Shipping a Schwinn - What am I doing wrong here?

[partsguy]

Guys, I am tired of having my pink and white 20" '77 Hollywood sit around on CL, so I'm closing the CL listing and putting it on eBay today. I have only seen one other bike this size, year, and color. It sold for $148.00. I KNOW IT MOST LIKELY WILL NOT ACHIEVE THAT PRICE, but I noticed shipping through FedEx Ground was $49.99. Ok. I have the same service, yet I'm being quoted at $78.17 from OH to CA (I cover my bases and refund the difference if there is a significant difference in price which is not often the case).

What am I doing wrong and why the difference in price? In this economy, this kind of difference in shipping will surely hurt the sale price of the bike. I have a bicycle carton from the LBS with all the proper packing supplies. In case anyone wanted to pick it up, I weighed the bike and the box+supplies and added it together. This saves me a heap of time. The box is 54 x 8 x 30 and everything together weighs about 39 lb.

 

[udallcustombikes]

When I ship a 26" bike I use the 54" box. With the 20" bike you should be able to shorten the box and save some of the cost.

How are you packing the bike? I remove the pedals, seat, stem and bars, and front wheel. Place the frame assembly in the box and pack the other parts around it.
This thread may help as well.

 

[Wildcat]

I agree, it's the size of the box. I received a whole 20" bike in a box 40" long, 8" wide, and 24" tall.

 

[Toeslider]

I got a bike in about the same size box and it was shipped FedEx from IN to OH for $50, so makes sense the west coast would be more.