% of the value of it. I found that out the hard way.

I have a guy that runs Albany NY area -> Buffalo back to CT for about $175. He runs on Saturday...I've used him twice and he hasn't let me down yet.

I've used fast Eddie also.. great guy and even better service

Whatever happened to Jaybird815 and Midwest shipping?

I kno these guys, they do a good job. Real good fellas....

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Thanks ForceFlow for creating this topic, long overdue!

I work in a retail environment and have to ship things (engines, transmissions etc.) all the time. I use Unishippers quite often. Bids go out to all relative trucking companies and can have a quote within 2 minutes. All you have to do is type in the relevant information and BOOM!!, quote back with or without insurance. Most of the time what i see is that R&L is the less expensive out of all of the companies with prices ranging in the $200-$300 range with insurance even on pins. Got a quote for my brother on a pin from northern Indiana to East Tennessee is how i know.

If the game was fully insured with STI what was their reason for not fully covering the game?

It was fully insured. Their policy is 65%... which obviously i didn't know.

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Oh snap, how bad was the damage?

I've had 4 Pins delivered through STI/NAVL. Never had an issue, but it ALWAYS takes them 10 days to deliver, and price was always in the 450.00 range.

It was a Genie...they folded the head down basically destroying the back of the game. Displays were broken and they torn the leg out of the back right through the game. The front of the cab was separated as well. The power supply no longer was putting out 5V..thus the game wouldn't boot

I'm working on getting the game back together.

Shipping was $425ish if I remember..their payout of $650 barely covered that. I am lucky that it wasn't a higher end game...I should be able to make it playable again. But the point is...are you willing to take 65% on a high end game that they destroy? I know I'm not willing to go that.

Never use a carrier's offered insurance, because they will always find a way to not pay out the insured value.

Use a real insurance company that covers coin-op collectables.

https://collectinsure.com/

Any shipper from SC to New England?
Besides the big boys etc STI.

For posterity I am going to summarize my experience to save others time.

UShip- works great to get bids if pin within a few hours of you. Can’t find a shipper for an across country shipment. Gave up even though claimed average price for 4 pins from Albuquerque to Virginia was only $800. As one shipper told me that price only holds if they can find a load to also haul back.

Fastenal - quoted 4 pins from Albuquerque to Virginia $400 total ! Problem was very nice pinsider couldn’t get the last mile carry over to Fastenal. The local store doesn’t palletize. We were stuck. Found someone local to deliver but that added $300 to the bill ($75 per pallet) ! Crossed this option off list but wow they are the way to go if you can make it work.

Freight companies - first, you have to choose right freight class. This gets computed by pallet length, width, pin height in pallet, divided into pin weight to get density. Pins about 250 lbs, pallets about 3.5 ft x 3.5 ft, height about 4.5 ft. This matters. If density less than 4 lbs per cubic foot class 250, 4 to 7 class 125 (typical), > 7 class 100. Oddly class 100 is cheaper than class 250.

Second you get your quotes. Online consolidator quotes (freight center, freightquote) are great but I’ve found that there are massive differences versus calling. They negotiate down ALOT. Online quote is like the car sticker price I’ve found. Quoted initially $2000 ! With phone call $750. And that wasn’t just one consolidator but all of them.

Pallet - for freight you have to have a pallet. Forget it otherwise and just go with mover like NAVL. But freight shipper will be significantly cheaper. You can sometimes get pallets from Lowe’s. Fastenal sometimes will give them out. Tie downs from harbor freight or Lowe’s. It’s pretty straightforward to load on pallet.

delivery - if they need a lift gate on pickup due to no loading dock it’s another $100. Same at delivery. Pickup at shipper terminal will save you $100. Business address versus residential another $75 saved. I’ll go grab them at the terminal to make it easier.

Insurance - Fastenal no insurance unless crated. Other will give insurance about $75 to $100 if used game for $3k of insurance. High deductible

I’m relating all this because it was my first time and I didn’t see all options fully summarized as well as strategies for lower cost.

