Ship Sticks: No more lugging clubs through the Airport
I am not exactly sure when, but certainly in the past two years, FedEx started to heavily promote their club shipping service. While the commercials were catchy, I was always wary of using the service because I figured the cost would be too much of a premium. I know this because I ship things on a regular basis (primarily via UPS) so I am aware of what it costs to ship a 45 pound bag. Throw in a box and service and I am thinking we are in the $75 per trip range. Side hint: UPS Stores and the like absolutely charge insane markups . . . go directly to a UPS location when possible.
In the case of Ship Sticks, who use both FedEx and UPS, it would then make sense that I would have to pay an additional premium as they are basically middle men (or so it would seem). Ugh, the dreaded middle man who takes a cut and offers no additional value . . . this is where I would be 100% wrong.
Ship Sticks’ basic business model is to offer a convenient and affordable golf club shipping service. Let’s talk cost first since that is what most people care about. Shipping your clubs one way costs about $40 (or about $0-$15 more than most airlines). It is my understanding that Ship Sticks is able to offer this rate because they have negotiated lower prices with the carriers, and are therefore able to keep the marked up price still at the going rate. Ok then, why Ship Sticks rather than going straight to UPS or FedEx?
In late January I was scheduled to attend the PGA Show where I was going to play 4 epic rounds of golf. I would be flying into Orlando and then leaving from the Marriott at TPC Sawgrass (yes that Sawgrass!). Because I was going to be in Florida for nearly a week (and tend to over pack), I was going to be carrying a large suitcase that would require checking. So even though Southwest boasts “bags fly free”, in this case I was going to have to pay for my clubs. Moreover, there are few things I hate more that lugging a suitcase, briefcase and golf bag 500 yards from my car to the terminal in 40 degree cold. Not to mention dealing with them upon arrival. The decision was clear then to utilize the Ship Sticks service.
The Ship Sticks website is extremely easy to navigate and it allows you to have your clubs picked up at your house, office or dropped off at the UPS Station. As for delivery, you can have them shipped to your hotel or directly to the club you will be playing. The return trip can also be customized such that you hand the bag to the final club you play. Then it is just a matter of printing out the shipping labels and attaching them to your hard or soft travel bag. NOTE: my hotel did not charge me for accepting delivery, but you may want to call ahead to make sure your hotel will not ding you for that service. If they do, you could consider shipping to the golf course.
Ok, so far this is not much different than how I ship any other UPS boxes. Now, here is what is different. I got into Orlando about 1pm and headed directly to lunch where I met up with a friend. We ended up having a few beers and when he asked me about my clubs I told them they should be at the hotel. I gave the hotel a call but they had not arrived . . . panic mode. While I did have the tracking number somewhere buried in my phone, I decided to call Ship Sticks instead. To my delight, I was informed they were scheduled to be delivered later that day. About 90 minutes later, I got an email telling me they had arrived – panic mode over, time for another round of cold ones! I should mention, this was not the first time I talked to Ship Sticks because the day before my clubs were picked up from my house, Ship Sticks buzzed me to remind me of the UPS pickup. I assumed that is standard protocol rather than them realizing I am way disorganized and would have forgotten.
You get the idea? Ship Sticks is like your personal concierge. Sure I love UPS for my everyday delivery, but with my golf clubs I want a little more. Not only do I get personal service but I get a standard $1,000 of insurance. That’s right, UPS insures your clubs for $500 but with Ship Sticks they bump it up to $1,000 at no additional cost and you can add on another $2,500 of insurance if you like. Now if they are lost or crushed you can actually pay for the replacements.
When you boil it down, shipping your golf clubs is basically cost neutral compared to putting them on the plane or shipping directly with UPS/FedEx and you get personal service to boot. No brainer in my mind. Not to mention not having to lug your clubs around (which is a pain). The only downside is that you may have do without your clubs for a few extra days, but for me giving up a round of golf right before or after my trip is no biggie since I am scrambling to either get all my work done or catch up on my work on those days anyhow. NOTE: they do offer overnight service so if you are in a pinch that is also an option but obviously it will increase the cost.
