Shipping guitar tips

Well it looks like I'm going to be adding a new weapon to my arsenal:


It's an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Limited Edition in Translucent Blue with one beautiful flamed maple top. (Like you care)

Any tips on shipping and payment? I was planning on having it send UPS insured. Paying 1/2 after the guy tells me he's shipped it and 1/2 after I get it.

have him ship it in a hardshell case. that would be good. I would be too nervous to ship something like that any other way. I worked at fedex for a while... We used boxes as ladders, chairs, stepping stools, throwing devices... that commercial where the guy shakes up his chocolate milk by fedexing it to himself is pretty accurate actually...

Yeah, ok. I'm getting a hardshell case with it. I just wanted to know if there was some way to get it done cheaper or more efficiently. I'm pretty sure he's going to put the guitar in the hardshell case, in a box full of popcorn and newspapers.

Make up some kind of a contract... so that if he screws you... you can take him to court... Im sure it would hold up... but i have done business with people over the internet, and more often then not they always send the stuff... i think they are more affraid that your not going to send the money or whatever, then them actually send it to you... :p

Pay for shipping insurance, and get a copy of the insurance agreement before the guitar is shipped.

You can have a shipping place pack it, in that case there is no question if it gets damaged from shipping. We got an old Gibson bass shipped to work and the guy like put so much packing around it, including several layers of packing tape (looked like a zombie) and it was packed a few times. Had no problems. Shipped UPS

Thanks a lot guys. The guy who told me I had first dibs and I was setting up shipping arrangements with just told me he wants to put it on ebay. Bastard. Y'all don't understand how much I wanted this guitar. If you see it on there, write him nasty letters about how he should have sold it to me.