Common Sense When Shipping Items

I'm not starting this thread to talk s**t, but I need to voice a concern that I'm sure others can relate to...

I just received a package from a fellow HAMBer that was paid for (via PayPal) nearly 1 month ago. I know things happen and shipping gets delayed. Not really an issue, I wasn't really hurting for the 5 vintage 56 Buick hubcaps, just wanted them.

The box arrived looking like it had been used for a ramp. When I opened the box, I found the 5 hubcaps rattling around inside with NO PACKING MATERIAL! I mean nothing!

Now I have 2 hubcaps that are still round and 3 that might still be okay for bird baths. While the beating the box took is the responsibility of the shipping carrier, the seller should take 5-10 minutes and at least crumple some newspaper and pack the items. The old addage "one man's trash is another man's treasure" is very real in our hobby.

I guess this rant is just to suggest that sellers (I am included in this group) please take the time to package whatever it is you're selling to ensure the buyer receives the well-preserved item they expect to receive.

We don't need a bulls**t feedback system. After all, we are all just sharing in the hobby we all love...

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

Todd

 

Hey, at least it wasn't a '54 Buick Roadmaster radiator with only a SINGLE LAYER OF CLEAR PLASTIC WRAP around it. Got that from an e-bay purchase last year. No cardboard, no press board, no nothing. Just a single layer of plastic wrap, so the shipping lable had something to stick to.

I have a pile of boxes in the basement for shipping, and a big box of styrofoam peanuts...not to mention a weekly recycle bin full of newspapers. So yeah, it ALWAYS amazes me when I receive something that has zero wrapping. It would appear, at times, that common sense isn't so common.

Brad

 

think thats bad?? my brother bought a CHERRY brand spanking new '61 galaxie front windshield off of egay and the dude who packed it sent it in a big bicycle box with NO i repeat NO padding or anything then didn't even write FRAGILE GLASS on it. well it shows up to my brothers door. box is ripped, and fine crunchy stuff all over the place. he opens it up and drivers side looks CHERRY! well he opens the other end the passenger side is shattered!!! looks like some one jumped on it. i used to work at fedex and i can tell you now. i do not enjoy getting things shipped to me after the things i used to see people do. it's ridiculous always insure your items if you can cause it's worth it in the long run!!!

 

I geuss I wont have to worry about you shipping my valve covers!!

 

Sounds like they were shipped UPS. They are the WORST at abusing packages. I ship my eBay stuff USPS whenever possible and Fed Ex which isn't much better that the big brown truck. I just signed up for a DHL account but haven't used it yet. For packaging, save the plastic bags you buy groceries in. With enought, they make great packing material and are free... I also save bubble wrap, peanuts, good solid boxes and any other stable materials for my eBay shipments. The less that I have to buy, the less I have to charge for shipping.

Jan

 

their was a big ol FedEx Ground sticker on my brothers case. shoulda known better. her worked their with me!!! serious. so far the things i've purchased online from places i get squimish knowing how they will be treated on the way to my doorstep.

 

I recently bought a 455 Buick intake on ebay. Came in a box twice as big as needed and no packing whatsoever. It had banged around and punched a hole in one end that someone had taped up. It came USPS, I don't think any one of the services is better than the others when things aren't properly packed.

 

I had a guy send me a 78 RPM record in a pizza box one time. No padding,cardboard or anything. Just rattling around in a greasy, used pizza box. I was amazed the record actually got to me unbroken, just a little greasy. lol Mike

 

I sent cans of beer to a friend via mail. You can be sure they were packaged to death and they made it. If you don't pad it well. EXPECT it to arrive broken. THAT IS COMMON SENSE! Stu

 

I bought an intake manifold off E-bay and it came in a huge box and the guy covered the whole thing with expanded foam and then packed it in packing peanuts, he must have spent $20 bucks on expanded foam, it was kind of funny and the stuff came right off the intake. The one that really burned me was an outboard motor, it was shipped full of oil and fuel, wrapped in wet cardboard and an old blanket, loooked like someone threw it off a roof, what a mess!

 

I agree. Take the estra 5 minutes & put some padding in there to secure the item.

I did a trade with a guy from CA & inside were some 97 carbs. & generator, intake & other heavy stuff. The box had nothing in there to keep the crap from smashing into one other.

I was really shocked for I spent 1 hour making sure my oddly shaped stuff arrived undamgaged.

Different mind sets I guess.

 

I got a set of 45 Fin Buicks drums last year, that had been tossed in an oversized box with no packing, and the spindles, and the backing plates. Once was a beautiful set of drums, as missing over half the ends of the fins, made me cry....

 

Sorry for your loss, yes there assholes that couldn't mail a Christmas card safely. There is NO reason anyone has to pay for any shipping materials other than tape, this world is full of empty boxes bubble wrap and bags of styrofoam peanuts. If you can't safely pack stuff please just haul the stuff to flea markets.

 

I always wrap parts in a plastic bag first. Then, put it in an oversize box and spray aerosol expanding foam in the box and close it real fast. The foam expands and fills all the voids in the box. Cheap, easy, and bulletproof.

 

that's a great idea

 

I've shipped carbs using that method. Wrapped the carb in 3 layers of heavyduty plastic then foamed it into the box. One gut let me know it took him 1/2 an hour the get the carb out but it was unscathed.

 

Just be carefull when somebody gives you free packing material! You really oughtta LOOK at it carefully before stuffing it in a box to send off to someone!!