Bottom line: Shipping your golf clubs now makes financial sense and the convenience you get is well worth the day or two you don’t have your clubs. From a safety standpoint I do not have any statistics on who treats bags better, UPS or the Airline, but I am putting my money on the company that ships bags for a living, not the airlines. Take this picture as proof. This scary image hit my Twitter stream the day I shipped my sticks. Suffice it to say Golfspy Tim was not too happy with American Airlines.
Now, I know this is the exception rather than the rule, but if you are judging safety when deciding how to ship your clubs, I would argue that Ship Sticks is as safe or safer than any airline.
Final hint: Remember you will need attach the return label so be sure to bring extra tape or, even better, a self-adhesive packing slip envelope.
To earn more and ship your clubs (or skis, snowboard or boots) visit the Ship Sticks Website.
Bonus Travel Tip from Three Guys Golfer @Matt Murley:
Okay, so you’ve shipped your sticks, and now you only have 1 bag to haul into the airport. Congrats! I’m sure your first instinct is to keep that sucker as a carry-on, as most folks tend to think that checking a bag is one of the great horrors of the world. Not so fast. Do your overhead compartments a favor and try checking that bag – not for the benefit of others, but for your own good. One of the great underrated pleasures of life is strolling through an airport terminal with nary a bag to weigh you down. Cruise carefree through security, check out a few different airport bars and see which one suits your fancy, get up to hit the head after your 3rd beer . . . peachy. When you land, you stroll down to the baggage claim and maybe wait 10 minutes for your bag. Who cares? You’re already on vacation.
who knew??? this is great advice!
Great post and interesting feedback. I too hate lugging clubs from the airport, to rental car, to hotel and then have to do it all over again. I comment though in your article about Southwest is incorrect. I fly Southwest all the time, enough that I have a companion pass and you get 2 bags free and that includes your sticks. Just want to ensure the correct fact were out there.
Ryan, you are correct about the two bags as long as you do not hit the 50 lb mark, then it is $75. In the end, Ship Sticks may not be the cheapest but it is not that much more and potentially the same depending on carriers. Southwest, kinda rules as well!
Feedback on Shipsticks.com:
Inclement weather (a foot of snow) in the NE caused me to reach out to Shipsticks the weekend before shipping my clubs to Florida for a golf trip. They warned that shipping could be 1-2 days delayed, and only advised me to upgrade to 2 day air for $100 more per bag. I explained that it doesn’t make financial sense so I’ll cancel the shipment and fly with my clubs. Via email they refused to waive the cancellation fee so I called. A rep agreed to do the right thing and cancel at no charge. Then I got another email telling me they won’t waive the fee. When I called back to get to the bottom of it, I was again refused the waiver and was told I was ‘classy’ for letting them I know would write a review. I’m sure they do fine under normal situations, but they took my money and treated me like a jerk. I just wanted my clubs to be waiting for me without paying an extra $100 to ensure that. Geez.
Brutal! While my experience was much better than yours, I appreciate your comment and I hope it will help to correct any unfair policies. I am honestly stunned at your story since the guys I worked with were super nice (and not all of them knew I was doing a review). Anyhow, thanks again for sharing your story.
ShipStick.com
Hi;
As a birthday gift my wife bought me a beautiful white/black Callaway Staff bag. She and I celebrate our anniversary by returning each year to Vegas, where it all happen.
Thinking ShipSticks to be a good idea, and finding it reasonable at less than $100 round trip.
Well, upon delivery and removing my bag from the travel bag, only to find the front of my bag ‘melted’
Assuming, the shipper lay my travel bag on something so hot that the heat went through the travel bag itself.
Well needless to say, I was horrified. To hell with the anniversary; ‘MY BAG!!!!’
Reporting the damage I talked the rep. Rich.
Rich with a very good demeanor, was very helpful. Less then three week later I received a check for the full cost of my bag, where upon I purchase another great Callaway staff bag, one the can not melt.
Bottomline. I appreciate their handling of the matter, and would gladly uses the service again.
