Someone selling their LL Remix XP10 agreed to a price I offered, and it seems like a great deal. I was planning to drive down to their area to pick it up, but I guess part of the reason behind the seemingly great deal is the fact that they’re moving in a couple days. Unfortunately, it’s a nearly 1,000 mile drive for me and I just can’t make it by the date in question.
I’ve tried calculating shipping costs on FedEx, and it’s an arm and leg given the dimensions I’ve entered (which negates the whole deal given the roughly $360 shipping quote). I entered some information into other sites and I’m currently awaiting quotes.
I’m trying to transport this kayak from the Little Rock, AR area up to either North Carolina or Virginia (VA is ideal, but NC will also work for me).
Does anybody have any further advice or assistance that you can offer me here?
As of five years ago our company would reimburse us 50 cents a mile for traveling in our own car, that being the national estimate for how much it costs. Includes car payment/depreciation, maintenance, insurance, etc not just gas. So at that rate your 1000 mile road trip will cost $500, not to mention hotel and meals. I’d go with FedEx if they will truly ship it for that rate.
You might prefer to make the drive to avoid possible shipping damage. A possible option, although it’s a hassle for the seller and ads cost for you, would be to ask the seller to rent a local storage unit for a month and put the kayak in the storage unit. Then ask the seller to mail you the key to the padlock for the unit (or use a combo lock). That way, you’d have a month to make the drive.
You might try the Facebook group “Kayak Shipping Made Easy”. A lot of boats get moved there, especially if you can throw some cash in to sweeten the deal. Good luck!
Besides the usual suspects like FedEx and UPS, you might try freight shippers like Conway and others. There are several sites online that specialize in getting freight shipping quotes from multiple companies.
Unfortunately, with high fuel prices and a nationwide shortage of trucks and drivers, this is not the greatest time.
Wow, thank you for the great responses! Y’all are certainly a resourceful bunch, and I will be certain to keep each of your ideas in mind going forward.
At the moment I just had a response from someone in northern Pennsylvania with whom I’d previously inquired about another model (JK Traverse 10). They’re willing to sell this one to me for only $50 more, and it’s a 300 mile drive each way versus the 1000 mile drive each way for the LL Remix XP10. So far they’ve also agreed to be very felixble regarding which day I can get up there, which certainly helps me out. Unless there’s some extremely fantastic reason to go for the LL Remix XP10 over the JK Traverse 10, the latter just seems like a much better deal for me right now.
The seller in Arkansas told me they’ll let a friend of theirs hold onto it so I can have more time to work on everything.
Right now I’m keeping both options open (The JK Traverse 10 in PA, and the LL Remix XP10 in AR), just in case one somehow still falls through for whatever reason.
If all actually goes well, with zero serious hiccups, the big question will then be whether I just stick to the closer kayak in PA or if I stretch my budget to its banshee screaming limits and spring for both.