eastbay71

What a bummer! I've been trying to find a nice aluminum lugged carbon fiber tube framed frame to build for a while. First I bought a TVT92 and it showed up with a crushed seat tube. This looks like it was caused by over tightening the FD clamp. But the frame was also shipped with no filler in the box. The box had large holes in it when it arrived and the rest of the frame looked all scuffed from jostling around in transit. I returned that frame and bought what looked to be a sweet Miyata CT3000. But the seller wrapped large sections of the frame in USPS priority mail tape. Ripping off large portions of the decals and leaving the frame caked with adhesive. I'm not sure what I would use to take the adhesive off without damaging the finish on the tubing. So this ones going back too. Sucks because the frame looks to have never been built. No marks at all in the BB threads. Anyway I just needed to vent. Hopefully I'll have better luck in the future.

big chainring 

Sorry to hear of your difficulties. This is a particularly irksome subject. And what is proper packing and packaging varies around the world.

My first ebay purchase was from a seller in the UK. It was some toy train cars. They came wrapped in an irregular ball of paper and packaging tape.

My wife buys items from a seller in Egypt. The seller boxes, wraps in paper, wraps in fine metal wire and attaches a small wooden handle to the wire. Beautiful.

My '63 Rickert bike frame came from Poland. Bare frame in a skimpy box. The fork ends were sticking out of the box by the time it arrived to me. Luckily it just required a little fork end alignment at the bike shop.

And then I remember my Mom at Christmas. Boxing up her home baked cookies. Layering the cookies between layers of waxed paper in decorative tins. Putting them in boxes. Wrapping the box in brown paper. And wrapping the box with a few winds of string. Perfect little brick sized packages.

verktyg 

@eastbay71 I feel your pain...

About 20% of the bikes and frames (N=+50) that I've received over the past 10 years have arrived with some shipping damage!


Unfortunately I've been a good customer of Ed Litton's...

I've usually been able to get a refund plus the realignment costs credited back from eBay sellers but still, it's disappointing.

I put together this Flickr album with do's and don't on shipping bikes and frames. Check out the text below the pictures. Feel free to use this link to send to shippers.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...57625469349057

verktyg

Chas.

dwing

When u send back a damaged ebay item do u ship in the original ( or similar) unprotected packaging? Just curious. I once received a collectible vintage item with parts duct taped to the main piece shipped in a banana box with air holes all over again duct taped together. Rediculous how clueless lazy and careless some sellers are. And i sent special packing instructions on this. Spent hours with a hair drier trying to get the tape off without ruining the paint but it was impossible.

Bikedued

I bought an Aerowind on ebay about ten years ago, the seller took off the front wheel, put the wheel and bike in a large clear industrial trash bag, and then took it to Mailboxes Etc(Now UPS store) They put the whole thing, with no packing whatsoever, in a WAY oversized box, and sent it on it's way. The cassette rode on the downtube the whole trip, and the bare chainring was on the bottom of the box, also unprotected. The big chainring was severely bent. The seller also tacked on $62 for packing in addition to the shipping. I never saw a cent out of it, and it was back before ebay had adopted the "buyer is always right" policy. That was probably the last complete bike I ever bought from ebay.,,,,BD


UPS store also screwed me over on another deal as well. They took a 1950's enamel steel top kitchen table(red and white) and put it in an oversized box with ONE layer of bubble wrap. It arrived with all four corners crushed inward, and the enamel chipped off. I will never trust them to pack anything ever again.

eastbay71

Thanks for the link @Verttyg I will use that in the future. @dwing I save all the packing materials I get from stuff i receive in the mail and reuse it. When I send things back I package them the proper way. I stop the whole fork and frame separately in bubble wrap sheets then carefully layer them in the box with old newspapers and if I have any of those air pillow packs I'll wrap them around the frame to keep it centered in the box. Between these two bikes I'm out of supplies. I did leave a note on both boxes to take note of proper packaging technique. I was so disappointed by the damage done to the Miyata last night. The seller claimed to be a collector that also had another CT3000 and a CT 5000. You would think he would have cared more about the future of the frame. I kind of think/ hope he dropped it off at place that packs stuff for you expecting them to do the right thing.

gugie 

Which means 6 more months before you see the frame back!

dailycommute

Yeah that sucks and has happened to many of us. I make it a habit to ask the seller how they plan to pack it if they do not have verified shipping experience via history. If they say anything like USPS or UPS store, etc then I know it is going to be a bad shipper. Either the seller should use good LBS or know how to pack one, just ask them for a picture of the packed box prior to sealing, it can sound like a hassle but if you are spending a fair price on the bike + ship I always ask.

