First, read up on how to ship a bow. Then go to hardware store and ask them to cut a six-foot section of 3-inch inside diameter PVC. Seems kinda heavy, heh. Go to register and pay. $26 bucks! Are you kidding? No, and since we've cut it for you, it's yours. OK. Go home with your PVC. Geez, this is kind a heavy, heh. Just for the heck of it, weigh the PVC. Nearly 11 pounds? To mail a 12-ounce longbow? Calculate postage at USPS site for 12 pounds to zip code in Maine? Ayee! $28 clams! That's  well over $50 bucks. Re-read how to ship bows. Carpet tubing is free. Cool. Drive to carpet store five miles away. Tubing is too small. Drive to second carpet store 12 miles away. Sure we have what you want. I get $5 per tube. OK. Drive 12 miles back home for total of 24, in Ford F150, about 1.5 gallons unleaded at $3.52 per gallon. Wrap bow in bubble wrap, styrofoam, etc and pack nicely into tube. Use up rest of mailing tape. Go to store for another role, $2 plus gas. Finally got her done. Drive to post office and mail, insured, $23. Total cost, not including time and aggravation, about $61 ...
Some are blessed with a mind for business. Then there's me ...

Or just keep the box it came in and ship it that way??? hahah.. Just kidding

LOL, that about sums up my experience of selling a bow as well. I think I ended up spending about what you did.

That's a good one...      

Does anyone buy bows in Washington or Oregon?     :confused:

A lot of the boxes bows come in aren't reusable unfortunately. $5 a tube isn't bad compared to PVC or buying a box. I'm lucky I have 4 stores in town and they all give it away and two even cut it to length for me at the store. I wouldn't recommend a 6' tube though, odds are you'll get hit with the balloon payment for being over 86" total.

If nothing else the lesson was priceless. (next time buy more than one tube to save on future gas)

LOL. The lesson you should have learned is only buy bows- never, I repeat, never sell them!
The archer with the most sticks at the end wins.  :D

I just did a post where I received this bow ship ped this way.
Where I don't recommend it, it was delivered safely..and cheaply... :D  
 

And I thought I had a stressful day!!!  


Bill

Now I know why I have 18 or 20 hanging down the basement. Hap

I was going to give my collection of Schulz bows away, but if it that costly to mail them forget it.

Now I know why I buy only T/D longbows and recurves.  When I sell or trade them it is much easier and cheaper to package and ship them!

Bill

HAHA.....I think Kingstaken's bow takes the cake here! That's definately NOT the way to ship a bow!    

i just sent out a longbow and arrows in a 3 inch pvc tube and it cost me 14 bucks.

mbg

laddy, send 'em to me. I'll pay the postage, least I can do.

Thanks in advance.

Yeah, I did the carpet tube run -- too small thing too.  UPS shipping store gave me some triangle boxes to use.  Bubble wrap was free too, leftover from some furniture I bought.

There are different weights of PVC. I bought 4" diameter thin wall PVC in a 8 foot section for about $6. I cut it myself. I think the caps were about a buck a piece.

you should see what the packages look like when they finally arrive here in Alaska after being shipped up from the lower 48.... I am amazed none of the bows I have bought have never been damaged in transit... (knock on wood)... I'll ship a seller a box I build and reinforce myself so that I know they have a suitable box for shipping. The extra expense to send a shipping box for expensive bows is worth the peace of mind. Sticking a 1"x2"  in the shipping box which is a couple inches longer than the bow you are shipping will protect the bow tips from being crushed without adding a lot of extra weight... just an idea for future reference

Sometimes if you go to a sporting-goods store you can find tubes that they received fishing rods in.  Ask them if you can have them, they are generally three to three half-inch is in diameter.  I shipped out of bow wrapped in bubble wrap in one of those tubes last week.  It works out great, if you receive a bow in a tube, do not throw it out !

Carl

I have been shipping a lot of longbows.  I buy fairly light 3" plastic drain tube at Lowe's for $4.65 an 8' length.    I cut it to 72",  This produces package that is under the 84" dimension at which extra charges come into play.   The extra piece is handy for shipping, or storing, arrows.   This tubing is kind of corrugated looking, but works fine.   I've probably shipped 20 bows in it in the lasdt two years and no problems.   Cost is generally under $20.   If you use the very heavy wall PVC cost can get up over $35.

I just sent a schafer recurve(one-piece) to Canada in a recurve box that I got from an archery shop that my wife drives by everyday, I used the wrap that was left in the box, I walked to the post office and I shipped it to Canada insured for $650, the guy got it in 9 days and my cost was $13.65. Sorry but true, I will also say whoever charged ya five bucks for a carpet tube is a rip off artist. I have neevr paid for one. Shawn