Posting packages across the country, continent, or even worldwide has never been so simple – there are so many convenient couriers these days that recipients rarely have to wait longer than a few days. Believe it or not, this even applies to larger items such as guitars, but this is only possible if you ensure that you use the best guitar shipping boxes!
Whether you’re selling a guitar to afford an upgrade, trading one with another guitarist, or taking the first steps towards starting your own guitar selling business, you are going to need to make sure that you know where to find the best guitar shipping boxes. However, this can feel like a minefield, with the internet offering so many options!
Don’t worry – I’ve been a professional musician and guitarist for over 10 years and therefore have had to send guitars all over the world on many occasions. I’ve been there, done that, and got the t-shirt, so I’ve decided to put together the following guide to the best guitar shipping boxes and how to properly ship guitars. If that sounds like something that you could benefit from, read on to find out more!
Bottom Line Up Front: The best guitar shipping boxes should be made out of thick cardboard, durable, and affordable within your budget. Something like GAK boxes is great for one-off guitar sales, but if you’re thinking of starting a business, consider purchasing a high-quality wholesale product such as those from Partners Brand or Xiamen Xinlongqiao.
What Are Guitar Shipping Boxes Used For?
If you’ve just read that subheading and thought “well, they’re used for shipping guitars, duh!”, hear me out! Some guitarists may be reading this assuming that they will never need to use a guitar shipping box, but that’s what I thought back when I first started playing the instrument.
There are many reasons that guitarists would need to use a guitar shipping box. Firstly, somebody may simply be selling their guitar online, with the buyer being located on the other side of the country. Making that journey simply would not be worth it!
They may be selling their guitar because they don’t use it anymore and are saving up for an upgrade, or they may be giving up learning the instrument altogether (how sad). Alternatively, they could be doing a guitar trade with somebody, donating a guitar to a charity… honestly, the list goes on forever!
You might be reading all this and thinking “I don’t want to sell my guitar… I enjoy playing it!” That’s all very well, but have you considered what you might do if you need to get the guitar repaired by the company who produced it?
What if you want to get your guitar modified with a sick killswitch? What if you’d like to get it vinyl wrapped? All of these things will involve you having to send the guitar to another location unless you happen to be located in the perfect location.
What To Look For In A Guitar Shipping Box
Now that we’ve taken a detailed look at why you might want to ship your guitar, let’s take a look at the shipping boxes themselves. It may sound like you simply purchase any old shipping box, put the guitar in it, and send it on its way, but it’s not that simple.
There are a ton of options available that include different features and qualities, so it’s important to know what to look out for. Let’s take a look.
Durability
The first and arguably the most important property that you must seek out in your guitar shipping boxes is durability. Shipping boxes should be sturdy and made out of thick materials, usually extra-thick cardboard.
Generally, an online seller should specify exactly what the shipping box is made out of, how thick the material is, and any other key features that it has.
Can you imagine how awful it would be if you sent a Gibson Les Paul in a shipping box, a piece of kit that is worth thousands of dollars, only to find out that the shipping box it was encased in fell apart during the shipping process!?
This would be an absolute nightmare – not only would the buyer of the guitar be extremely disappointed and angry, but you would also find yourself in a very sticky situation. Whereas you were initially going to be making money from this sale, you may now find yourself having to fork out cash to cover the costs of the damaged guitar!
It doesn’t matter whether you are selling the guitar, donating it, or sending it for repairs – you want it to arrive in one piece, with no water damage or anything else of the sort.
A guitar shipping box alone won’t facilitate this, you’re also going to need to use bubble wrap and Styrofoam to ensure that it is protected as much as possible. However, no internal protection will keep your guitar safe from a flimsy and thin guitar shipping box. Don’t slack off here, it’s imperative!
Cost
The next thing that I believe is essential to look out for when buying guitar shipping boxes is the cost. As you can probably imagine, guitar shipping boxes are not particularly expensive – after all, they are shipping boxes.
However, you would be surprised at the range of costs that are available on the market. Some companies sell them for as low as twenty cents, but some companies try to charge fifty bucks for a single shipping box!
In my opinion, you should try to find a nice middle ground here. I’ve always followed a rule in life that you get what you pay for, so if you try to save yourself a few bucks by going for a one-dollar shipping box, don’t be surprised when it turns out to be paper-thin! Alternatively, it’s certainly not necessary to spend fifty bucks on a single shipping box.
Another thing to bear in mind is the cost of shipping – yes that’s right, even though you are going to be shipping this box anyway, you still need to pay for it to be shipped to you!
This can add significant costs to your purchase as they are pretty large objects even when flat packed. Always make sure you take this into account when you purchase your shipping box as you may get to the checkout section and feel financially burned!
