Who ships what
Getting your items from the gallery to you is the buyer’s responsibility. We ship simple items in-house; many items need a third-party shipper. Check the end of each lot description: lots marked “In-house shipping available” can be packed and shipped by us, usually at a much lower cost than a third-party shipper. Lots marked “Third-party shipping required” must go through one of the shippers listed below, and are marked as such in the catalogue and on your invoice. Please call us at (773) 465-3300 about shipping arrangements for your items.
In-house shipping, step by step
- Pay for your items. You will receive an email with your invoice attached. If you can’t find it, check your spam folder for mail from directauctiongalleries@gmail.com, and mark us as “not spam” so future invoices arrive normally. You can pay by phone at (773) 465-3300 by debit or credit card (a 3% administrative fee applies to card payments).
- Confirm your address. We ship to the address on your bidder account. If it is not correct, call us with the right one immediately.
- We pack and quote. We pack your items and call (or text) you with the shipping cost, which includes postage, materials and our staff’s packing time. We can’t send the package until the shipping is paid, so please watch for our call.
- We ship and send tracking. Once shipping is paid we send the package and email you a tracking number.
We have many packages to ship after every sale, so please be patient with packing and shipping turnaround. The people who pay earliest are generally shipped first, so call your payment in quickly and we will get it out quickly.
Third-party shippers we recommend
Our list of local shippers, in order of quality of packing, cost, communication, convenience and least hassle:
- Auctions2Go, 318 Half Day Rd., Buffalo Grove, IL 60089 · 224-610-6777 · young@auctions2go.org. The star of the show: great shipping at reasonable prices, and no breakages or complaints of any kind so far.
- The UPS Store #7687, 4633 W. Diversey Ave., Chicago, IL 60639 · 773-904-8644 · store7687@theupsstore.com. Reliable and dependable, one of our go-tos for items we can’t ship ourselves; helpful, eager to please, and no breakages or complaints so far.
- Custom Crating & Logistics, 742 Lively Blvd., Elk Grove, IL 60007 · 312-866-3414 or 847-258-5530 · sales@customcratingandlogistics.com. They do it all: extremely fragile items, items with lots of pieces, bigger jobs, furniture and large items, simple shipping too, and they can pick up from us. Always on point.
- The Packengers · 917-273-0331 · helloNYC@thepackengers.com. Seems to have the best prices to the New York area and, as a bonus, ships unusually large items, including furniture. No breakages or complaints so far.
Furniture and large, bulky items (freight)
- The Packengers (above) will freight-ship large items and furniture across the country, and we believe overseas.
- Navis Pack & Ship, Joliet · 815-630-5673 · customerservice@navischicagoland.com. Unbelievable for high-end items: they once shipped a $230,000 porcelain screen to China on our behalf. Not cheap, but very, very high quality; our best customers use Navis for continental and worldwide transport of large items.
- Custom Crating & Logistics (above) if you would like your items crated. Big or small, they’ll do it all.
- For less expensive, less important items you can try uShip (www.uship.com). The quality of freight shippers there varies greatly, so choose carefully; think of it as the Uber of freight shipping.
If you have thoughts or suggestions on shippers in the 60645 area, email us at directauctiongalleries@gmail.com. Your feedback is always welcome.