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

Showing 1 response by cobra55

cobra55
4 posts
 
UPS trashed a pair of new $5000 pair of Revel F208 speakers I had ordered.The boxes they came in looks like a fork lift had pierced the box, and the top of one was totally crushed in, including speaker top.
The UPS guy was dragging and dropping the speakers out of the truck, and when I mentioned to him that each of those boxes was worth $2500 he just shrugged.  He totally freaked out when I started videoing the whole fiasco and tried hiding his face.
When UPS came back to pick up the damaged speakers, they asked who delivered them. Apparently this guy is known to them as someone who shouldn't be working for the company.Concerning boxing of the speakers, I have never seen an expensive piece of equipment so poorly packaged.  The cardboard was very thin, which led to much of the damage.  Ended  up ordering another pair through a different vendor and insisted they ship Fed X.Bottom line, double box and avoid UPS!
More to discover