CC Lee
Need some info re pricing golf clubs to myrtle beach from Toronto and return
I wouldn’t use them or ship them a week early if you want them delivered on time!
I read a lot of reviews and thought using ship sticks was a great option for my trip, I was wrong. I shipped my clubs on a Tuesday for Friday delivery from 2 major airline hubs in Houston and Newark. I had a round of golf early Sunday morning with a flight back home that night(bringing my clubs back with me). Friday at 11:00am I receive a phone call from Ship sticks telling me there was a problem with my shipment and my clubs would not be delivered on Friday, but Monday the clubs will be at the destination. I asked where my clubs were at as there was no reason to ship them anymore if they couldn’t get them to me by Sunday. My clubs were in NJ but I was unable to go and pick them up because they were “on a container” that wasn’t going to sorted until Monday now. I explain my situation to the gentleman to which he tells me they will cover all accidentals caused by this and will ship my clubs right back to me when they arrive on Monday. Fast forward 4 hours later and I get a call from ship sticks, but I was in meetings and unable to answer. I check my voicemail later and I am told that the reason my shipment was delayed was due to severe weather and they no longer guarantee it because it’s out of there control. My confusion starts to set in, my clubs are in NJ at 11am, I can’t go and pick them up but yet they were delayed due to severe weather. How are they delayed to severe weather if they are sitting in a facility in the state they were being delivered to. My rep wasn’t there by the time I got a chance to call him back. Now I have no clubs, shoes, balls, tees, gloves, or hat and now it’s all on me because they don’t guarantee against weather, yet I still have a round to play at 7:45 on Sunday morning. It’s now Monday and my rep calls me back to explain the voicemail he left me, to which I just ask for my clubs to be sent back to me because this fiasco is now closing on $200 in cost. He tells me they will DO ME A FAVOR and ship my clubs back to me free of charge and that THEY will take the hit. I explained he’s not doing me a favor because I paid for a service and I still don’t have my clubs a week later because of the mystery information of severe weather showing up 4 hours later when the clubs were already in the state they needed to be but weren’t going to be delivered. The best he could do for me was get my clubs to me by Thursday, I explained I needed them on Wednesday and again he stated they didn’t have to do anything for me and I should be happy with what they are doing. Then he called me back and stated he was wrong again and now they won’t get them back to me until Friday, July 3rd. So I shipped them on June 23rd and will get them on July 3rd at there original address. I paid ship sticks to ship my clubs between states for the heck of it apparently because services were never rendered, and got a chance to spend an additional $200. Thank you ship sticks for this wonderful experience. I will make sure to let everyone know how reliable your service is and then lie to cover your tracks so you don’t have to pay accidentals.
I thought about sending my clubs from Illinois to Arizona. ShipSticks advertises $39.00 to ship when it will actually cost $69.00. What a rip. I’ll take them with me.
I had a HORRIBLE experience with #shipsticks Internationally. They may be great for domestic shipping, but we didn’t get our clubs until the last day of our trip. Golf trip ruined. Clubs got held up in customs. Apparently you can’t pack any other items (shoes, golf pants, or golf shirts) in your travel bag, so you may want to revise your article. The problem I have is this was never stated in email communication or in their “Prohibited Items” terms. I paid almost $400 for this service, which was supposed to be hassle free. I will be checking my bags in from now on. Big thumbs down with the way they handled this.
UPDATE: #shipsticks called me and will be refunding my fee for my outbound cost, since I used their service to get my clubs back to the US. There was no problem shipping back. They are also working internally to communicate things better w/ clients on what you can and can’t bring in your travel bag.
Terrible experience. I placed two separate orders for golf bags to be picked up 12 days apart. When Ship Sticks came to pick up the first set of clubs from my golf club, for some unexplained reason they decided they would also pick up the second set of clubs, even though these clubs were not scheduled to be picked up for twelve more days, and I needed to use them in the interim. All I needed for them to do, once they delivered them by mistake, was to send them back, right? Wrong. ShipSticks says they are not responsible, and will not ship the clubs back on their own account to fix their own error.
