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
OP should go back to that woman at UPS and beat the snot out of her. With her experience she should have known very well what was going to happen. Not excusable.
Since UPS did the packing, imo you have a good chance of getting a favorable settlement. I think their default response in the event of shipping damage is to automatically deny all claims on the grounds of "inadequate packaging", which they can’t really do in this case because they did the packaging. My negative opinion of UPS opinion is based on multiple bad experiences which I won’t bore you with.

The one time Fed Ex damaged something (because the driver slipped and fell on the ice in the street in front of my house), they did an inspection and found my packaging to be adequate and paid my claim.

Duke

I know for many space is an issue and they can't keep the original packaging that came with equipment.  I've added years ago lots of extra shelving in my garage that i use to store the shipping boxes that came with my equipment.  That is very important to me.  I've found that most manufacturers are really good at packaging their equipment and their packaging is typically adequate.

For large, heavy equipment I use shipping crates that can only be shipped one way.  

Turntables are hard, which is why getting the original manufacturers shipping boxes is essential.  

Sorry about the damage you incurred.  In this type of case, I don't want to cross my fingers and hope for the best, I plan on worst case on shipping.  So I pack very well, typically using manufacturer's shipping boxes, double box or crate.  Upside down, sideways, whatever, it shouldn't affect the equipment, it should be that well packed.  

I remember going on a flight to Hawaii years ago and we were taxiing for takeoff.  We saw a long baggage handler that took baggage from an airplane transporting them to the terminal.  A large bag fell off on the taxi way and the driver didn't notice.

My lesson from years of Audio is, don't throw away my equipment boxes and crates.  If I move or sell items, I'm definitely going to need the correct packaging. 

I do understand that many rent or don't have space to keep the packaging.  

Insurance on shipping is a good idea, however, they really try hard to not pay out.  They will find any excuse to avoid paying out.  

Take pictures of the packaging before shipping, while packing, keep your receipts.  Also, a hard lesson for me was when I shipped a Naim Unitiserve music server via USPS (insured) to the east coast of the USA for repair. Naim had no repair facility on the West Coast.  Correct packaging, etc.  The USPS lost the item.  I filed a claim and sent them evidence that I had purchased the item.  Guess what?  They denied the claim saying that the Audiogon receipt I had (I purchased it used on Audiogon) wasn't adequate for their insurance claim process.  Really?????

That was the only receipt I was going to get.

Oh well, 

enjoy
It is going to be interesting to see what happens to this unit. UPS has not said yet.

There is a chance the unit might still work.

Some folks have said UPS will ship it back to the original owner. Others say they leave it with the buyer. Others say UPS keeps it.

I told the buyer if they want to leave it with him that is fine by me. This has been a big hassle for him and if it works then good for him.


But, if they will ship it back to me I may keep it and rethink my whole system(s). It will be ugly but it will likely be out of sight anyway. Of course if _they_ ship it back I'm sure it will be utterly destroyed after a second trip in their tender hands.