Shortly after I started bidding on eBay back in the 90's, I quickly learned that many of the sellers are not knowledgeable equipment shippers.  My very first experience included a shipment from Britain of a very expensive communications receiver where the seller simply wrapped cardboard around it and dropped it off at the local shipping store.  After sustaining a couple of damage incidents from things like this, I quickly started emailing a boilerplate clause after paying for the item stating how I wanted the item packed including types of packing and minimum clearances.  I always asked for double boxing with at least 3 to 4 inches of dense material between boxes for the more heavier items.  Packing requirements varied for the size, weight and type of items.  And I was surprised how the sellers would work hard to meet those requirements.

In a few instances where items weighed upwards of 100 lbs, I would obtain dimensions of the item(s) being sent, create a cardboard mockup of approximately the size and profile of the item, have my own container foamed-in-place at a local "friendly" company shipping department (paid them a few $$$) and send that container to the seller to use to ship the item to me.  Now, after over 700 purchases on eBay, I can safely say that I have only received less than ten or so items that contained some form  of damage.

Never underestimate the transportation companies and their propensity to damage equipment.  I had a piece of military electronics shipped from the east coast in it's original shipping container that consisted of 1/8 inch aluminum plate on the inside and outside of the container with 3/8" plywood sandwiched in between.  The unit itself rested in a retainer of rigid foam at all corners that spaced it approximately 1-1/2 inches from the inside walls to absorb shock while in transit.  The shipper placed the container and its contents in a cardboard box with reasonable packing.  All told, the entire weight of the shipment was around 50 pounds.  When received, I opened the package and found that the entire container apparently had received what was estimated to be a 15 or 20 foot drop onto concrete (probably off of a conveyor belt on to the floor) driving the front panel knobs of the unit entirely through the inside aluminum, the plywood and the exterior aluminum of the shipping container.  The knobs were literally sticking out through the exterior of the container!!  The transit company (UPS) tried to tell me that it was "poorly packed" for shipment.

Greg

On Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:16:55 +0100,  David Kirkby david.kirkby@onetel.net wrote:

On 11 September 2012 01:19, Gregory Muir engineering@mt.net wrote:

That sounds a good idea.

Another good idea!

I've not has as many transactions has you (about 250 in my case), but
I think this is the first where any damage has occured in shipping.
I've had numerous items poorly packed, but more by luck than anything
else, they have survied.

I've had hard-drives stuck in jiffy bags, so they drop on the flaw
when the post lady puts them in the door.

I think the issues I have here are:

1. The item was expensive ($2750)
2. The item was heavy (60 lbs)
3. Despite what I think is obviously the sellers fault, he seems to
   want to get away with paying out as little as possible. (Personally,
   if I realized I'd messed up, I would not expect someone else to pay
   for my mistakes. He does not have such an attitude).

I don't know the US law, but I'm very tempted to try to report him for
lying about the value of the item he exported. I'm not sure if that
sort of thing is taken seriously in the USA.

Dave

Emailing shipping instructions after paying is pointless. The seller is
not bound by post-facto conditions and can ignore them with impunity.

OTOH, if you demand them in advance, the seller can refuse your bid.

I'd guess most (all) of the guts of the thing are intact. You may well be
able to disassemble the thing and sell some of the subassemblies on eBay
for far more than the unit cost, especially since it is in the UK.

In the case of an 8753D, the subassemblies will bring maybe $10k and up. A
complete working unit can probably be bought for $6k.

YMMV,

-John

============

Greg wrote:

Amen.  And that is the most polite and charitable description possible.

Interesting.  I have often sent basic packing
recommendations/requests, which have almost always been ignored.

Great idea, but it must dramatically raise your cost of
transport.  With the reported scarcity/prices of T&M equipment in
Europe that may be justified, but for domestic sales here in the
States it could be hard to justify.

We have had more than double that many damaged items on fewer than
20% of the purchases.  There was a time several years ago when eBay
and paypal were useless at helping with not-as-described and
damaged-in-shipment claims.  Thankfully, in the last few years they
seem to have gotten more involved.

We have seen very little damage -- in fact, almost none -- that was
the shipper's fault.  I know it happens, but from our experience
nowhere near as often as reports would indicate.  I think this means
that most recipients don't know any more about packing than the
sellers, and are mistakenly blaming the carriers for the sellers' failings.

Best regards,

Charles