Our method to ship (after disassembly) was to wire the components to plywood, then surround them with dense foam so that they could not move or rub. Then it was wrapped up in double layer of cardboard and shipped. It went in two boxes and cost about $250 to ship from South Dakota to California. That $250 did not include any of the supplies to pack, not sure what that added up to as we had leftovers from building projects.