This is to follow up on a previous thread looking for ways to ship a piano to Japan: https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/comments/1alk541/moving_an_electronic_piano_from_california_to/
We found what must surely be the world’s best way to do this. After a lot of effort discovering how expensive and logistically complicated ocean freight is for private individuals with only one item like this to ship, we stumbled on the following, which we used to ship a Kawai CA-98 digital/hybrid piano from SF to Tokyo.
It turns out FedEx, at least as of mid-2025, sometimes has special last-minute pricing on international air freight; if they happen to have a plane going where you want and it’s got extra space on it, they’ll sell it to you at a huge discount (like, 80-90%) off their regular rate. Your object needs to be between 150 and 530lbs, and you have to accept a bit of flexibility in pickup and delivery times, but it’s going by air which means days instead of weeks, you don’t have to worry about things like humidity damage from a sea voyage, and you don’t need an ISPM-15 compliant wooden crate.
We set up an account with them, built a sturdy cardboard crate for the piano, including composite pallet runners from Amazon (FedEx requires), and shipped it pretty much like any other FedEx package. Net weight was just under 300lbs. Total shipping cost of $900 included residential pickup, transport overseas, and delivery to (and inside) the recipient’s 7th-floor Tokyo apartment; a rippin’ deal. Recipient did have to pay Japan consumption tax, about $200.
It's FedEx “International Air Freight,” and the program as of 2025 is called “Great Rates.” When you go online, their website shows you quotes at various different pickup and delivery dates over the next week or two; our actual cost matched the online quote very closely. The whole process worked fantastically well, right down to tracking and customs data. Highly recommended, and thank you FedEx!
by No_Potential_899