Looking for experience in shipping Belle's

[WopOnTour]

Looking for someone with a bit of expertise/experience in the San Fransisco (Discovery Bay) area willing to accept fair payment to assist owner to crate up and help arrange local pickup for a pair of Belle's for a safe journey to Western Canada.

Am thinking they could both be put face-to-face on a single smaller wood pallet with suitable foam, carboard, strapping and shrinkwrap. I think only someone here could appreciate what type of dilema I am in, trying to get my long time "dreambabys" home safely.

If ANYONE here is willing to help please reply here or email me at wopontour@gmail.com

Thanks for the great forum

Looking forward to further involvement once I start upgrading these beauts!

Regards

WopOnTour

[Bill H.]

Wot,

Here is another link. They provide packaging also.

http://www.packagingstore.com/html/locations.shtml

Let the Form know what you end up doing -in case others have this same question.......

[WopOnTour]

Wot,

Here is another link. They provide packaging also.

http://www.packagingstore.com/html/locations.shtml

Let the Form know what you end up doing -in case others have this same question.......

Thanks I certainly will.

Sure wish this forum had "stickys" so that the moderators could lock down certain threads making them easy to locate. I did some searching and did find some shipping/packing suggestions but stickys would make it soo much easier. When researching/identifying these speakers I found some older posts in these forums very helpful and informative, but a sticky or FAQ on "Identifying your Heritage Klispch via the Serial Number" would have been extremely helpful.

Thanks again for your helpful replies and to all that contribute to these great forums

Regards

WopOnTour

[WMcD]

Born2rock set up a sale of Belles to me. It was a matter of getting them from Houston (his location) to Chicago (my location). I have the boxes here in Chicago and could loan them to you.

B2R did all the work.

Let me say all good things about him, here. We've never met. The boxes were suffering a bit from age and he reinforced them with some additional cardboard, and tape, and got them to Central Freight. They were put on a pallat (sp) attached with shrink wrap,and sent off to ORD land.

The boxes are important in that there are the styrofoam buns and some corner protection for the boxes themselves.

When this sale and transport problem began there was some question whether old. original boxes could be found.. I called Klipsch to see if I could buy some new boxes. The fellow there said "no".

I wonder if that is correct. Even though the Belle is being phased out there are photos of them being made at the factory. They must be using something to ship them.

In any event. I'd think that the empty boxes could be shipped at a reasonable cost to some "Angel" in SF who will pack things up. Then the new owner would have to ship them back to me.

There is some precedent for this. There is the Cornwall shipping "vault" out there. We might have to make up a Belle vault, and indeed a loanable vault for all of the various speakers.

Gil

[Parrot]

There's some useful info in this thread.

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/317245/ShowPost.aspx

[WopOnTour]

There's some useful info in this thread.

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/317245/ShowPost.aspx

Wow that's awesome! Looks like it provided a LOT better protection than cardboard

(albeit at a significant weight premium)

So Parrot

Would you be interested in:

a) Selling

Renting

c) Lending

d) None of the above

...your exclusive "Belle Vault" ?

Regards

WopOnTour

[Parrot]

I had thought about the fact that this Belle Klipsch Vault could be

reused but the problem is the size and expense to send it out, even

empty. Forward Air is roughly an hour and a quarter away, not that that

is any great distance but it isn't like it's just right in town either.

Plus I don't have a truck to put it in; that vehicle was borrowed. And

I think shipping the BKV would not be cheap; I'm in Ohio, you're in

California.

The guy that built my crate charged $200 for making it. That included

packing the Belles inside it and delivering it to his local Forward

Air. The shipping by Forward Air from Oregon to here in Ohio was

$192.21.

Crate dimensions are 47" high (including pallet strips on bottom), 44"

wide, 35"deep. Chargeable weight loaded with speakers was 462 pounds.

That seemed a little high, but I didn't have time to have them recheck

it.

[WopOnTour]

I see what you mean.

I could see it as being maybe feasible if I needed a set of Belles shipped FROM Ohio...

