2. misc-audio
  3. 159379-115924

Shipping. Hard Lesson.

I'm selling some high end audio gear for the estate of a relative who passed away. I've never done this before. I'm using C's List, eBay and A'gon. It has been a lot of work and not a lot of fun.

Tons of scammers on C's list but excellent experience selling to a local audiophile.

Got a sale pending here at A'gon. Not too bad.

One good experience on eBay.

But then the Bryston 9B SST2 amp sold on eBay. I had actually about decided to purchase it myself when it sold via eBay. Super nice, experienced buyer.

Took the amp to UPS. It weighs 65 pounds. Asked them to double box and was ready to pay the price but the clerk convinced me that there was no need. They would wrap it well and the box she chose was supposed to handle 85 pounds.

Well, it gets to the buyer and he sends me a picture and it looks like the box has rolled down a mountain. The handles are broken off of the amp and it is dinged all up. Have no idea if it works or not. I'm not sure double boxing would have mattered in this case.

We insured it for the price paid. Buyer was very understanding but disappointed of course. I will get paid (by UPS) what I was going to get paid anyway but both the buyer and I commiserated over a fine piece of equipment destroyed. Or at least marred.

Anyway, sorry about the long sad sop story but I will probably have other gear to ship in the near future possible even the gorgeous Aerial Acoustics 5Ts which, even thought they are bookshelf speakers, are large and heavy.

So all of this is basically to ask: Who do you use for shipping large heavy delicate audio gear?
n80
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,164 posts
 
There is never any guarantee. That is what insurance is for. 
If you think shipping an amp is tough think about turntables! 
The manufacturers packing is usually designed by experts. Always use the original packing if you can. With older units check with the manufacturer. They frequently have the right stuff. 
Does not matter who you use for shipping. Nobody cares until the insurance claims get too large.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
I think you did the right thing letting UPS pack it. At least you should get the insurance money, if you packed it without original inserts and it was damaged you might not get the insurance. I’ve been told every time I ship with UPS and buy insurance even if I have packed in original box then double box the only way UPS will not argue over insurance is if they pack it. I would show the photo of the box to someone up the chain at UPS every high insured item I ever sent was marked , Fraigle and High Value Item. If they are marked High Value they are suppose to be handled only by hand never tossed  on conveyors. 
jafreeman's avatar
jafreeman
689 posts
 
Yes, your delicate gear will be dropped, kicked, rolled, gaff hooked--moved by any means possible. Shippers adhere to different standards with factory shipments to retailers, it seems. For us, best to sell locally.  
facten
2,725 posts
 
I recently had the opposite with shipping at my local UPS store. I was shipping an Aqua Acoustic DAC that I sold to someone in CA. I keep all of the original boxes and interior packaging for my gear and despite the DAC being in the original double box and interior packaging they insisted that it needed a 3rd box due to the cost of the DAC .
Anyway, there are some threads that will come up under the Speaker Forum regarding shipping speakers that may give you ideas on other shipper options. Hope you have better shipping experience in the future.
PS - Another sales venue you might consider is USAudioMart
facten
2,725 posts
 
n80

Here's an example of the threads I was referring to

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/shipping-large-speakers?highlight=shipping%2Bspeakers
If you type in shipping speakers in the discussions search a number of them individual threads will come up
More to discover