The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Tony is correct - UPS fights all damage claims, they fought and never paid mine. Also if you ever talk to a retired UPS worker you will understand what those warehouse conveyers and handlers do to those boxes. And the loaders! Tossed around like a football. I ship USPS when I sell something, never UPS. I do agree heavy items should be on a small wood pallet. Mainly it all comes down to the seller - most (not us guys) just want to buy & sell,,, not pack. Packing takes times and "pickers" don't like to pack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE0G1y2InrE - UPS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM3SRG7D21Y - FEDEX

When I buy something on ebay and it's shipped to me in Canada, I never, EVER pay duty
or customs fees unless the seller uses UPS. Sometimes the UPS brokerage fee is astronomical.
Avoid using them when shipping your goods to Canada!

Now that ebay has gotten into the 'worldwide shipping option'
they tack on customs and duty fees which were never collected originally.
That, combined with the rising US dollar (or falling Canadian), is making it very
expensive to purchase from ebay.

I recently fought UPS on a claim charge. It was a freaken nightmare though. You just have to keep on fighting. Email customer service, and then ask for a manager. Only the managers really care.

USPS size restrictions for shipments outbound from the U.S. make it virtually impossible to ship anything larger than a small phonograph such as a Trademark. You can't ship a full size Victor or Columbia horn with them, which require an ultimate package size, when properly double-boxed, of 25" x 25" x 25".

I ship virtually every day of the week and mostly use FedEx. Not that they are any better than UPS, but their service works better for me, and they do not charge for customs clearance in far-off countries. And on inbound shipments from abroad, they do not charge for customs clearance either, which is a big savings. Hiring a broker to clear just one shipment can run $500 - $700.

Raphael

NEFaurora wrote:At least the USPS stands behind their insured items. UPS DOES NOT!

)

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

That is my experience as well. At least to date, FedEx has also been good.

Clay

For what it's worth, there's a provision on my collectables insurance policy which covers my phonograph collection that also covers anything in transit to or from me. I called them about it prior to shipping a very expensive machine cross-country. They reconfirmed the coverage but made a point of saying it does not cover shipments sent by UPS. I can ship USPS, Fedex, or commercial freight and have full coverage. Obviously there's a powerful message in there, presumably derived from bitter and long experience.

I used to ship UPS in my business. I never had a claim for damage but loss was another story. They were very good about paying loss claims, I can give them credit for that. But loss is black and white since there's tracking. I stopped using the service because it simply became too expensive. For the past 7 years I have used USPS for 95% of my shipments, and Fedex for the rest. Knock wood, I have not had to file a single claim for loss or damage with either of them in all that time.

As for UPS store packing, I'm sure every store is different. It all depends upon which clerk does the task, and how smart they are. But it's a gamble I don't want to take. Someone shipped me an Opera that he had paid the local UPS store to pack. They used tons of bubble wrap and double-boxed everything, so at least the horn had no problem. But the machine... It wasn't disassembled, but worse, they didn't use ANY packaging material inside the motor compartment or under the lid. Nothing was tied down or protected in any way. They just wrapped the case and lid up in bubble wrap, turned it on end, and put it in a box. I was lucky that it traveled left side down. Had it gone upright the mandrel would have slid back and forth through the entire trip. As it is, there were broken screws and a few other relatively minor issues, but it's pure luck that it wasn't a pile of kindling and shattered castings. I'm amazed that it survived as well as it did.

I have used Craters & Freighters for a couple of large items. Not cheap but they were incredibly thorough and cautious. I suppose that there again it's a question of who works in the local office, but I suspect they train their employees better.

I manage two ebay power seller accounts, small change, maybe 150 -200 sales a year. Everything I ship goes USPS, mostly priority. three times in the last three years I had to file an insurance claim, each time I received a check within two weeks. I pack well and I insure everything if it sold for more than the $50 priority mail comes with. I bought more than 30 phonographs on eBay in the last year, and shipped out another five or six with no problems. I contact sellers and give them clear packing instructions, if they were to fail to heed my advice and the machine is broken then I would go after them on eBay. I have imported machines from Canada, three in the last five months, HMV colonial portable model 112, Electrola 101, and a Columbia Graphonola tabletop machine. No issues with the shipping of any kind.

If you buy something from a seller on ebay do not be shy about telling the seller how the item should be prepared for shipping. Do not assume that they know to remove the motor, tone arm, crank and other parts from the machine. I have heard of buyers who ended up with machines shipped with the crank sticking out of the side of the box and a record still on the turntable.

Good shipping is not cheap and even when I ship a glass horn I will only ship it double boxed . I would rather lose a sale then lose an item due to poor shipping.

The post office will tell you that the average package will be dropped from conveyer belts to bins at least 6-10 feet several times during the mailing process.

steve

I always send the seller packing instructions with payment, but I found that many of them have the item already packed and waiting by that time. They will not go back, unpack and repack according to your instructions. One time I sent payment with instructions one afternoon, only to find the package already on my front porch the next morning. Maybe this is caused by sellers always trying to get highest ratings on "how quickly did the seller ship your item?". They don't understand that I would rather have an item intact than quick. In any case, I'd rather pick up a machine or horn myself, even if it means a long drive.

Andreas