How to get stuff from MA to TX
May 18, 2010 9:27 PM Subscribe
I live in Austin, Texas. I have books and music equipment in Easthapton, Mass. I will be up there in June and have looked for rental vehicles to drive back to Texas. The cost for a one way U-haul is about $1400. Avis charges $1200. I-Pod shipping cost over $2000. Is there any other way to get my stuff to Texas without the cost of a used car?
Sure. Buy a used station wagon or minivan, sell it after you move.
Or don't sell it. A guy I used to work with, who used to drive cabs in Boston, bought a 1979 Ford Country Squire station wagon to move from Boston to Detroit. The car, dubbed the Valdez because of the oil slicks it left wherever he parked it, cost him $85. It not only made it to Detroit, it lasted for a good year after that (with the addition of a quart of oil every now and then). When it stopped running, he had a junkyard come and tow it away; they gave him $50 for it.
posted by kindall at 9:59 PM on May 18, 2010
Or don't sell it. A guy I used to work with, who used to drive cabs in Boston, bought a 1979 Ford Country Squire station wagon to move from Boston to Detroit. The car, dubbed the Valdez because of the oil slicks it left wherever he parked it, cost him $85. It not only made it to Detroit, it lasted for a good year after that (with the addition of a quart of oil every now and then). When it stopped running, he had a junkyard come and tow it away; they gave him $50 for it.
posted by kindall at 9:59 PM on May 18, 2010
I second the Media Mail idea, but be warned: the PO is very strict about what can go in those packages. Ship nothing other than books (or other media). These packages are subject to inspection and if they are found to contain anything that isn't media, they will be "upgraded" to Priority and you will have to pay the (huge) difference on the Texas end.
posted by thebrokedown at 10:23 PM on May 18, 2010
posted by thebrokedown at 10:23 PM on May 18, 2010
Sure. Buy a used station wagon or minivan, sell it after you move.
Or a pickup truck. Remember, you will be bringing a clean, rust-free vehicle up to the northeast, where salting the roads is a recreational sport. Rust-free cars sell for a premium. If you are careful in your shopping, you might be able to sell the vehicle for enough to pay for it and the gas as well.
posted by Forktine at 10:28 PM on May 18, 2010
Or a pickup truck. Remember, you will be bringing a clean, rust-free vehicle up to the northeast, where salting the roads is a recreational sport. Rust-free cars sell for a premium. If you are careful in your shopping, you might be able to sell the vehicle for enough to pay for it and the gas as well.
posted by Forktine at 10:28 PM on May 18, 2010
Remember, you will be bringing a clean, rust-free vehicle up to the northeast,
(I'm pretty sure this is backwards?)
I was going to suggest the same - buy a used truck or van (I'd lean towards something enclosed unless you're trying to drive straight through) and sell it when you get there. More work and perhaps money up front but should be pretty close to cheap.
posted by bitdamaged at 10:32 PM on May 18, 2010
(I'm pretty sure this is backwards?)
I was going to suggest the same - buy a used truck or van (I'd lean towards something enclosed unless you're trying to drive straight through) and sell it when you get there. More work and perhaps money up front but should be pretty close to cheap.
posted by bitdamaged at 10:32 PM on May 18, 2010
I wouldn't want to drive a $2000 car from Mass to Texas myself, but I'm kinda old and 'back then' it wouldn't have bothered me so much. If you tripled that, you would still have the car with not quite 2k miles more on it though.
However, about eighteen months ago I move from DC to central Texas, and had most of five rooms, including about 20 feet of wall in book cases, shipped for less than two thousand dollars. For that price, you don't get a definite delivery date (they told me two and a half weeks and it was almost four), but they load too (which made our old friends nicer as we drove off.).
I suggest looking at moving companies, really. Especially if you have a big window on when the things can arrive. I just did a Google search, called or emailed a few and took the cheapest one. It won't hurt to look into it.
posted by Some1 at 11:10 PM on May 18, 2010
However, about eighteen months ago I move from DC to central Texas, and had most of five rooms, including about 20 feet of wall in book cases, shipped for less than two thousand dollars. For that price, you don't get a definite delivery date (they told me two and a half weeks and it was almost four), but they load too (which made our old friends nicer as we drove off.).
I suggest looking at moving companies, really. Especially if you have a big window on when the things can arrive. I just did a Google search, called or emailed a few and took the cheapest one. It won't hurt to look into it.
posted by Some1 at 11:10 PM on May 18, 2010
Also depending on how much you have— you may be able to wrap it up on a pallet or two and ship it via a trucking company.
posted by Red Loop at 2:56 AM on May 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Red Loop at 2:56 AM on May 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
I've had good luck with U-Ship before. You put your move out for bidding and people who are going that way anyway with an empty truck bid on it. The cost was well under rental car rates, never mind services like POD.
posted by ChrisHartley at 6:02 AM on May 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by ChrisHartley at 6:02 AM on May 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
(I'm pretty sure this is backwards?)
Oops! Buying a vehicle for the trip, and selling after, is still my advice, but going from the NE to TX means that you would have to be a really careful shopper to be able to turn a profit; much easier to go the other way.
posted by Forktine at 6:10 AM on May 19, 2010
Oops! Buying a vehicle for the trip, and selling after, is still my advice, but going from the NE to TX means that you would have to be a really careful shopper to be able to turn a profit; much easier to go the other way.
posted by Forktine at 6:10 AM on May 19, 2010
A couple of years ago, I needed to retrieve some furniture from NM and bring it out to VA. We ended up not shipping it. Instead, we rented a truck from Ryder and drove the furniture across country ourselves. I spoke with customer service rep at each of the various truck rental places and pitted their bids against each other. I'd ask for a quote. They'd give me a number. I'd thank them for their time saying it was too much and that I had a quote from another renter for less. They'd come down pretty substantially. I think we ended up with a rental truck for about $500. The contract gave us a week to return the truck. They did say that they had a greater need to get trucks back East and it would have cost us more to go the opposite direction. It may be worth a shot to tell U-haul that Avis was less and see if U-haul comes down. I'd also call the other truck rental places like Ryder.
posted by onhazier at 6:14 AM on May 19, 2010
posted by onhazier at 6:14 AM on May 19, 2010
Response by poster: Thank you all! Media Mail was the obvious choice (and I do not know why I did not think of that before- guess it was a volume thing). As for the rest of the equipment, we will sell it and buy new, used stuff in Austin.
posted by flyfsh_peter at 12:16 PM on May 19, 2010
posted by flyfsh_peter at 12:16 PM on May 19, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Books can be shipped extremely cheaply via USPS Media Mail. Figure out about how much your book collection weighs (probably an average of 1-2 lbs per book) and price it out at the USPS Postage Calculator. You will get the best price per pound if you get each package as close to the 70lb Maximum as possible. A 70lb box of books would cost under $30 between the cities you mentioned.
How about your other stuff? The cheapest option you mentioned is a rental car for $1200 plus gas. You can ship a 70lb box or regular stuff via UPS between the cities you mentioned for $65, or $45 if you get a UPS account through eBay (signup through eBay qualifies you for the daily pickup rates, a good deal). You mentioned musical equipment; anything with huge dimensions might cost extra. But if we're just talking weight, you could ship 700lbs of stuff for $450, a significant savings over the options you mentioned.
For extra convenience schedule a pickup at your door for a few extra bucks.
posted by reeddavid at 9:50 PM on May 18, 2010