I decided to start an additional thread so I could monitor feedback better. I have a bit of a quandry and I want to see what the general consesus is. Heres the quandry. As you all know I have 41 staves I'm giving away. So far they are going as far away as Alaska, canada and various parts of the US. I did some initial research with my local Post Office with worse case scenerios in terms of size length weight etc... just to get an idea of about what it would cost per stave. I think I have a pretty good idea based on the regions but I'm not about to take 40 staves to the post office and get an exact quote on each and then wait for people to send in their shipping $$ before shipping. On the other hand I can't afford to just ship em and wait for the money. That does'nt seem prudent either. What I'm thinking is this and you guys tell me if this seems satisfactory. I'm thinking that I will guestima hte based on my initial info from post office and then add $5. That way if I'm off a little it has me covered and I don't end up having to pay to give em away. I'm not trying to make money on it either, just be fair all the way around and still cover my bases. What do you guys think? After we get a good number of responses it will give me a good idea what most think is acceptable. I already know whats acceptable to me but my reputation is important to me and want to make sure I handle this in the right manner.
An example of shipping varience based on a 70" x 4"x4" stave going to Maine is $28.90 going to FlagstaffAz, is $24 palm Harbor,Florida$27 Sandy,Utah $23 North of Kenai Alaska $45 various places in Canada ranging from$48-50. I think you get the picture. Some of these staves will be shorter, heavier, lighter etc... so theres no real way of knowing until I take em in. I'm not inclined to go to all that exact trouble on so many when theres no money trying to be made on this deal anyway.
I look forward to hearing from you guys. Danny