Shipping option

[MMikeJBenN27]

Bad news everybody.  The Post Office no longer offers Special Handling for fragile items, which means we have to use bigger boxes.  That, in turn, means sharply higher shipping rates.  Looks like we are going to have to go back to the way it was before E-Bay - buying and selling our phones at County Fairs, word of mouth, etc.

Mike

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It is a shame when that happens.  What has to be done when packing a phone, first and foremost, is to pack the phone COMPLETELY.  That means handset off the phone, and packing under, around, AND, ON TOP of the phone.  It can't be able to move around.  I have received phones and other types of items that were "packed" with no packing on top of item, so, of course, it was broken.  But above all, you MUST ship it "Special Handling" with the yellow "Fragile" stickers on it.  Paying the extra $12.00 is cheap compared to refunding the customer his money.

I've said it before, so I will say it again.  Phones MUST be packed in such a way that they are SURROUNDED by packaging material so that they can't move around and so that the packaging material can absorb impacts.  Above all though, you really should use "Special Handling" and pay the extra $12.00.  In addition to "Fragile" stickers, it will be shipped in it's own bin and will not be thrown or kicked.  It really works.

[RDPipes]

To be perfectly honest, I have shipped anything with a Fragile label or asked for special consideration in years.
I've just learned to pack fragile items if though they were going to bounce them to the delivery location. LOL!

[MMikeJBenN27]

I have had some get damaged, both what I have bought and what I have sold, despite the fact that I know how to pack.

Mike

[RDPipes]

I have had some get damaged, both what I have bought and what I have sold, despite the fact that I know how to pack.

Mike

I've received some but, haven't had any I sent get damaged in a long long time.
But, it does happen, no matter how well one packs anything this side of putting in an iron box
someone will find out how to damage it. When I was still making pipes I never sent one without insurance
and the customer had to pay for it. If they refused they had nothing to complain about if it got there damaged
or was lost. Just part of doing business but, I always charged everyone in the CONUS the same flat rate of $12.
Sometimes I had to pay a little more out of my pocket but, sometimes it cost less then the $12 to ship, so it all evened out. I never had a pipe damaged and only one lost in the ten years I did it which showed up 6 months later unscathed.

[MMikeJBenN27]

Its still a shame though that they - the Post Office and UPS - actively discourage us from shipping fragile items.  Federal Express had a service called "White Glove" service for fragile items, but even they have eliminated that service.  Really messed up if you ask me.

Mike

[tubaman]

I always pack everything on the basis that it's going to be thrown across a sorting office somewhere.

[RDPipes]

Its still a shame though that they - the Post Office and UPS - actively discourage us from shipping fragile items.  Federal Express had a service called "White Glove" service for fragile items, but even they have eliminated that service.  Really messed up if you ask me.

Mike

I understand why they do being that I use worked on a dock as a young man loading and unloading trailers etc.
It slows the operation down if you have to be extra careful with half the freight you handle because your held libel for damages. And you also have to depend on your customers to pack them properly so that they won't get damaged in transit. If items get damaged workers have to report them if caught, fill paper work out, etc. A lot of times there just ignored and passed on to the receiver and then they bring them back to the P.O. and complain, fill out paper work for damages if it was insured. P.O. has to investigate it and why it was damaged and then issue a refund if they find they were to fault.
A lot of extra work for just one package, imagine 100 or more a day over the entire US, that's a lot of extra work and lost income for them. I wouldn't want to accept that responsibility and have to deal with all that myself. If this was a perfect world and everyone packed there items properly there probably be much less to worry about and less time wasted but, last time I check this world of ours is going to hell in a hand-basket, LOL!

[HarrySmith]

I never used special handling. I have shipped fragile porcelain & crystal figurines all over the world. I always ship USPS Priority Mail and pack well. Only one item ever got broken but only after customs in Israel opened the package and just stuffed it back in the box to finish the delivery. A lot of my eBay feedback talks about my packing. As already stated I pack it expecting the worst handling. Never had a damaged phone either.