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Amazement regarding how a guitar was shipped to me...


Billy Dee

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I had a guy do the exact same about a year ago. It was a PRS McCarty, but he was a seller that was about 50 miles away. The worst part was that it was delivered to my neighbor who is an old lady with a walker. She literally let it sit out on her enclosed porch for 2 weeks before actually walking over to my house to ask if I was expecting a delivery! :mad: :mad: :mad: Keep in mind that this was last January in Michigan none the less!! :mad: :mad: The good news was that after letting it sit in the case inside of the house for about 5-6 hours, all was OK. But still in all, damn what are people thinking! :mad::confused:

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Last year I received a vintage Silvertone amp case (with a guitar floating inside) wrapped in plastic with a UPS label. The corners of the case were chewed to {censored} and tubes were broken. Luckily the guitar was unharmed.:mad:

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Well, it sucks when sellers do this...BUT...If you just communicate with the seller beforehand (like before making any bids on the item) you can avoid these problems before they happen.

 

Next time, ask the seller a question like:

 

"Hi, I'm interested in the guitar you're selling. How are you planning to ship it? I'm not interested in bidding unless you can assure me that the guitar and case will be well packaged inside of a large cardboard box filled with packing peanuts."

 

At least this way, you'll get a written commitment from the seller before you even bid on the item.

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I think people get stupid when they realize they can't find a guitar sized box.

 

I had a guy charging $50 UPS shipping for a guitar in a ig bag. The guy lived about 200 miles away from me. I asked why he was charging so much for shipping. He told me he bought a $16.00 box.

 

I save all of my guitar boxes. If I need one in a pinch I visit Guitar Center or the small mom and pop shops near me. I usually buy some strings, magazines. picks, etc. They have more boxes than they need. They give them away for free.

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Originally posted by Armchair Bronco

Well, it sucks when sellers do this...BUT...If you just communicate with the seller beforehand (like before making any bids on the item) you can avoid these problems before they happen.


Next time, ask the seller a question like:


"Hi, I'm interested in the guitar you're selling. How are you planning to ship it? I'm not interested in bidding unless you can assure me that the guitar and case will be well packaged inside of a large cardboard box filled with packing peanuts."


At least this way, you'll get a written commitment from the seller before you even bid on the item.

 

 

Great advice, but I stopped using packing peanuts after I got a non guitar item with hole in the box from shipping. Half the peanuts must have fell out of the hole.

 

Bubble wrap and those air packs are my favorites. Crumpled newspaper works in a pinch.

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I hear 'ya. The point I was making, however, is to find out what the seller has in mind for shipping arrangements BEFORE ever placing a bid.

 

Buyers need to spell out IN ADVANCE how they want to have the item shipped to them. You're the one paying for the item, so the seller needs to accomodate *your* wishes.

 

Anyway, I NEVER, EVER bid on anything on eBay unless I've exchanged a minimum of 1 email for items under, say, $250 bucks, and 2 or more emails for items over that limit. I've resisted bidding on *lots* of stuff because the seller was either unresponsive or didn't give me a nice, warm fuzzy feeling inside.

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The case is in fair shape. I don't know what condition it was before it was shipped. It's functional, but it's scratched up. The guitar is in decent shape considering it is 20 yrs old. I was surprised that it was pretty close to being in-tune. However, the coil tap does not work.

 

The seller did not ship it with a tracking number and I paid via Paypal. He must not know that the burden of proof regarding shipment lies with him. The shipment was a bit delayed. I think it was because he did not copy my street name (or even my name) correctly. When I inquired about the shipment he stated that he will look for the tracking number and send it to me. I guess he was just stalling becuase I never received it. There wasn't one attached to the case. Thus, I know he never got one. I think what it comes down to is that he did not get as much as he wanted for the guitar and he is trying to cut expenses as much as possible to make up for it.

 

Now I have to decide what I'm going to do. I don't believe he intentionally tried to screw me over. I think he is just an idiot with no common sense. I got a fairly decent deal on the guitar. If I can fix the coil tap, I may just point out his bad judgement and forget about it. I really didn't expect this from someone with 100% feedback.

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At least yours had a case.

:cool:

 

I had a guy send me a guitar last year in a gig bag with a shipping label on it. Maybe he thought the stickiness on the shipping label would protect the guitar from harm.

 

He also made sure to note in his auction that he packed things very well.

:freak:

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Originally posted by Billy Dee

I bought a guitar w/ a HSC on Ebay. The seller literally taped up both ends of the case, taped a shipping label to the case and shipped it. Unbelievable.
:mad:

 

I had a guy do this once w/an accoustic. The little feet on the bottom of the case were smashed up into the shell of the case :mad:

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i just bought an LTD DV8R se a month ago on ebay- and the guy sells alot of guitars,so i figured it would be packed good.

it was just the guitar-in it's hardshell case-- in a cardboard box.

it made it ok (USPS) but damn man.:freak:

should have asked him to pad it.

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Originally posted by Hudman

Great advice, but I stopped using packing peanuts after I got a non guitar item with hole in the box from shipping. Half the peanuts must have fell out of the hole.


Bubble wrap and those air packs are my favorites. Crumpled newspaper works in a pinch.

 

Plastic carrier bags are OK for a bit of extra padding too. :thu:

 

 

I once had one shipped to me - the seller didn't have a box, so he wrapped it all in bubble wrap, then used a fruit box from the greengrocers around the body, and taped up some cardboard around the neck.

 

 

It was actually pretty effective.

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My favorite story.

 

My brand new six string bass was delivered like this:

 

It was a day it was pouring rain here, I had a premonition the bass was

going to be delivered so I drove home from work 20+ miles away to see

it doesn't get ruined.

 

I arrive. I had a note on the front door "please place instrument in

underhang in case it rains". But it's NOT in the underhang.

 

It's pouring rain, right?

 

The bass is in a plastic bag in a cardboard box with styrofoam pieces

jammed around it. Then it's inside another, bigger cardboard box.

 

Which is sitting right underneath the downspout for the gutters.

 

It's lying FLAT ON ITS BACK IN MY FRONT YARD next to the

downspout.

 

That's right - six string wooden instrument with electronics basically

had gallons of water pouring all over the box for probably two hours.

 

Weirdly, I got it inside, took it out of the boxes, it was fine and

actually even in perfect tune, recorded a short take of a bass track

of a song I was already working on, put the bass away in its gig

bag and went back to work.

 

I got off light but shippers do stupid stuff.

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