Shipping

When we began Big Board Cribbage we were intimidated by the intricacies of shipping. At one point, we actually declared we wouldn't ship boards anywhere. Period.  Well, a Dear Client near Seattle urged us to reconsider and suggested we do more study on the matter.  And that's how we found FedEx.  We just assumed FedEx would be wildly expensive.  Turns out FedEx is by far the cheapest, fastest and most reliable shipping option.

Therefore, we will only ship via FedEx.  The Postal Service and UPS are totally out of the question.  FedEx rates are typically less than half of the same service at UPS.  Likewise, FedEx prices beat the heck out of the Post Office and arrive light years faster than slow-as-molasses parcel post service.

Typical rates to ship a Big Board as far away as Phoenix or Seattle run around $14-$15.  The same package would cost over $30 at the Post Office and probably $40 or more at UPS.  Get this!  One day we mailed a six pound package to Payette, Idaho, about 1 PM on a Wednesday.  Cost was $14.42.  It arrived at 11 AM THE NEXT DAY!

Next Day shipping costs at the Post Office or UPS would have been sky high, as much as $80 at UPS!

By now, you probably know we provide a Certificate of Authenticity with each and every Big Board.  The Board's dimensions and weight are listed on the Certificate.  You can estimate your own FedEx shipping costs using that information from the Certificate.

Add about 1.5 pounds for the weight of the box.  (More on that below.) Next add 2.50-3 inches to the board's length and one inch to it's width.  The thickness will always be two inches.  FedEx rounds up to the nearest inch.  So, even though our packages are always much less than two inches, they are more than one inch, hence the use of two inches.

Let's say a board is 4 pounds and 24 inches long by 10 inches wide.  The dimensions you would enter these figures in the FedEx Shipping Estimator:

5.5 pounds 27 by 11 by 2

Meanwhile you would specify that the package would be delivered to a residential address and uncheck "I want this picked up."  FedEx technically now calls their "Ground" service "Home Delivery."  You will see the amazing low cost rate after your have entered your data.

OK, what about the shipping package?  We build very stout packages that double as a carrying case for the Board.  We joke that it takes as long to build the shipping container as it does to create the Board.
Typically one or both ends of the box are wood  You will be quite impressed with our work at creating your shipping box!

That's why 1.5 pounds is a pretty good estimate.  We use very thick cardboard repurposed from bicycle shipping boxes.  Bicycles are typically shipped from countries of Asian origin.  Those boxes have to be REALLY Stout to withstand the rigors of Trans-Pacific freight forwarding.  If you are buying a large or extra large Board, increase the estimate of package weight to 2 or even 2.5 pounds.

Luckily added weight doesn't seem to make much difference in the FedEx rate.  It's all about package size and the distance to the destination.

Below is the FedEx shipping estimator.

https://www.fedex.com/en-us/online/rating.html

We will be adding various photos of our shipping boxes soon.