But the costs to double ship the crate would certainly negate it's stand-alone construction costs (assuming I could find someone in the Bay area to build something similar for $200) let alone the inconvenience of getting it to the depot TWICE!

Thanks for the great suggestion though Parrot, I'll keep working on it.

I wonder if anyone here would from the SF area know of someone that might consider building a Belle crate for "similar" $$ ??

Parrot could you please give me accurate "inside" dimensions of your crate? (the height you mentioned included the "skids" I believe but I cant estimate that from the photos) I would think given the speaker dimensions and allowing for 1.5" of foam all around and in between it should be something like 33"x42.5"x39" (LxWxH) on the inside- does that sound about right?

Maybe I'll try some similar logistics companies by phone tommorrow.

BTW, the speakers ARE in fact in the SF Bay area, (technically in Discovery Bay near Brentwood) HOWEVER I am in Western Canada. I bought them on E-dismay with the agreement that I would handle all of the shiping issues, so I'm just looking at ALL of my options right now.

Would anyone know what the "lower" section of the Belles weigh? Assuming they would weigh less than 80 lbs I might even consider taking my wife on a "weekend getaway" to SF, fly out with carry-on only and return with 2 pieces each of "checked" baggage.

(Although I dont know if I would really trust my new babies to be loaded/unloaded safely by your typical Air Canada baggage handler- LOL!)

Another thread mentioned that Klipsch might still offer the original packaging for the Belles. Can anyone confirm that's true? I presume each Belle ships in 2 seperate boxes? Would anyone know the dimensions of the upper and lower sections??

Maybe I could call some of the larger Klipsch dealers in the SF area to see if THEY had some "spare" Belle cartons they would sell?

I also have a "Quote Request" in at http://www.packagingstore.com/html/locations.shtml Thanks to Bill H.

I dunno...

Anyone in SF driving up to Lake Lousie for a "ski trip" this Christmas??? LOL

Any other ideas??

Thanks to any/all who comment/suggest (other than the obviously obligatory "Why the !@%^^&* would you buy something without having a way to get them shipped?!" - that's what my WIFE is saying... I would hope most here would be a LOT more understanding of my dilema... ;>)

Regards

WopOnTour

V V V V V V

V V V BELLES TRYING TO FIND THEIR WAY HOME V V V

[Parrot]

WOT,

Sorry I missed that you are in Canada.

Anyway, your estimates of internal dimensions were very good. Actual

measured are: 40" tall by 32.5" deep by 41.75" wide. It is slightly

taller than would be necessary for you because there were a couple

sheets of Plexiglas included for the tops of the speakers.

San Francisco is a big port city, so I'm sure there are lots of places

that pack and ship. My seller took the speakers to the

packaging/shipping company, whereas in this case they'd have to send

someone out to pick up the speakers at the seller's house. So factor in

some extra for that.

It is definitely a chore to get them to you safely but it is worth it

in the end. You don't want the nightmare of dealing with damaged

speakers.

Good luck.

[WopOnTour]

I am so screwed

I got the shipping estimate back from the.packagingstore today:

$175 pickup at location

$350 crate and pack

$598 ship (ground) from San Fransisco (1440 miles)

$1123 Total

LOL that's $2 more than I paid for my Belle's

I had planned/budgeted 1/2 that so I'm quite disappointed but am continuing to look at other options

I dont want to loose these as they are in SUCH good condition (the best I have ever seen for 1978 models)

Would anyone in the SF Bay area be willing to "board" my Belle's until I can drive down myself?

(probably in the Spring)... Help!!??

If anyone has any ideas - they would be greatly appreciated

PS - Does ANYONE here know how much the Belle's bottom half would weigh when the horn/tweeter portion is removed??

