A simple request---Please pack audio gear well.

It is quite simple:

As buyers we do not want to pay alot for pack/ship, but we want the perfect pack/ship job. THIS IS NOT DIRECTED AT JUSTLISTEN. I KNOW YOU WOULD DO THE RIGHT THING. There are newish rules with UPS that state NO CLAIM WILL BE PAID for any damage to electronics that has used cardboard boxes from previous shipments, internal carton or external.

It used to be factory packaging was acceptable and maybe for some claims it still is, but anthing of value will likely be looked at much closer, pulling the lack of packaging, old or preused packaging to deny claims.

Here is what I do - doesn't mean it is right - but I will share.

When I sell something, I charge UPS Store packaging rates. I am sure to let them know the value, as this dictates packaging requirements and costs. A simple, smallish amplifier, say 40 lbs will cost close to $54 to double pack for insured shipping. I use UPS store to pack AND ship the item. Expensive packaging costs - yes. Counter rates higher than on account - yes. Insurance higher per $100 of value ($2.50 per $100 or less versus $0.45 per $100 at the station) - yes. If there is ANY DAMAGE, WHAT-SO-EVER, the claim is guaranteed since the UPS Store packed, shipping, and insured it.

Seller - happy the extra expense helped the buyer.
Buyer - happy he paid the extra expense to recoup his money.

I should say, another side benefit is there is no complaining back and forth about proper packaging, crapping wrapping, etc, etc. As well, with a claim, UPS store employees handle ALL of the paperwork. You only show proof of purchase and value.

LASTLY FOLKS - DO NOT OVER INSURE PACKAGES YOU SHIP! UPS will ONLY pay for the claim UP TO PURCHASE PRICE. YOU HAVE TO SHOW PROOF OF THE SALE (your ad, email, etc.). Don't spend extra money or commit insurance fraud!!

Dan

Poschecab,

Sage advice.... I too have used the UPS stores and other pack and sends for just this reason. It costs, but i don't worry. I just received a watch winder I bought from a guy in state. He had the UPS store pack it. I must say they outdid even my! Wrapped in bubble wrap, then cardboard, then more bubble wrap. Int the first box, then foam peanuts and a second box.

Yeah, I paid for it, but my winder made it here in perfect condition, and that was worth the extra $100 to me!

KT

When you pack audio gear especially heavy gear, go on the assumption that someone will drop it from a height of 8 feet. That is the rule of thumb I use when I pack. You really must pack it "bomb proof" as I call it. Shippers will not take care of anything heavy.

Just my 2 cents

I just had a similar problem. I ought a cdp off of Audiogon a few weeks ago. The seller had good rep and was selling a barely used unit. It was double boxed and shipped in the original box, well packed. Well i had bought off of Ebay a few weeks before that another used cdp unit and it was not as well packed and when played skipped.

So the delivery guy hands me the package and i hear a metal sound scraping. So i get it in house see the box has some crunched edges so i get my digital camera out and take some pics. I fire up the cdp and nothing it wont play the cd. The outside of the unit is in mint condition. So the seller sends a pick up notice and files with the company. They email me asking about the package, seems they dont believe him. I send them a note explaining what happened then i realize i had taken some photos of the box. So i send a second email with the pics. Seller tells me thats what forced the company to pay for the drop "ped" shipping.

So shoot some digital pics of the box before you open it. Cheap insurance.

Speaking with a former electronics dealer, now a part of a major manufacturer of pro and counsumer audio gear, he told me when he was a dealer the greatest obstacle he had to overcome were common carriers.

Not recessions, manf. price hikes, inflation, or seasonal activity. Carriers.

His experience and on site tours of two major Fed Ex hubs showed him that in two locations the cnveyor belts used to do the sorting of the incoming & outgoing parcels took 4 - 5 ft. drops in at least one place during the transition at both Northern hubs.

4 to 5 foot drops are remarkably large drops. If the package doesn't drop well and rolls or bounces off of the lower conveyor belt, yet again the package falls further onto the (I assume) concrete floor!

I doubt seriously that makers of very heavy gear package them well enough to sustain themselves without issues by dropping a few off their loading docks in testing their packing.

Those two hubs he noted as having visited were Ft Wayne, In, and Ann Arbor, Mi. There may well be others.

I know of one person who used UPS and UPS packing to transmit some item and it was damaged upon arrival at the recipients address. UPS denied the claim initially, indicating improper packing of the item as fault. The shipper pointed to the check box where he had paid additionally for UPS packing on his receipt.

UPS then, paid the claim.