Back when I still messed with e-gay, some guy bought a crossmember off me (a small trans crossmember), so I found a box that fit it pretty well, but it still needed some packing material in there so it wouldn't rattle around. I seriously doubt that it could've been damaged if shipped 'loose' in the box, but I don't like stuff rattling around inside the packages.

I normally use the old plastic grocery bag trick...they make EXCELLENT packing material and really protect the stuff you're shipping. I was out of them at the time, but my brother-in-law said he had a big bundle of them for me, so I stopped over there to get them. He hands me a huge bundle of plastic bags, and just as I was walking out the door, he said something like "...and there's something for the birds!". I just shrugged off that comment and went home to pack up the crossmember.

It shoulda dawned on me that the bag was a little heavier than it shoulda been, but it didn't. I stuffed some plastic bags all around the crossmember, then put the remaining bulk right on top and taped the box shut.

A few days later, I get an e-mail from the buyer who says "Uh...I got the crossmember...but what's up with that nasty old bread?!".

Ha Ha Ha...only THEN did it dawn on me that my brother-in-law had slipped a loaf of old, moldy bread in with the bags, since my dad will feed old bread to the birds (and possums, and anything else that'll eat it!)...and I unknowingly sent the old bread to some poor dude down South! My bro-in-law said that it had already started turning green when he passed it off to me, so I can only imagine how it looked when it got to it's final destination!

That dude is probably still telling his buddies about that..."Man, one time I bought a part from some guy in Michigan, and I think he just emptied his kitchen garbage can into the box for packing material or something! Had old green bread in it!!!"

At least it didn't arrive damaged!!!!

 

Those local free what's happenin' in your city newspapers are on a lot of street corners. There's usually plenty left when the new one comes out unless someone else beats you to them. I know it can cost more but shipping some items in seperate boxes when one is likely to crush or otherwise damage another just makes sense.

 

OK ,You promise not to laugh? promise ? I take and throw pop corn in for packing, I can pick it up in the field for free,(and get some excersize).
I just feed my hot air popper and it's full pretty quick ,plus it smells good.

 

No worries for you, man.

 

my problem wasnt with the way it was packaged is was the cost to get it here bought horn ring from fellow hamber (used) for $20 then had to pay $16.50 to ship it $5.00 for money order and converted into U.S funds near $50 and then to my surprise it shows up at the door and they want another $20 brokeage fee dam it all 20 dollar part is now $70 but it looks good are there any better ways to ship parts ???? have receive my parking lights from US and they were just in the mailbox

 

Sorry for everybodies losses...but that is some funny sh*t.

 

Ever seen the packing "penuts" K&N uses? They are made out of cornstarch! Work great, and when they blow all over like penuts do, they desolve completely when they get wet, bio-degradeable.

 

THAT'S why my cat has been trying to eat them! I couldn't figure out why he was so intent to snack on them, and it was really odd that they seemed to melt when he got them wet from chewing on them.

Someone said they just signed up for DHL...If DHL was the last shipper on the planet, I'd put the part on my bicycle and ride it to the guy that bought it. I'd sooner kick a 9-inch center section wearing sandles...repeatedly...than ship with DHL again.

Brad

 

I like the aerosol expanding foam method, but it's a good idea (as others have already said) to wrap it with a couple of plastic bags, so the s**t doesn't get into a carb, for instance.

And just for the record, I brought my gripe to the HAMBer who sold the stuff to me, and it seems he dropped the parts to be packed/shipped by an office supply place. So apparently they are the ones with the anal-cranial confusion.

Todd

 

I bought a wood plane off ebay. It was shipped in a express mail envelope. When it arrived the postman hande dme the envelope then the plane. It was all there and by thelooks of it it had been taped back in the envelope more than once.

 

I bought a complete nose section with the grille, trim and headlights for my '37 Dodge from a guy on here about 18 months ago. If you've ever seen a '37 Dodge nose then you know it's friggin' huge (I think boxed it wound up around 36"x36"x30" or so). The guy had it packaged at a UPS center (I was pretty nervous about that) and shipped it with enough insurance so neither would be out if it got wiped out (cost over $130 to ship it). It was the best crating job I've ever seen, it arrived in one piece and UPS only charged $25 to pack it. I think the key here was the fact that it was too huge to throw around, sit on, drop, etc.

 

I've had exactly the opposite service from a UPS Store. I won't go into details because my matter is still pending and may end up in small claims court. My point being, it all is going to depend upon the integrity of the people involved in the chain.

 

The drawback with anything you buy from an unseen seller is your perception of what You would do as distinct from what they actually do.
This is really bad with a person who doesn't care about anything apart from payment
The additional hassle is any possibility of redress and this is how either the informal warnings which Ryan gives on the Site or that used by E-bay.
In the Uk companies can be sued for problems which are attributable to their negligence or if the product isn't of 'merchantible quality'.
Where its a private individual you end up taking civil action in our County Court.
I can commiserate, but unless you can pick-up stuff or can contact a trustworthy member to act on your behalf it is a risk.
Good people treat others as they would treat themselves. Chris.

 

I bought a rear seat for my Cord. It arrived in an open ended box (4 out of 6 sides) with the two open opposite sides covered with shrink wrap. The mounting tabs were poking through the wrap and were bent and scraping the ground! Also, the seat, although needing reupholstering, was also dragging the ground and ripping further (the 2 part seat was folded seatback to seat). Well, it was the wrongly described part and on top of it all, I got the "good rate" that's actually what he said - meaning that when I shipped it back - it cost me $50 less than he charged me - cheating SOB. More evidence to keep the Cord a rod instead of stock.