Jane Murray-Smith on tue 22 mar 05
I inquired to a fine art shipping company about getting pottery to arrive in
one piece...here is a copy of her response ..
Jane,
Thanks for contacting FINE ART SHIPPING regarding transport of fragile glass
and pottery artworks.
I certainly sympathize with your quandry; it doesn't surprise me that you
would have trouble with UPS type of shipping. Basically services such as Fed
Ex or UPS or freight are just that, freight services. When we are being
amusing we call this "air fright." We don't recommend shipping anything this
way unless crated, and even then we hesitate to ship true fragiles by
freight if there are other options.
A next best and next lowest cost option is to pack and ship by high value
van line carrier such as North American or Allied Van Lines. These outfits
have high value divisions and typically supply trucks with air ride
suspensions. The shipment is not treated as freight and this service will
follow orientation arrows and observe fragile markings etc on packages.
Minumum packing for this approach would be fully boxed with 2-4" of form all
sides including top and bottom, or (even better) full wood crating. We have
shipped exhibitions of pottery many times via this service with excellent
results -- the key is in the packing.
Depending upon your location and where you need to ship to, there may be a
Canadian art handling company such as PACART who can ship via art shuttle
for you. This is both top price and also very gentle handling, but they
don't go everywhere and generally not on an expedited basis.
My company can supply air ride trucking for some Canadian origin shipments,
depending upon the location . If you can give me a better idea of a sample
shipment you might have, sizes and weights, packing details, and origin and
destination info I will let you know if we can quote for that type of
service.
As for insurance, my company can insure customer packed items to some
extent, depending upon the type of packing and its suitablilty for the mode
of transport. Please be aware however that insurance for customer packed
shipments typically excludes coverage for concealed damage and, in the event
of a claim the insurer must be satisfied that the packing was accomplished
to a professional standard sufficient to protect the contents.
We'll do the best we can to find you an appropriate service.
Best regards,
Betsy
Betsy Dorfman
FINE ART SHIPPING
310 677 0011 ext 104
310 677 8586 fax
betsy@fineartship.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ama Menec"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 3:58 PM
Subject: Shipping with Amtrak
> Has anyone in Clayland used Amtrak for shipping pots?
>
> I'm asking because I have my first internet sale; my website was only
> launched a couple of weeks ago! I am so chuffed! I've spent a day
> ploughing
> through loads of courier brochures and endless phone conversations, and
> it's
> all rather bewildering. Amtrak won't ship 'art' but will transport
> 'models'.
> Others won't give insurance for porcelain or bone china....and include 1"
> thick, robust, press-molded ceramics in this description, and won't listen
> any argument against this. Most won't insure ceramics at all, including
> the
> UK's Royal Mail Parcelforce. Most of them charge as much as I'm charging
> for
> the item I'm selling! Amtrak has given the best price so far.....anyone
> got
> any experience of using them? Many thanks,
>
> Ama Menec, Totnes, Devon, UK.
> Email: amamenec@lineone.net
> Website www.amamenec.co.uk
>
>
>
>
> --
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> Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.0 - Release Date: 21/03/05
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
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>
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>
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>
Ama Menec on tue 22 mar 05
Has anyone in Clayland used Amtrak for shipping pots?
I'm asking because I have my first internet sale; my website was only
launched a couple of weeks ago! I am so chuffed! I've spent a day ploughing
through loads of courier brochures and endless phone conversations, and it's
all rather bewildering. Amtrak won't ship 'art' but will transport 'models'.
Others won't give insurance for porcelain or bone china....and include 1"
thick, robust, press-molded ceramics in this description, and won't listen
any argument against this. Most won't insure ceramics at all, including the
UK's Royal Mail Parcelforce. Most of them charge as much as I'm charging for
the item I'm selling! Amtrak has given the best price so far.....anyone got
any experience of using them? Many thanks,
Ama Menec, Totnes, Devon, UK.
