Hope this isn't an ak'r

Properly instructed, UPS franchises can pack. I'm sure UPS store owners quickly tire of paying insurance claims, for they do pay if UPS determines damage due to improper packing.
 
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You know, I like the approach.

"Winner pays for it to be someone else's problem if it all goes wrong"

I may just do that myself when it comes time to sell something.
 
I recently won a vintage audio auction and the seller paid the UPS store to pack and ship the item. They did a great job. Almost too great, in fact. It took me about 10 minutes to unpack it! If I ever buy another such item, I might even recommend that the seller do it that way. I don't think I'd mind the extra expense knowing that it would reach me safely.
 
Having UPS pack something doesn't make the seller innocent for damage during shipping. If the buyer got the item and it was damaged, it doesn't matter who packed it. The buyer opens a case with Paypal or eBay and the burden of damage goes to the seller, not UPS. Then the seller has to deal with and hope the insurance claim pays out and reimburses them.
 
Just me personally - I would never trust anyone to pack a piece of my audio gear. I buy the proper packing materials, pack the proper way (the generally accepted best practices) and choose what I feel is the best way to ship (the shipping that cost effectively keeps the package in transit the least amount of time). And the buyer will pay for all of this - non-negotiable.

As seller, I own the responsibility to make sure any piece of audio gear is packed professionally and in a manner to resist damage in most normal handling scenarios.

Eliminates a lot of finger pointing .....
 
Having UPS pack something doesn't make the seller innocent for damage during shipping.

If it's properly insured and damaged due to insufficient packing by The UPS Store, it most certainly does. The shipper is The UPS Store, not the seller. UPS ships nothing. They are the carrier.
 
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Having UPS pack something doesn't make the seller innocent for damage during shipping. If the buyer got the item and it was damaged, it doesn't matter who packed it. The buyer opens a case with Paypal or eBay and the burden of damage goes to the seller, not UPS. Then the seller has to deal with and hope the insurance claim pays out and reimburses them.

If it's properly insured and damaged due to insufficient packing by The UPS Store, it most certainly does. The shipper is The UPS Store, not the seller. UPS ships nothing. They are the carrier.

Karmices is just arguing a technicality. Sure, paypal or ebay doesn't care if it was you or UPS that broke the item... they will side with the buyer and refund the money. However, you, as the seller, will win the claim against UPS and get the money back from them. So, ultimately you ARE protected - it's just through the shipper and not paypal.
 
FYI...ups stores won't insure past $1000...fedex stores don't have that limit and will insure $5000 and up.

Also I find fedex easier to deal with when it comes to claims. As long as you follow their process you'll get paid...especially if the fedex labeled packing tape is on the box...that's the golden seal that'll guarantee a claim payment as long as the damage is visible. Hidden internal damage is not easily claimed. If something does get damaged internally with no external/visible damage then it probably wasn't safe to ship to begin with. Being that they aren't experts in electronics they have to go off what they can see.
 
I had my 919 show up laying in peanuts after the seller specifically told them NO peanuts, guess it's a crap shoot.
 
When packing anything fragile, I photograph the steps of the internally separated and wrapped items and "layers" as well if it was double boxed...

I will have notified the buyer that photos have been taken to be submitted if any claim needs to me made for "hidded" damage...
 
Let us not pretend that AKers universally know more about packing than the UPS store folks. Having an Internet connection and a passing interest in audio stuff doesn't make one any kind of an expert.

I've personally bought quite a few items from fellow AKers that only survived shipping because of dumb luck or divine intervention.
 
Or we could just say there are some of us that passed the egg drop test in third grade and there are some of us who did not! :D
 
Having UPS pack something doesn't make the seller innocent for damage during shipping. If the buyer got the item and it was damaged, it doesn't matter who packed it. The buyer opens a case with Paypal or eBay and the burden of damage goes to the seller, not UPS. Then the seller has to deal with and hope the insurance claim pays out and reimburses them.

Mar ices, this is false if the seller makes the contract for sale of the gear and proper delivery to the shipper of the buyer's choice.

There is nothing wrong or unethical with a seller divorcing himself from the sale at this point, there are many sipping brokerage companies that provide this exact service.
 
Remember insurance maximum is only related to insurance and not liability. If the state the insurance is to a max of $1000 and the remaining loss is $500, then the balance may be recouped through a small claims suit. You would need to look at the temrs of the contract very carefully as to waivers of liability as to acts. A waiver may not survive a claim as to gross negligence due to an intentional act of packing that turns out to be insufficient and allegations of lack of training by the staff of the store, etc.

Not all that hard too overcome the loss insurance maximum and waiver. Think of the max insurance akin to an auto insurance policy. Just because a driver who is at fault causing $5000 in damages has a $2000 damage maximum in his insurance it does not mean the at fault driver is absolved of the additional $3000 in damages, only the insurance company has no further obligation to cover the damages.
 
It has been my experience...

FedEx WILL NOT pack your item. At least not the ones in my area.

Office Depot can ship USPS and UPS, and all the material you need is right there at the store. They will help you pack the item to make sure it is properly packed before shipment.

I prefer to use UPS, but both have been very good with everything I have shipped. I have shipped turntables and amps, and all has been good so far. :thmbsp:
 
You have to go to the Fedex "office" locations...which were previously fedex Kinko's...they are all over the country and all offer packing services for FedEx.
 
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