COPPER BEAUTY SEEKS A MAN OF STEEL (WOOL)

[tigro65]

HEY IT'S ME AGAIN, THE NEW GIRL WHO HASN'T GOT A MISS PENNY TO HER NAME!!! (YET) I LOOKED INTO SHIPPING AT SEVERAL DIFFERENT PLACES AND WAS TOTALLY SHOCKED AT THE QUOTES I'VE BEEN GETTING BACK.... I CAN'T AFFORD IT!!! I AM IN BIG TROUBLE!!! IT COSTS MORE TO SHIP IT HERE THAN IT DOES FOR THE STOVE. IF I HAD KNOWN HOW MUCH IT WOULD BE FOR SHIPPING I WOULD HAVE NEVER BID ON IT. NOW I FEEL LIKE A FOOL BECAUSE I WON THE BID AND AM STUCK WITHOUT A WAY TO GET IT. THE CHEAPEST QUOTE I GOT SO FAR WAS FROM USHIP FOR $585.00
BEFORE I STARTED BIDDING I ASKED MY SISTER IN LAW, WHO IS AN 'EXPERT' E-BAYER, (OR SO I THOUGHT) HOW MUCH SHE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AND SHE TOLD ME AROUND $150.00. UNFORTUNATELY I TOOK HER WORD FOR IT AND STARTED BIDDING.
BOTTOM LINE IS - I CAN'T AFFORD TO PAY FOR SHIPPING FOR THE STOVE.

I NOTICED SOME OF YOU CHAMBERS LOVERS LIVE IN TEXAS, WHERE THE STOVE IS LOCATED (SAN ANTONIO). ARE ANY OF YOU INTERESTED IN BUYING IT FOR WHAT I WON THE BID FOR ($465.00) ??
I DON'T WANT TO UPSET THE PERSON I WON IT FROM BY TELLING HIM THAT I CAN'T GET IT AFTER ALL. (I AM SO EMBARRASSED, AND FEEL REALLY STUPID FOR NOT REALIZING HOW MUCH ALL OF THIS WOULD COST ME.)

MY HEART IS BROKEN. I WAS COMPLETELY ENAMOURED WITH THIS WONDERFUL WEIRD STOVE!!! SOMEDAY I WILL FIND ANOTHER BEAUTY NEARBY, I HOPE. BUT FOR NOW I JUST WANT TO SEAL MY END OF THE BARGAIN TO THE SELLER OF THE STOVE. I FEEL AT LEAST OBLIGATED TO DO THAT. IS ANYONE INTERESTED IN HER? TINA ([email protected])

[treatmaker]

Tina,

Did you get in touch with Eric? I believe Todd or RobbiQuest posted his # for you. He's probably your best bet as far a price goes, just won't be as fast.

Treatmaker

[treatmaker]

Tina,

I tried to find Eric's # on one of the threads, but wasn't successful. I know people on this board have used him and were pleased. Hopefully they'll read the post and put the number on. I believe he would be in your price range. Try not to give up the stove.

Treatmaker

[lowracer]

RENT A MINIVAN. DRIVE TO TEXAS. GET LOCAL CHAMBERS BOARD FOLKS TO HELP YOU LOAD IT. COST YOU ABOUT $250 PLUS TWO DAYS VACATION.

[tigro65]

I will ask Eric, if anybody has his number. I tried to find it via the internet (google, etc), but to no avail. I checked mapquest, and Wellsboro is over 1700 miles away from San Antonio (one way). So round trip were talking almost 3500 miles!!! [img]rolleyes.gif[/img] It's nuts!!

[RobbiQuest]

Eric is "MachineMover" - his link is one of those on the [url="http://www.chambersvirtualconvention.com/resources.htm"]http://www.chambersvirtualconvention.com/resources.htm[/url] page.

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ January 06, 2006 11:56 AM: Message edited by: RobbiQuest ]</font>

[pmisaber]

Tina,

Don't give up yet.

I don't know how quickly you need to have the stove moved, but as others have mentioned, Eric offers pretty reasonable prices if you have flexibility in time of shipment and he has moved items for other board members.

I used uShip to move my BZ because Eric couldn't give me a clear idea of when he would pass through the Dallas area. Ultimately the uShip shipper I used actually charged less than the price Eric quoted and did a great job, but Eric still would have been my first choice because he has moved these stoves before and the price difference was only $50.

If the seller is a bit flexible with the date of pick-up you may be able to leave the posting on uShip with a broader window and get a more reasonable bid. If you list the stove as if the move has to be accomplished quickly then the shipper knows that they won't have much competition and can price their service accordingly. If you have a bigger window, you also give folks who drive a route that goes through your area on a less frequent basis an opportunity to bid. Some of them are piggybacking your shipment onto a prearranged shipment and can offer really great pricing since they already have covered all of their expenses and have made a profit from the first load (that is what happened to me). Your load is just extra profit in that setting.

One other point about uShip drivers. If you get a reasonable bid from one make sure that you provide instructions about how the stove needs to be handled before accepting a bid because you cannot assume that they will know how to move a Chambers without damaging it(you could cut and past Chipperhikers recent set of instructions that were incredibly detailed into a message to the shipper). A truck with a hydraulic lift is definitely a plus, but as others have mentioned there are other ways to get the stove onto the truck.

Also, you should take into account the fact that while shipping costs seem high, the price of a completely restored stove dwarfs the combined expense of stove price and shipping for your stove.

I hope that you have good luck with the stove and don't find it necessary to sell it. It is a really nice stove.

Peter

[tigro65]

Everybody in here has been so wonderful and so helpful- I just can't believe it. Thank you so much for all the suggestions and advice. I wish I had more time, I asked the seller for more time, but he said he would only hold it for a couple of weeks. Eric the shipper already has a route planned for the next couple of weeks, and unfortunately Texas isn't part of that. So I will keep in touch with the seller and just see what other bids I get, make a few more contacts, etc. to see if I have any luck. I will let you know what happens. Either way, I am determined to have a Chambers stove, even if it isn't "miss penny". In that regard, I hope I haven't disappointed too many people in here by my regrettable mistake because I'd like to be able to come back when I do get my chambers stove. Thank you all again for everything you've offered me- what a great bunch of people! Tina