I had a similar poor experience last summer when attempting to ship to Scotland. They did not arrive because I packed shoes. Shoes are in my golf bag because that is where I store my “golf shoes”. No money back, no apology and I missed the most coveted tee time of my life. My partner used a company out of Boston and got his bag including shoes and all of his gear in 3 days from Ohio. I now know- deal with seasoned veterans when shipping anything as coveted as your clubs. Domestic shipping for $50 may be okay with ShipSticks but I’ll never return again.
Terrible experience using ShipSticks. Myself and 5 friends decided to ship our clubs from Boston to Mesquite Nevada on our annual 7 day golf trip, big mistake. The driver in my bag had the head snapped off, one set of clubs in another bag had 3 bent steel shafts including his putter and his 5 iron was in two pieces, worst of all one set never made it there at all. We Exchanged daily phone calls and emails with a customer rep named Ryan but got nothing but a constant run around and no satisfaction at all. They told us my friend could spend $200 and he would be reimbursed, hardly adequate to pay for 6 days of rental clubs and buy a pair of shoes plus balls. They never took any responsibility and just passed the blame on to UPS who obviously did not treat our clubs kindly but Ship Sticks is the company we trusted to get our clubs to our vacation site on time and intact, epic fail. Would strongly suggest to never use this poorly run company.
It’s important to read the fine print on Ship Sticks website. I had no idea neither UPS nor SS allow you to ship alcohol in your golf bag (which I always do when taking on the plane). Because my last two overseas trips were spoiled by airline delays, I decided to give SS a try. On arrival in Nebraska with my clubs due that day and golf the next day, I received a phone call from SS with this bad news:
– The labels came off your golf bag (rough handling by UPS?) and UPS opened your bag to figure out whose it was
– UPS found your bottle of very nice single malt and that has delayed the shipment
– By the way, that voids your insurance, compensation for rental clubs, etc
The next couple of days see phone calls telling me that UPS has experienced “severe weather delays” in Louisville and Denver so my clubs will not catch up with me.
I therefore direct Ship Sticks to just ship my clubs home. Although they never managed to deliver my clubs over a one week period, they charge me to ship my clubs home.
A couple of thoughts:
Did UPS shut down their operations over these weather delays? I’m skeptical. I suspect SS of retaliation for the bottle of scotch.
Ship Sticks publishes a list of steps to prepare your clubs for shipment. If tossing in a bottle of scotch results in the death penalty for your shipment, wouldn’t it be thoughtful to highlight that fact on the web page about preparing your clubs for shipment? Instead this critical rule is buried in the fine print of their terms and conditions.
I was in Nebraska to play three great courses over six days. Without my own clubs I was forced to play with poorly fitted rental clubs, effectively ruining my trip.
Bottom line: poor service. I could never recommend Ship Sticks.
By the way, my wife told our assistant pro about my struggles and he said Ship Sticks’ service used to be great but it’s turned sour. We never use them anymore.
Will tell anyone within earshot NEVER use this company – They ruined our golfing trip to Kauai, after losing our daughters fiancé custom fitted clubs; we cancelled our tee times and all of us felt sick for him the week while we were in Kauai. After persistence, the clubs were located in their “lost & found” in Utah. Initially 4 sets left Phx, only 3 were delivered to Kauai, of course it was the nicest, best set that was lost. He got them back, they arrived back home in Phx the day after vacation ended. Do you know how hard it is to get the double sided bar-coded tape off ? You have to cut it off….just sayin’
Ship Stick disclaims any liability for anything. if you read their terms of service (who does?) you will see their only obligation is to help you with the carrier. I dropped my clubs off on October 4th. I still don’t have them. I have no remedy against Ship Sticks. And no real one against UPS. I may test their “agreement” anyway. I’m a lawyer.
I should have done my research before using #Shipsticks as I had a HORRIBLE experience like many other people who use this “no-service” service. After my clubs were lost for a week in Florida, the company made no effort to expedite my clubs nor were they particularly concerned about the fact that it took weeks for my clubs to make it from NEW YORK to FLORIDA. Needless to say, they didn’t arrive in time for me to play nor did the company make any effort to remedy. I will NEVER use this company again.