USPS’ manhandling and poor packaging by sellers can make things FAR worse. AMAZON generally does an amazing job of packaging LP’s although I have, just within the past year, gotten several LP’s that weren’t labeled, sealed, or otherwise packaged just tossed into a box full of other stuff. THAT’s bad warehousing.
I spoke with my local postal carrier who tells me there is NO special handling of LP’s, they just come down a chute into a large canvas bag same as they always have and then get pressed against curvature of the bag or squashed by heavier bundles of magazines and boxes. UPS/FEDEX where we’re at (about 1-1/2 hrs southwest of Nashville) aren’t much better as we’ve gotten several packages that were just CRUSHED and a few that were soaking wet (their trucks leak).
It’s a crap shoot.
I’ve returned TWO dual-LP sets this past month. July isn’t the best time to buy, but six others were fine, being packaged in THICKER boxes. The two (including GoGo Penguin’s V2.0) were packed in thin, single-layer cardboard and came out of the sleeves looking like frisbees, same as the box they were in.
I own dozens of LPs that have upwards of a 1/4” of warp (usually one-sided) and I have sometimes used a strip of green painter’s tape (like super-postit stickiness) to hold that edge down while I use a center-clamp.
I’m considering buying an ORB while the tariffs on Japan are still at 10%. I just got dinged for a TD124/2 from UK (20%) - ouch - and long-term, having a flattener makes more sense than returning an LP (or set) only to find that to buy it again will now cost $238 instead of the $38 I had paid weeks earlier because that’s just how the market goes, right?
Just waiting for cooler days, and will have to visit Variety Records in Columbia again soon.