Email: amamenec@lineone.net
Website www.amamenec.co.uk
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.0 - Release Date: 21/03/05
Steve Slatin on wed 23 mar 05
Victoria --
I went through this sort of thing not too long ago (I
also live in a fairly isolated area). If you live
close enough to a dealer that's friendly, maybe s/he
can help you find a used wheel nearby. You can also
advertise in local papers, etc. that you're looking
--some times you get lucky and find used equipment
cheap that way (if the owner has given up the craft
but hasn't figured out how to clear things out yet).
More often you just wait.
Everything on e-bay and the like costs too much
counting shipping, and when you get it who knows if
it's in good condition ... shipping both ways is
typically equal to the cost of the item, so you won't
return damaged or defective items anyway.
Used costs often end up being too close to new prices
to be worth fooling with in many cases.
Am I saying you shouldn't buy used? No! It's the
ultimate recycling, and if you buy what you actually
need and the seller is fair about the price sometimes
you can do really well -- a friend recently bought a
Skutt KM kiln, a set of shelves, a raku kiln and some
other stuff for $600. But the seller was ill and
didn't want to mess with it.
I'd suggest weighing your time and effort against the
possible cash savings. If what you want doesn't show
up after a short search, spend your time making pots
instead of searching for equipment ... and if you buy
new, you know it's all OK and will work reliably.
And new equipment comes packed properly, and gets
shipped without damage.
Best wishes -- Steve Slatin
--- Victoria wrote:
> I'm sorry that I don't have any information for you.
> Your questions raised
> another Amtrak question.
Steve Slatin -- Don't Ever Antagonize The Horn
__________________________________________________
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Victoria on wed 23 mar 05
I'm sorry that I don't have any information for you. Your questions raised
another Amtrak question. I was wondering whether anyone has used Amtrack to
ship pottery equipment, or found an inexpensive way of shipping. I've been
looking for a used electric wheel and found that shipping by UPS has the
reputation for damaging things and that freight companies are too expensive.
I live in Central Vermont right near an Amtrak station and wonder whether
Amtrak might be an option should I find a wheel that it too far away to pick
up (which already happened and I had to turn down the wheel because shipping
turned out too make the wheel way out of my price range.)
I don't mean to swipe your fire or draw attention away from issues
surrounding shipping finished work. Good luck.
Victoria Cherney
Montpelier, VT
802 229 0090
zuzoopetal(at)yahoo.com
On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 23:58:09 -0000, Ama Menec wrote:
>Has anyone in Clayland used Amtrak for shipping pots?
>
>I'm asking because I have my first internet sale; my website was only
>launched a couple of weeks ago! I am so chuffed! I've spent a day ploughing
>through loads of courier brochures and endless phone conversations, and it's
>all rather bewildering. Amtrak won't ship 'art' but will transport 'models'.
>Others won't give insurance for porcelain or bone china....and include 1"
>thick, robust, press-molded ceramics in this description, and won't listen
>any argument against this. Most won't insure ceramics at all, including the
>UK's Royal Mail Parcelforce. Most of them charge as much as I'm charging for
>the item I'm selling! Amtrak has given the best price so far.....anyone got
>any experience of using them? Many thanks,
>
>Ama Menec, Totnes, Devon, UK.
>Email: amamenec@lineone.net
>Website www.amamenec.co.uk
>
>
>
>
>--
>No virus found in this outgoing message.
>Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
>Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.8.0 - Release Date: 21/03/05
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Laurie on thu 24 mar 05
I don't know about AmTrack, but back in the 80's I used to ship a lot
of masks and wigs from Sacramento to San Francisco via Greyhound
Package Express. Large boxes that didn't weigh very much, but were
bulky. Do they still offer that service? It was pretty economical and
the packages would arrive same day (it's only a couple hours away).
Laurie
Sacramento, CA
http://rockyraku.com
Potters Council, charter member
Sacramento Potters Group, member
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