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

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.

Comments and tips,
1."Overinsuring" is not necessarily insurance fraud. I just sold and shipped a preamp that now sells new for $5K. I did not sell it used for that, but I insured it for that. UPS treats items insured for $5K or more as higher value items and requires special procedures for drivers, and I believe for handling the package all the way down the chain. The higher value insurance in this case was a small price to pay for supposedly more careful shipping service.
2.Anyone who doesn't want the problems associated with damaged goods and dealing with shipper's insurance, should get in the habit of double boxing electronic components they sell. I routinely purchase a second box a little larger than the first from the UPS store, and double box all component sales, whether the buyer pays for it or not - geez, it only costs 6 bucks! As stated above, try to get about an inch of styrofoam or bubble wrap in the space between the boxes, especially for heavier stuff. Most buyers will also appreciate that the original Mfg's box inside is not the one getting beat up.
3.Something I have learned from other experienced Audiogonners is that most believe it is safer to ship via air, even the 2 or 3 day variety, as the package is reportedly treated better than a "ground" package.
4.I believe I have had relatively fewer shipping problems by subscribing to the idea it is the seller's responsibility to deliver the item safely to the buyer, then treating the packing, insuring and shipping as carefully as I would want it treated for items I purchase.
Just my experience, YMMV.

My earlier question about who paid for the shipping costs goes to the point of "you get what you pay for". If how the item is packed is important to you, and I can't imagine why it wouldn't, then you should be very precise in your purchase offer to specify your requirements and may be even go so far as to back it up with dollars. Sure it's the seller's responsibility to adequately pack the item, but as a buyer do you only want an adequately packed item? Again, if it's important, then specify in detail and pay for it.

Thanks for the info on UPS' new policy. I like the idea of having them pack.

I like the last post. Well done.

Upon agreement of an especially expensive piece of equipment, I do share my thoughts on packing with the seller.

This includes double boxing, etc. I have yet to have a seller not appreciate my concerns; they usually already were 'on it'.

Just power it up without making a connection. I had the same problem with a Classe DR-9 amp many years ago worked fine I just went down to my maintenance shop and had them bend it back.