I feel your pain! I have ruled out several long distance purchases due to not only shipping costs but driving/ pickup costs as well.

Yeah everyone wants to feel good that the price they pay for the pin is fair, you add that shipping cost and now you are upside down 9 times out of 10. You either need to have such a good deal lined up where the extra $500 keeps you in a decent place on your spend or just not give a shit when you inevitably lose money down the road.

It cost me $80 to get a playfield only from NY
It cost me $200 to get a populated playfield shipped in a crate from No Cal to So Cal
It costs me about $50 to ship a wall display
It cost me $120 to ship a flat pack WPC cab
The last pin I shipped was $505
Shipping is expensive all over

yep, had 2 pins shipped via STI this month. total for both was $875. ridiculous!

Meh. I'll drive.

Day off work. $0
Gas. $150 (within 3~4 states)

That's if I could actually afford another machine. Prices are crazy, not just shipping.

Shipped together, or separately?

Has shipping really gone up this much? Used to be about $300/game. No way I'd do $500+.

Within the last 4 years I have shipped over 40 pins with beltmann. I think the lowest I was ever quoted was around $450, the average quote I get today is around $550. Never been quoted anything under $400, but then again most times the pin is being shipped thousands of miles with insurance tacked on.

Some states that toll just big trucks like RI, get ready because all we do is pass it on to the consumer.
Keep raising those tolls and you'll see prices go sky high on everything.
Someone has to pay for highway repair and new bridges.
-Mike

separately - one with no additional insurance - both within 10 hours of me

yes, 2 years ago you could ship all over US for about $300-$325

Anything that close and I pick it up myself...

Did you check U-ship? I hear they're much more reasonable and the same service as STI or better. Also curious about this new Uber freight but I don't know anything about it. https://www.uberfreight.com/

U -Ship question: do they pickup and ship on legs? or have to pallet?

Either I believe.

i know it saves money, but I do not have the time or desire for doing 20 hours of driving anymore. I did a 6 hour round trip this weekend and hated it.

Paying for shipping a game has ALWAYS been a luxury for me, and something I'm only doing if a deal is too good to pass up. The difference between $400 and $500 isn't really going to affect me that much.

Could cost me a sale or two? Maybe, but I don't exactly love shipping pins anyway. The nature of the hobby has always put geographic limits on games I'm looking for, and selling.

Another cheaper option that may be available to use is Fastenal for shipping your pins. As long as both parties have a Fastenal near them, it can be quite a bit cheaper than the major shipping companies. Not sure on the requirements, but a friend has used them multiple times with good success at a nice savings.

I have never shipped but I doubt I would ship a machine with legs on.

Strangley common.

When I rent a van/truck and drive down to Los Angeles, it costs me more than $500 so paying about the same and not having to drive to Georgia seems like it's still an alright price. I always bundle games when I use Beltman. Last shipment was $850 for 5 arcade games

Shipping a game with legs on removes the possibility of a "forklift through the cabinet" horror scenario.

It does open the door to "game tipped over" horror scenarios.

For me it just saves 10 minutes on either end setting the game up. I prefer to ship with legs on, leg levelers all the way in, and head folded over. Never had an issue beyond one game that arrived with a bent leg.

Never had an issue shipping a game fully broken down either.

I usually just use Fastenal most of the time it's around $200.

Same here, rates have been high ($450+) for a while

Crap, I paid almost $650 to get my TZ shipped from Atlanta, and that was 2 years ago!

Sorry but at distribution centers they use a forklift between the legs to move the machine around. They don't lift the machine beyond clearing the legs from the floor. Then when moving the machine the legs hit a pallet and the leg gets bent, best case, or ripped from the machine worst case.

Shipping is getting too expensive. What's Fastenal?

STI or palletized via freight company?

They also do palatalized shipping!

https://www.fastenal.com

Mentioned in the shipping topic
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/shipping-options-for-games

Fastenal is the cheapest and fastest shipping I’ve used yet and there were absolutely zero issues. It’s still cheaper even including the materials I bought to crate up the pin.

I have also used fastnel. Twice recently to have pins moved. I think the highest I paid was 325 and that was almost coast to coast. You have to pack pallet and strap yourself and then they haul it to another fastnel location where the buyer picks it up. Way eaiser than dealing with shipping company's like STI. I live in a fairly small City and getting them to come to specific locations that are deemed out of their way is a pain in the ass. It also helps that I have a fastnel 1 mile from my house.

U-ship is simply a listing of multiple, unrelated delivery outfits which will quote you a price for your specific delivery, based on the data you enter. You have to evaluate the shipper based on reviews. U-ship is the listing service, not the moving company.

I hired a U-ship carrier whose price was good; however, his familiarity with moving a pinball machine was nonexistent. As a result, he moved a 4 player EM with the head attached and caused some cabinet damage.

U-ship is a good alternative for pick-ups in remote areas, where STI/NAVL/Beltmann does not regularly service or where its pricing is prohibitive.

Bob Cunningham is a great choice for midwest to east coast to Florida geography deliveries. Fast Eddie is another reliable and economical option.

STI has been quoting me $425 to $550+ for west coast to east coast deliveries for at least a dozen years. When agent, Michelle Bianchi, was with NAVL in the 1990s, the same coast-to-coast deliveries cost me about $300, including extra insurance. I much prefer shipping games with the legs on when it's being done by a nonpinhead to avert pallet damage.

I believe it was STI, and I recall the game was shipped on its legs, as is their requirement now

For contact information and opinions of certain delivery outfits, here's a thread I started awhile ago.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-good-bad-amp-ugly-of-delivery-services-pinball-amp-arcade

Yeah, I don't see this as a viable option. And using any "uber of pinball shipping" is a terrible idea.

I was once forced to ship via "task rabbit," whatever the fuck that is, for an in-city move. These guys were about to directly duct tape bubble wrap to a CFTBL cabinet before I stopped them. I have no idea how the game made it to its destination in one piece but it somehow did.

Try watching Shipping Wars on AETV. It can be hilarious at times watching the yahoos on there trying to pick up and deliver stuff.

Just got an sti/Beltmann quote from California to Pennsylvania. $700 for 2 games. Absolutely absurd. It was $350 last year when I sent 2 pins to the west coast.
Also looking for options if anyone has any ideas

Yeah, shipping is definitely expensive. I recently had a game shipped from California to Chicago. The only reason I could justify it was because pinball prices are so high where I live that I'm still into the game for less than it would have cost to buy one in similar condition locally.

Seller used Fastenal and I only had to pay $130.

You never know. The only game I've had damaged in shipping the frieght company busted the entire pallet, broke the straps, and it ended up upside down on a different skiff, full of glass in the playfield. Like they had no f'ing clue how to even sit the thing right side up. 4 games shipped on legs...not even a single scratch.

Wow, makes the $180 I paid for a Uhaul last weekend seem like an absolute bargain! 5-1/2 to 6 hour round trip was a pleasure since the van only had 1955 miles on it.

I can't see spending more than $400 on shipping unless the game is a hellofa good deal.

I don't know if "absurd" is fair. I mean...would it be cheaper/easier to do it yourself?

I paid $650 to ship a couch from LA to NYC. Shipping stuff costs money.

Yeah, but the tales that casting couch could tell...

A couch?

When I have a $40K+ pinball collection, I'm really not sweating an increase in shipping. Was quoted $500+ to move a JM from AZ to FL one year ago. This price is not new.

Some people here pay that increase difference for a stationary doll with a single LED in it.......

I day dream about buying a large cargo van and starting a pinball shipping company. Call it orbit Express, deliverys with more flow then Ritchie