Many great tips in this tread. Double boxing, solid stryo and bubble wrap seem to rule. I will wait till end of summer and pick up some noodles. I have also used as the inner box a heavy duty plastic containner but also pakc the item in that container with stryo and bubble. When making a bid/offer I always condition that on 'acceptable packaging for shipment' language. That way, up front it is agreed on.
A packing solution for Audiogonitis carriers
Anyone else here HATE Styrofoam packing materials? Once it gets compacted a little, it fails to provide any protection and/or also fails to secure the component in the box.
Peanuts and news paper are about useless if the piece being shipped has any weight to it. Plank foam is expensive as is special two part foam bags. Bubble wrap works, but it is sometimes hard to be consistent with it and can get expensive if you have to buy a lot of it.
Although I seem to have settled down in my buying and selling of A/V gear, I think I have finally found a cheap alternative to my packing problems - and it's kind of funny:
Swimming noodles
You know those things they sell at dollar and grocery stores for a buck or two for kids to play with at pools. Their foam and easily cut to size, and they can protect a piece of gear over multiple impacts without loosing their shape. For corners I simply zip-tied three together in an “L” shape so they wouldn't separate. It worked like a charm on my 50 lb CDP since the original Styrofoam had compacted and disintegrated.
Peanuts and news paper are about useless if the piece being shipped has any weight to it. Plank foam is expensive as is special two part foam bags. Bubble wrap works, but it is sometimes hard to be consistent with it and can get expensive if you have to buy a lot of it.
Although I seem to have settled down in my buying and selling of A/V gear, I think I have finally found a cheap alternative to my packing problems - and it's kind of funny:
Swimming noodles
You know those things they sell at dollar and grocery stores for a buck or two for kids to play with at pools. Their foam and easily cut to size, and they can protect a piece of gear over multiple impacts without loosing their shape. For corners I simply zip-tied three together in an “L” shape so they wouldn't separate. It worked like a charm on my 50 lb CDP since the original Styrofoam had compacted and disintegrated.