Quantity
Following on from cost, another essential thing to consider is the quantity of guitar shipping boxes that you will be provided. Much like any other object purchased on the web, guitar shipping boxes are significantly cheaper when purchased in bulk.
This is primarily because they are quite large in width and length, but thin in terms of height. This means that whilst it may cost five bucks to ship a single shipping box to you, adding five or ten won’t cost the courier much additional cash.
If you’re looking to start a guitar selling business or have various guitars that you are looking to sell, this is absolutely the best option. However, if you only own a single guitar that you are looking to sell, there’s not going to be any point in spending money on ten shipping boxes.
On the other hand, if you find yourself frequently sending your guitar away for repairs or modifications, it may still be worth buying shipping boxes in bulk. Just bear in mind that the company that is receiving your guitar will have to return it to you in a shipping box, so as long as there is no wear or tear, you can just reuse that instead.
Provider
The next thing to look for in the best guitar shipping boxes is a provider that you can trust. This may seem incredibly obvious – after all, surely everything you buy online should be purchased from a reputable source?
This is true, but it’s particularly important with guitar shipping boxes, as many companies that produce cardboard products and shipping boxes recognize the gap in the market and make lazy attempts to fill it.
I think it was around the third or fourth guitar that I shipped when I realized this problem. I’d been spending a decent amount of money on shipping boxes from companies such as Guitar Center and GAK when I discovered that I could get them way cheaper from some random dude on eBay. I went ahead with the purchase, and surprise surprise, when they arrived they were abysmal.
The dude had clearly found boxes that other products were shipped in that were a similar size to guitars and decided to repurpose them on eBay to make a quick buck.
Sure, this was probably a smart business move on his part, but it was terrible for any guitarists buying them. They were way too thin to sufficiently protect the guitar, and needless to say, I left him very negative feedback on eBay.
Size
My penultimate point regarding guitar shipping boxes is size – always ensure that the guitar shipping box that you are looking to purchase is sized appropriately for the guitar(s) that you intend to ship! I made this mistake the first time I went to ship a larger 12-string jumbo acoustic guitar.
I’d already sold a few acoustic and electric guitars at this point and had been using shipping boxes of the same size each time. Therefore, I didn’t anticipate that the jumbo acoustic wouldn’t fit!
This same principle goes for guitars of a significantly smaller size. I wouldn’t worry too much if the guitar is slightly smaller or thinner than a standard-sized acoustic or electric guitar – after all, you should be adding Styrofoam and bubble wrap for additional protection, so you can always just fill up any extra space with this whilst protecting your instrument further. However, this isn’t going to be particularly appropriate if you are dealing with significantly smaller instruments, such as a ukulele, a travel guitar, or a banjo.
Luckily, most reputable sellers of guitar shipping boxes will provide the dimensions of their product on the online listing, so be sure to check this out to avoid any disappointment when it arrives!
Reviews
The last thing that I think that everyone should do when purchasing guitar shipping boxes online is to read the reviews! If you have read any of my other guitar articles, you will know that I am very passionate about reviews, and I honestly think you are crazy if you don’t bother to read them.
I’ve grown up with the internet so I’ve been used to buying online products for almost my entire life, but I was disappointed several times as a child by crappy products that were falsely advertised. If only I had read the reviews! Luckily I learned from this mistake quickly, but you would be surprised at how many people do not!
Every guitar shipping box that I have ever purchased has at least a few online reviews, even if I had to search around to find them. It’s helped me avoid several dodgy products that were paper thin or had other issues, and I am sure that they will help you too.
If a product does not have any online reviews whatsoever and you have done your research to find them, it is my opinion that you should give it a miss. It’s a serious red flag in my books!
Consider Packaging Your Guitar In a Hardcase
Before we move on to my top shipping box recommendations, I just wanted to provide a final piece of advice – have you considered packaging your guitar in a hard case inside the shipping box? You might be thinking that this sounds like an unnecessarily expensive form of additional protection, but hold that thought – it’s a great way to upsell a customer.
For example, you could be looking to sell a guitar worth $300, and you find a decent hard case at a flea market for $15. You could now package that guitar in the case, put it in a shipping box, and sell it to a customer for $400, easily.
Not only is that going to make you some additional cash, but it is also going to feel like a bargain to the customer and it’s going to provide their purchase with additional protection. It’s a no-brainer and a trick that I love to share.
My Top Recommendations For The Best Guitar Shipping Boxes
Now that we’ve dissected the process of scouting and purchasing the best guitar shipping boxes, I think it’s time that I recommend some of the best purchases that I have come across throughout my time as a guitar seller.
