Is your eCommerce instrument store taking off? Are you hoping to provide your customers with the best possible service?

Unfortunately, everyone is familiar with the challenges that come along with shipping oddly shaped or fragile objects, like instruments. From packing to delivery, each parcel goes through many stages in the shipping process - and with each stage comes a potential risk of loss.

Read further to ensure your customer's instruments arrive safely to their doorsteps, every time.

Are you an eCommerce seller who serves the music industry? If so: you are likely well versed in the trials and tribulations of mailing instruments! Since many instruments are incredibly delicate, it can be tricky to ship them across the US and around the world. Think of this article as your go-to guide to shipping musical instruments. We will also focus on how to send musical instruments. 

Plus, there are huge amounts of potential losses, especially when shipping via sea from Asia. In 2018, there were $1.5 billion in claims from ship sinking/collision incidents. Not only do you need to have a lifeline to keep your fragile instrument insured, but you need one just in case the worst happens in general. 

Shipping insurance for instruments is massively crucial for these reasons. It can also be a massive headache to deal with. 

However, musical instrument shipping insurance can be made easy. It just depends on who you are working with. 

Shipping Insurance for Instruments

There are endless benefits of shipping insurance. You can safely expand your business and the distance where you sell to. You can reduce overall rates by preventing unnecessary loss. You can also have peace of mind for everyone involved - for the buyers and dealers! 

The big problem is that insurance for instruments can get expensive, especially when dealing with heavy instruments that are traveling long distances. Let’s check out an example: 

Imagine shipping an instrument parcel that is worth $600. With standard shipping carriers such as UPS or FedEx, you are looking at around $9.15 for the cost of shipping insurance.

However, if you use a company that uses insurance software such as (cough, cough) Cabrella - you are looking at a shipping insurance cost of around $1.50. That is a BIG difference that will add up quickly. 

The Best way to ship musical instruments

Cabrella is a music industry go-to for shipping insurance for instruments, and insurance and risk intelligence software for high-value items. Cabrella software offers specialized insurance options for valuable musical instruments. Our software gives the ability to ship, insure, track, file claims, manage risk, build customized reports, and much more.

What’s best about this is that it’s all through a user-friendly platform. This means that you get cheaper shipping insurance with a great platform that allows you to manage everything in one place. 

Mailing instruments can be made much easier with our API integration, which allows shipping insurance to easily link with your external system. We also have great risk intelligence and proactive tracking services. Our software enables you to access risk intelligence based on losses by particular buyers, carriers and services, and city, state, and country. 

This is huge! You can do your due diligence and mitigate your potential losses in the future. In regards to proactive tracking services: our insured packages are tracked throughout transit regularly, alerting users of tracking in real-time, which allows you to get ahead of any issues before anything escalates. 

On top of this, our customers can rate & log transactions. It’s a great opportunity to send transaction information to us via API for rating and transaction issuance. All transactions, including associated details, are listed in your account for review and management. 

It is also easy to file insurance claims since all transaction details are stored in our database. All claims filed via API or otherwise will automatically include all relevant information for easy & fast filing. Users and partners can additionally use our API to obtain up-to-date claim status responses.

How to Ship Instruments

Packing is also an important aspect of insurance. Good packaging standards can mitigate the chances of your instruments being damaged during transit. Sometimes people aren’t familiar with best practices regarding how to prepare string instruments for shipping. 

Try to follow these standards, and you will prevent potential damage as much as you can:

1. Secure moving parts, loosen any strings and wrap any loose edges with packing paper.

2. Fill in holes around the instrument in its case.

3. Put the case in a box, fill in space with packing paper, and tape open edges.

4. Consider an in-case humidifier for extreme weather variance. This is a great idea when packaging musical instruments - especially stringed instruments. 
5. Make sure the instrument is suspended in the box.

Do you need a more advanced guide to shipping musical instruments? Read our white paper below! We go into the best practice and all the tips and tricks of the trade. 

Plus, if you would like to apply for shipping insurance make sure you follow the link and get the ball rolling. Think of it as a ticket to lower shipping insurance costs and easy shipping.