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Post by tokaido on Mar 5, 2015 18:28:06 GMT
Hi folks, a little rant about shipping: If you buy a sword from a private seller, please be sure that he knows how to pack a sword *bulletproof* because the shipping companies (at least UPS) do handle the parcel without much care. I got this package yesterday in the mail: oviously the shipping guys did spend their coffee break lying/sitting on the box and after that they tossed it around a little bit. On the other hand, the packing job wasn't first class to beginn with. Otherwise the swordguard would not have poked SEVERAL holes and a large gap into the box. If you ship a sword, PLEASE be sure that the sword is FIXED in the middle of the box (by foamblocks, folded cardboard or any other suitable devices) and cannot tumble around within the box. I was lucky: the tip of the sword was very well protected by a corck stopper and bubble wrap and additional padding, so it was the guard poking holes in the box, not the tip of the blade. Greetings Andreas PS: the sturdy blade survived the journey without blemishes, except some scratches on the guard, where it might have hit a concrete floor.
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Post by Bryan Heff on Mar 5, 2015 18:34:52 GMT
Its amazing how many people don't understand that a mostly empty cardboard box with an item just bouncing around inside there is NOT a very good way to pack and ship. Cardboard is not exactly a heavy duty material, especially when items are able to freely bounce around on the inside and spike holes through the cardboard. As you said, newspaper, or more cardboard, packing peanuts, foam chunks, pool noodles, almost anything honestly that fills the voids is all that is needed usually. Put a little thought and time and you are good. Keep the sword still inside the box and don't have large voids of space...no problem.
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Post by chrisperoni on Mar 5, 2015 18:49:12 GMT
My Ken sword from Huawei came to me in a pvc pipe. It was padded at each end but the damn thing had nothing stopping it from banging around side to side and of course the saya ended up cracked and split along the seam. Don't know why they didn't just put it in taped Styrofoam box like usual
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Post by Afoo on Mar 5, 2015 18:51:25 GMT
Its also ironic since the PVC pipe was probably more expensive than the equivalent styrofoam or cardboard container
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Post by beastofwotan on Mar 5, 2015 18:54:32 GMT
Yup, the goal of packing should be to prevent the sword from moving as much as possible.
I probably overdo it when I ship swords to people, but I tend to have tons of bubble wrap around, and I'd rather use a ton of that then have a disappointed buyer.
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Post by William Swiger on Mar 5, 2015 19:57:42 GMT
I freaking hate packing peanuts........
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Post by Bryan Heff on Mar 5, 2015 20:17:57 GMT
I freaking hate packing peanuts........ I hate em too...but if the alternative is having a sword arrive smashed up or have to deal with those damn peanuts...I'll deal with the peanuts. The best stuff I think is that brown paper that is now being used a lot. KOA uses it and there stuff always arrives in great shape and I reuse that stuff for my own shipments. The paper method seems like an idea that took too long for someone to figure out.....peanuts have been around for years and when you think of it....total overkill 99% time and messy as hell.
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