I am looking to have a large piece (32"x32") packed and shipped and insured for just under $3000. It is a bit heavy at 17lbs. I usually use Fed Ex and pack pieces myself but they are smaller and worth under the $1000 which they said is the highest they insure for. I am in the Los Angeles area.
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I ship quite a few large pieces -- and I also ship my art display out to Denver, from VA, for a show I do there every year.
When it's a large piece, or multiple boxes plus my display panels, I use Pilot shipping by truck. I find it's a much better deal in most cases. It's also nice because you call to schedule a pick up - so you don't have to drop it off anywhere.
When I ship our art, I seldom insure it for the total amount unless I'm able to send it via US Postal REGISTERED MAIL. But they have smaller dimension requirements than you are talking about here, so you have to ship with UPS or FedEx, or how Robert Johnson suggests with independent carrier.
I'd say just like Brian Billings, 32x32 and 17lbs. isn't that big at all, really. But how is your artwork constructed? Is it fragile in that rough handling of the package will cause the artwork to come apart? If that's the case, you might not get anyone to insure it at all. I wouldn't suggest making a wooden crate for it since that adds weight and weight causes drivers and others to handle packages more roughly.
I always dumpster-dive for cardboard. Find yourself an appliance store just like Jacki B said or auto body repair shop since they regularly get LARGE heavy duty cardboard shipments of car body metal parts and windshields. Get a utility knife, a big sharpie pen, a ruler and tape measure and cut down the big boxes. Double box your art! Make the inner box fit just around the artwork. If you must pack something soft around the artwork, get clean fleece blankets at thrift stores for $2 or so or from Wal-Mart for less than $4. Wrap them around the art and tuck them into the nooks and crannies. Then box around it for the inner box.
For the second outer box, make it at about two inches wider all around and use foam insulation from Lowe's or Home Depot to fill in the space. If your artwork is centered in the box and about 4" from the outside, you should be able to get UPS to insure it for its retail PAID value. If you can take it to a UPS center where a manager can inspect it themselves, that should do it. Remember to leave the box open when taking it to them, then tape it shut once it's inspected. Make sure you keep the dimensions below 40 inches or just at it since getting bigger than that will put the shipping price much higher.
Do a price check on the UPS website BEFORE making the box. Key in 40x40 and 25 lbs. and see what the price will be. Then 39x39.
Good luck!
I don't ship anything UPS that could possibly get trashed as they don't handle items with any care.
I use independent shippers to ship my furniture and cost is very reasonable. I don't know what the limit on insurance is but I have shipped furniture insured for $5,000 plus some shippers are insured and it is included in their bid. You can go to this web site and describe your item, where it is located and where it is going, what kind of service you want (white glove, unpack and remove shipping material, etc) and shippers will bid on the shipping, you can accept any bid or reject any or all, not obligated to accept any bid. I use this site quite often. http://www.uship.com/
I use the local UPS store all the time and they have always done a really good job packing and shipping my artboxes. They will easily ship pieces the size you mentioned.
Make sure you double check the details on the insurance. A few years ago I needed to ship some framed prints for a customer and was told by my Fedex rep that their insurance did not cover artwork and I had to get insured via a 3rd party.
DO you have any information about third party insurance?
32"x32" isn't very big and can easily be shipped through UPS with insurance up to $50k. Go to their website and you can calculate cost. That doesn't sound right about FedEx, I use them for freight shipping and I know they insure my pieces much higher than $1k.
They'll sell you the insurance, but they won't pay the claim. Guaranteed, BB. Read about what happened to noted illustrator Don Maitz some years ago. A large crate of illustrations were lost by FedEx and he got $500 for the more than $100,000 contents. Unless they've made some kind of changes in the very recent past, they'll only pay $500 for artwork loss or damage. So if Esther Barr was told $1K, maybe they've raised the limit recently. I'd love to hear differently about FedEx, but I doubt they'll change much.
Thank you for mentioning that story. My husband was convinced that they would pay since it seems like it when you plug in the info.
It was odd, when the first guy plugged in the figures it gave me an amount that sounded okay. It was the manager that overheard us who informed me about the $1,000 limit. This was at FedEx.
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