I’ve tried to include a variety of options here, so there should be at least one product that will be appropriate for you! Each recommendations adheres to the following criteria:
- Excellent value for money
- High-quality cardboard
- Reasonable shipping times
- Shipped worldwide
- Sold by reliable retailers
GAK Cardboard Guitar Shipping Box
The first guitar shipping box on my list is none other than the Cardboard Guitar Shipping Box by GAK. Anyone who has been playing the guitar (or keyboard, for that matter) for a significant amount of time will have heard of this company.
They have a stellar reputation for providing excellent customer service and musical instrument retailing and considering that they are an e-commerce business, I’ve always trusted their shipping boxes.
This shipping box is no exception – it’s available in both small and large sizes making it appropriate for different types of guitars, the quality is very high and durable, and they will include bubble wrap for just a few extra dollars.
The only problem with the product is that it only comes in single orders, so it’s only really affordable for one-off guitar selling scenarios.
Pros
- GAK is a highly reputable brand
- Very high-quality and durable product
- Comes with bubble wrap for a few extra dollars
- Available in small and large sizes
Cons
- No wholesale option available, making it only appropriate for one-off sales
Xiamen Xinlongqiao Wholesale Guitar Boxes
This next product is a wholesale option that I found on Alibaba a while back, and it has saved me an unbelievable amount of money. Due to its wholesale nature, these boxes can cost as little as ten cents which is insane, and the maximum cost will only be two bucks per piece! The quality is also very good for the price, and I have even used customized logo printing to brand my guitar boxes for my business – I think that’s a very cool feature.
However, there are two potential dealbreakers for this product. Firstly, the minimum order is a whopping 1,000 pieces, making it a definite miss unless you are serious about selling guitars.
The second problem is that they are shipped from China, meaning they will take at least a week or two to arrive. However, if you’re in no rush to receive the product, they will save you a pretty penny or two!
Pros
- Extremely cheap, with the minimum price being ten cents and the maximum being two bucks
- Custom branding is available
- High quality considering the price
Cons
- Minimum order quantity is 1,000 pieces
- Shipped from China, which can take a while
Partners Brand PHD18645FOLMS Heavy-Duty Side Loading Moving Boxes (Pack of 5)
The last product on my list of recommendations is something I found on Amazon a while ago, a five-pack of heavy-duty side loading shipping boxes that work fantastically for guitars.
Just take a quick look at some of the reviews for this product, and you will quickly see why I’ve included it – despite the company not having a particular specialization in guitars, they know how to produce a good shipping box for the instrument!
The quality is great, and the price is perfect considering they come in packs of five. This makes it a great option if you can see yourself using shipping boxes regularly, but without having to purchase a thousand of them! Perfect.
Pros
- Very reasonable price for the quality
- Comes in packs of five
- Consistently excellent reviews
Cons
- The product goes out of stock regularly due to its popularity
FAQ
Well, that’s just about everything I have to say about guitar shipping boxes! I sincerely hope that all my advice has helped you in one way or another. Now, let’s round things off with a quick FAQ – it should help summarize everything that we have covered.
Question: What Makes A Good Guitar Shipping Box?
Answer: All good guitar shipping boxes should be durable, have a decent cost-to-quantity ratio, fit the size of guitar you are looking to sell, and have consistently excellent reviews.
Question: What Is The Best Way To Ship A Guitar Safely?
Answer: To ensure your guitar arrives in one piece, you should ship it with bubble wrap and Styrofoam, and you could even consider packaging it in a hard case to go that extra step!
Question: How Much Do Guitar Shipping Boxes Cost?
Answer: The price of guitar shipping boxes generally ranges from as low as ten cents to twenty bucks, but the price greatly depends on the quantity that you are buying and the quality of the product.
Question: Is It Better To Buy Guitar Shipping Boxes Wholesale?
Answer: If you are starting a guitar selling business, wholesale is going to save you some money, but it’s a bit of a waste of money if you are only making the occasional sale!
Final Thoughts
Thanks for reading my guide to the best guitar shipping boxes – I hope that it helped you as much as I intended it to, as I really could have done with this guide back when I first started shipping guitars. Always remember to buy your boxes from reputable sources, check the reviews, and make sure you measure up those dimensions! The GAK shipping boxes are ideal for one-off purchases, but if you’re planning to ship guitars regularly, the Partners Brand or Xiamen Xinlongqiao options save you a fortune!
I wish you all the best on your guitar shipping journey, and whether you are selling your guitar for good or starting a guitar selling business, I hope that you continue to practice the instrument with a passion. Good luck!
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