I kind of got in over my head and purchased a large piece of artwork that I’d seen when we were on Cape Cod this fall. The shop did not offer shipping services for an item so big, but they were willing to deliver it to D in Boston, who was then going to take it to UPS to ship to us. What made it even better was that, between the time I saw it, then called them back to say I wanted it, it went on sale for 50% off, so I pulled the plug.
D took it to UPS yesterday and was told they don’t ship items that large. So now I need to find some other service to use and I have no idea. I don’t want to put this on her to do the research. I have the dimensions and can make the calls myself, but I have no idea where to start. Any suggestions of what kind of services I can google? I know CC is great when it comes to shipping stuff across country. I’m in no hurry to get it, but I’m sure D wants it out of her place within a few weeks.
The piece is 74x2x38, estimated ti be 40 lbs. or less; estimated total of 21 cubic feet.
Is it valuable? There are lots of art shipping services that crate the work and ship in climate-controlled containers, etc. LA Packing and Shipping is one. Even if it is not valuable, you might want to start with art shippers and see if they offer a lower end service.
Ditto what nottelling said. You want folks who specialize in shipping art. Have your D call one of the galleries in Boston and ask who they would recommend to ship a piece to LA. Vose Gallery, Barbara Kraków Gallery, and Martin Lawerence are a few of the larger galleries in the city.
Greyhound also does package delivery of big stuff.
If the artwork is packed well and crated (and not a Picasso!), I wouldn’t worry to much about using a shipper who doesn’t specialize in art. Good packaging will take a lot of punishment.
If so, you can have it removed from the stretcher bars, rolled up, and sent to you that way. When it gets here, take it to a reputable framing place and have the canvas re-stretched (they should be able to send the original stretcher bars as well) and then framed.
You’ll have to sacrifice the frame (because those don’t typically break down as well).
I store and ship all my big artwork this way-so much more efficient.
I shipped a 4 ft by 2 ft oak desk my deceased dad made -from PA to CO. Sentimental value only. Fedex could not ship it because it was too big. I ended up using United movers. They wrapped, and ground shipped it with other peoples stuff to my home United company, then the home one delivered here. About 2 weeks and $1400. A lot of money but sentimental. They could have lost it or damaged it but none of this happened. The other companies offers were up to $5000 to ship. It may have been because there was a local united moving company that I could get it done at all. The next option was to fly to PA again, and rent a uhaul to drive it to here. It looks great by the way in the guest room and I discovered my father had signed the inside drawer!
While I was out this morning running errands, I stopped by a local Fed Ex store to see if they perhaps had any insight. I gave them the dimensions/weight, and they said Fed Ex could do it. So I texted D and told her to go ahead with Fed Ex. That being said, the Fed Ex people told me that if those were the dimensions (the ones I listed above), then UPS should have been able to ship it. So we’re a bit confused, but UPS lost my business on this one.
If for some reason Fed Ex won’t ship it, we’ll try some of the suggestions above.
Surprised UPS wouldn’t ship it, I had some items that big shipped via them in the past, and the weight shouldn’t be a problem with them either. Glad Fedex was willing to ship it, the other choice would be a freight carrier, like Yellow lines or whatever they are called these days.
Ugh… more drama today. D loaded the piece back in her roommate’s SUV, drove it to the Fed Ex by the convention center, and it was closed - they are only open until 5PM. So she drove over to a Braintree location, and they told her they don’t have the packing material there to create a ‘custom solution’ (which is what their website calls this kind of shipment). So she called me pretty upset and at her wit’s end. She really didn’t want to take it back to her condo and have it sit there through the holidays and have to deal with it when she gets back (the other drama to complicate this is, she was supposed to fly home here Saturday night for the holidays, but with a huge storm barreling down here starting Friday afternoon, she has rebooked her flight for tomorrow night, so at last minute she is coming home two days earlier than planned - so I get her frustration).
So a few minutes later, I called the toll-free Fed Ex number and started talking to some guy who really didn’t sound very confident with an answer. He wanted to know which stores she had gone to, so while talking to him, H called D and we were able to give him this information. He reiterated that the Fed Ex at the convention center (which is probably just over a mile from where she lives, so very convenient) would do this; while we had him on the phone, I called this office, and of course got a recorded message that they were closed. So we do not have confirmation that they can do this, but this guy at the toll-free number says they will. I will call them in the morning to see if they will take it, package it up, and ship it.
In the meantime, we had forgotten that one of the perks of H’s employer is a concierge service. We used it last year when we wanted moving services estimates for our local move, and it worked out very nice. So we put in a request with them tonight - they will research our options and get back to us. I had to give them a budget. What we asked for with them, though, was a service that would come to D’s condo, pick it up unpacked, pack it, and ship it here. That way she doesn’t have to haul it back down to roommate’s car again.
We’ll see which one we end up using. But really, Fed Ex should make it clear on their website that not every office offers custom solution packing.
They’ll probably ask you if you want it packed in a wooden crate (common for fine art), or a telescoping mirror box (common for decorative pieces that aren’t valuable). Worth thinking about ahead of time
I should volunteer, this is not fine art. It’s a large, silver-leaf sea grass print, framed in a wood frame with glass (I wish I could find a link with a picture of it, but haven’t been able to - I took a pictures of it with my cell phone when I was in the store). The original cost was $1250, and then it was half-priced. I mean, to some people, it’s a lot of money, but it doesn’t qualify as fine art. It will be a statement piece on our tall wall behind our sectional (12’ ceiling). Since we moved last year, I have been doing some redecorating, and am going with a coastal theme, so when I saw this, I knew it would be perfect for the spot I need to fill in… which is why I went with it, perhaps too quickly before confirming I could get it shipped out here. But because the frame has a large piece of glass, they might indeed ask if we want it in a wooden crate. Hmmm…
