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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
Post removed 
jrwaudio
355 posts
 
I sent my VAC PA 80 80 amp to VAC and it weighs 68 lbs and most of the weight is at the back because of the three transformers. I have the original packing from 1995 but didn't  trust it because of it's age.
I bough a appropriate sized heavy duty box from Home depot and reinforced all four corners and the lifting handles. VAC told me not to use bubble wrap as it will collapse if the box is dropped hard enough, but to use foam sheets and pack the amp tight.  I also indicated on the box " HEAVY THIS END" and fragile stickers everywhere. It arrived in one piece. I had VAC supply me with one of their original double boxes for the amp with the correct shipping material for the return trip
jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
ups ground significantly rougher on heavy packages than fedex or even usps

factory packaging the best - by far as mentioned above... any responsible outfit designs packaging for transport as part of the product design

ups stores are franchise operations so what you get in terms of care and packing skill will be a crap shoot... fedex stores are company owned but you still never know what is the skill of the employee handling your packing... so....

....you want it done right, you have got to do it by yourself

if you buy something valuable and heavy (especially if the weight is imbalanced) you cannot expect a damage claim to be honored if the original factory packaging is not used
grey9hound
1,112 posts
 
I certainly would not mark it "High Value Item"
That just makes it more susceptible to Disappear ......Forever !!
as far as UPS being harder on stuff, ... not true.
Depending on who you ask, you will get some swearing that Fedex is  worse.  Some others say they would never ship UPS that they are the worst ever
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
Yes Fed-X is better than UPS and I’m a full blown UNION man... Fed-X is not (local anyways), BUT they seem to handle the package BETTER.. I have always had FASTER service from UPS. UPS is the roughest of ALL. US mail is the actual best for me. USPS there is a pickup convenience, missing. Fed X was the best when it came to shipping from US to Germany or Visa Versa.

Yes tough lesson to learn, but you did. Pack your own stuff. I know you can do a better job than a shipper... Look at some of the manufactures. They actually have packing instructions in the manuel. Mcintosh does.. Good proven packing way...

Again, sure wished it wouldn’t have happened..

Insurance sure doesn’t pay for your time, but if they packed it, they bought it...NO doubt..

Respectfully
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