I don't have experience with claims so far using them, but note that this DOESN'T cover a collector who bought something and is being shipped, since it's not yet in your possession. This is not a way to insure when being shipped, unless you are a dealer and buy a dealer policy. At that point, it still doesn't cover a freight carrier unless you (a Dealer) were transporting to and from a show or location, etc.

IMO There is no good shipping insurance option when you buy something. You just hope it gets there in one piece.

Fast Eddie is the best if you are on the east coast.

This probably will get everyone's eyes rolling, but I recently had an interesting deal where I originally thought I was able to get a basket case pin hauled from OR to So Cal via friends but it proved that option wasn't going to pan out. I then put a post up on pinside for a couple of days. However, that came up dry and I was about to politely bow out from the deal. Then the seller asked if I had ever used Craigslist for shipping a pin. First, I didn't know Craigslist even had a section for such, and second I had no idea how to put such a transaction together. The seller put a post on his local Craigslist and in 24 hours the deal was struck and about a week later the hauler had the machine within 40 miles of my place for about 1/5 the price of NAVL.

Of course I'd NEVER consider shipping a pin of "real" value this way. However there are times where maybe it would make the difference between a go or no-go deal. I'd probably do it again if the circumstances were right.

A few recent shipments of multiple games brought the cost down to $200-$225 each.
Wichita to Orlando, as an example. Done with Michelle, Everything Perfect.
No Claims or issues yet, over many years, maybe 25 shipments.

Michelle at which company?

Michelle Bianchi
Beltmann Integrated Logistics
630-352-3312
877-432-2646
866-651-5919(fax)

Is Michelle still the go-to? Pondering a LA to Toronto pin shipment! Could depot it to Buffalo to simplify it I guess too.

Contacted my local Fastenal but they had no clue about shipping games. Is there a different site to contact?

Has anyone ever just thought to fly to wherever your new pin is, rent a cargo van and drive it back yourself? With all of the comments on sketchy "white glove" service this option is sounding better and better since I know it will be in my possession 100% of the time.

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I have been using CRST [email protected] provides timely quotes.

Just wanted go run this by everyone to make sure it is legit, I've been in contact through email with Michelle from Beltman logistics, I have not been able to contact her by phone, but she has been emailing me back with shipping info. She sent me a payment link for the shipping today and I it seems legit, but wanted to run it by to see your thoughts, I don't wanna get scammed . I'm sure its okay, but for those have used her before for shipping what do you think? Screenshot attached of payment link she sent me. Thank you have a great day everyone!

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ForceFlow https://paytrace.com/api/checkout.pay [order ID info removed]

ForceFlow this was the link she was sending me to track the shipment https://ordercentral.crst.com/shipmenttrack

@ForceFlow, thanks for removing that ID info, and thanks for the response, I'm going to move ahead and use the site, ill keep you updated. Thanks for all you do for the community

It’s legit

I know this is an old thread, but seeing that it’s a sticky I thought it’d be relevant to post here.

I recently had a virtual pin shipped across the border from Ontario to Chicago area (residence to residence). Same dimensions as a real pin, 310 lbs. After a deal fell through with InXpress, I had to improvise and stumbled across an amazing service, ShipMyPinball.com. I worked with Dino, and he amazingly managed to get my pin on a truck the following day. Very fast responses over email, and helped me through the customs clearance. Best part, it was half the price of InXpress. I would recommend ShipMyPinall to anyone looking to ship a pin. Happy to answer any questions about it.

Just want to give a shout out to Theshippingguy and InXpress. They shipped 2 machines I purchased from Pittsburgh to Chicago, were cheaper than everyone else I reached out to, and delivered everything perfectly in less than 24hrs.

Is Michelle still around? Used an old email and it got kicked back.

[email protected]

I just got an email from her the other day. Also worked with Darlene Wilkins [email protected]

I just had a game shipped through them with absolutely 0 issues. For all the shit they get on here they did an excellent job. I think it all comes down to how the person that is shipping the game preps and packages it up. My guy wrapped the shit out of it with blankets cardboard and stretch wrap then palleted it and strapped it down with ratchet straps thing was bomb proof.

Of course we all hear about the horror stories but freely hear about the positive feedback.