Thanks for any/all advice

WopOnTour

[Duke Spinner]

all them "packaging" stores are crooks

i just got some cabs from a friend in another city, he dropped them off 'cause we didn't have the time to meet

they quoted me 60$ to palletize the cabs ....2 cabs, 2 horns

what i get is .....4 pallets

1 speaker on EACH pallet

1 horn on a pallet

4 x 60$

+ the wasted extra freight charges

[michael hurd]

Unfortunately this problem comes up from time to time, what I suggest is to either: A) drive all the way there and pick them up yourself

have them packaged by someone reputable, and ship to an address on the u.s. side of the border and then go retrieve them

I use a store that offers this parcel storage when I order, and the border is a short drive for me to go retrieve parcels that originate in the united states. They charge a reasonable minimal fee, and offer Fed-Up and Oops parcel pickup and delivery.

[Parrot]

WopOnTour,

How long is the seller willing to keep them in his house? Your best bet

is to find someone on the Forum who is willing to pick them up for you

and keep them/use them at his house until you can drive there in the

Spring. Try a request for such California help in the Two Channel

forum. If you can't find someone to do it out of the goodness of his

heart, offer some money. Some Forum member would surely do it for less

than that outrageous $175 pickup quote you got.

I don't know what the bottom section weighs but I wouldn't consider

your plan of checking them. They'd have to be very well packed to

survive, possibly doubling the weight of the speaker section if you

have them crated.

[lost_at_c]

WopOnTour,

Sorry I didn't catch this thread sooner and maybe have been able to save you some grief.

I'm in San Jose, CA and can scoot up and catch your Belles. I can also hold them until either we can work out shipping or you can drive down. Maybe we can meet somewhere in between.

I don't have any experience in shipping speakers this size - it's why I waited until some Cornwalls showed up locally. I was watching that auction, but already had the Corns and had stretched my wife's goodwill enough. Timing is everything.

Let me know what I can do.

Jim

BTW - welcome to the Forum. There are terrific people here and a wealth of great information. Can't go wrong.

[Duke Spinner]

That's a Very Nice offer .......!

the Danger here ...You may grow to Like'um ....[]

[WopOnTour]

I'm in San Jose, CA and can scoot up and catch your Belles. I can also hold them until either we can work out shipping or you can drive down. .

Jim

WOW that would be GREAT! THANK YOU! I would have NO PROBLEM even letting you use the Belles until I could get them. At least I'm confident people in here would know how they need to be treated.

And at the very least it would allow you listening time to know if you would ever plan to upgrade from your Cornwalls.Please PM/Email me you phone number and I will call you to work out the details. (travel costs etc- I dont expect you to be "out-of-pocket" for this of course)

Thanks again to you and to the members of this great forum

WOT

[lost_at_c]

WOT, you have a PM.

Duke, I considered the danger of fluttering too close to Belles. It's a risk, but moths do it with candles.

OTOH, my wife may fall for them too, so I might luck out and still have some upgrading to do.

Jim

[WopOnTour]

Thanks again for all your help Jim!!

(Man this forum is UNBELIEVABLE!!)

However I'm currently encountering difficulty getting a hold of the seller

He threatened to sell them to a local intrest if I didnt send PayPal immediately after the auction, so that spooked me a bit. I took a couple days to search out his name and location, so I know where he lives and works and appears legit- but I just dont like a eBay seller with a +1 feedback to start making demands and pushing deadlines on a bigger dollar item like this. Because of his low rating the sale did not meet the qualifications for PayPal Buyer Protection and that worried me.

All I asked was for some time to make some shipping arrangements and it angered him.

So now I'm not too sure if he even has the Belles anymore

Here's a link to the auction

I have other pictures and besides the minor damage on the top of one speaker, they are impeccable 1978 models (he misread the serial number S as 5s)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5832765101

I will keep trying and hopefully finish the deal with Jim willing to go out there and scoop them up for me

Wish me Luck

WopOnTour

[Parrot]

I thought you had already paid for them.

But since you haven't, I'd forget about them. Let him sell them to

someone else. I would never consider for more than a second buying

something worth this much from someone with only ONE feedback. You

really should not have bid on these with the guy that far away and with

that low of feedback.

[sunburnwilly]

You bid on the Belles . You won the Belles . You got them at a good price . You understood that YOU would have to arrange shipping . You have not paid for them ; " its been more than a week " . You deserve negative feedback from the seller ; " and he has every right to be angry with YOU ...