I recently checked USPS and it was something like $180 to ship Virginia to Nebraska. Did you ask the guy when he last tried to do that? 1973 maybe?
When I ship a bare frame, I take the fork off and secure it with a lot of padding to the top or down tube. I can use a much smaller box that way. I took a beating on shipping my last frame; I assume because gas prices shot up because of Harvey.
I've heard good things about this service. The buyer sets up an account with a US address in their terminal in Florida and then pays a bulk rate to ship overseas. Seller just has to ship domestic to Florida.
https://www.myus.com
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N = '96 Colnago C40, '04 Wilier Alpe D'Huez, '10 Colnago EPS, '85 Merckx Pro, '89 Merckx Century, '86 Tommasini Professional, '04 Teschner Aero FX Pro, '05 Alan Carbon Cross, '86 De Rosa Professional, '95 Gios Compact Pro, '95 Carrera Zeus, ‘81 Masi Gran Criterium, ‘81 Merckx Pro, ‘89 Cinelli Supercorsa, ‘83 Bianchi Specialissima, ‘VO Randonneur, Ritchey Breakaway Steel, Rivendell Rambouillet, Heron Randonneur, ‘92 Ciöcc Columbus EL