Regarding how to ship it back, I have at least braced the damage frame and broken the bike back down correctly to put in the box but did not wrap anything--still it was a million times better than received.

juvela

I ha' na'er heard tell o' such alacritude.

CliffordK

Most everything I've received have picked up a couple of extra scratches from poor packing. Generally something like a freewheel rubbing on the frame.

Nothing I get is showroom floor quality, and so I just let it go.

I would think a mild solvent would do good work on glue. Maybe an alcohol (ethanol/methanol), or googone. Possibly even soaking in warm water and detergent.

Warm water + detergent may be more selective to tape than other methods.

Don't do more damage with your crude unpacking than was done with the shipping Grrrrrrr!

Chombi1 

I guess the bottom line is, most sellers at eBay do not have any experience with properly packaging bikes for delivery to buyers.
One way to avoid this is to suggest or request the seller to consult with a good bike shop in their area that can help them with packing it properly. It might cost a little bit more, but it's worth it if the frame is a hard to find must have for you. Also save the bike's originality/condition for future C&Vers that you might eventually pass it on to, and that is always a good thing.

Drillium Dude 

Y'know, it's funny but believe it or not, that's why I'll never, ever list a bike on Ebay for sale again. Local pickup only in the future; even if packed correctly, we have those UPS/USPS/FedEx guys that throw flatscreen TVs and the like over gates and claim safe delivery. No thanks

DD

Chombi1 

You said it!
Last time I received a wheel via UPS the box was crushed in a very bad way at one end, seemingly like one of the UPSers stepped on it on purpose to damage the wheel inside. The wheel did get tweaked out of true but I was able to save it after a session on my truing stand. The next wheel I got had very similar damage to its box, but being a disk wheel, they could not get it out of true....but the special skewer taped by the seller inside the box were stolen. Then the frameset I got after that had numerous holes punched through it. Fortunately the frame was well packed inside, it full foam pipe insulation protection and numerous layers of saran type wrap.. I never have this problem with stuff coming in through the United States Postal Service. UPS, at least in my area, is evil!!.....EEEVIIIIL!!!

iab

In my experience, I never have had a package purposely damaged by any carrier, personal or professional. ymmv.

For packing a frame or bike, I like Rivendell's style.

https://vimeo.com/133708979

eschlwc

i've packed four bikes myself with no damage in transit.

i hate packing bikes, but i know i'll have to do it again. at some point, my keepers will go to relatives/friends out of state.

verktyg 

I've known Ed for over 25 years so I have my methods...

I can fix some moderate things like rear dropout alignment but when it requires a layout table or fork jig then it's off to Ed's.

Also, I don't mess around with things like dents or major paint damage - it goes back.... I go to great efforts to make sure that the seller has an idea about a how a bike should be packed. That's why I did this Flicker album.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...57625469349057

https://www.flickr.com/photos/282672...7625469349057/


I've seen 2 instances where eBay sellers were unhappy with how much their bikes sold for. They both tried to back out of the deal! In both cases the bikes were almost NOS and the sellers were "pickers and packers". They had very little knowledge about bikes and unrealistic expectations about their values. It took them over a month to ship with lots of lame excuses.

They arrived poorly packed, just thrown in bike boxes. The paint was scratched and so on... Since then, I've avoided dealing with yardsalers, estate salers and their ilk!


One other thing, if possible, avoid shipping through UPS Stores and FedEx Stores. They are independent franchise businesses that generally way overcharge for shipping costs, want to pack goods themselves and frequently don't have a clue!

In the US get the package size limitations, pack the goods yourself and then take the package(s) to the Post Office, UPS or FedEx corporate locations.

BTW, I highly recommend BikeFlights.com for good rates in the US.


ARGH!


verktyg

Chas.

gugie 

The great thing ab out Ed is that he's also a framebuilder, so he can do repairs as well. For example, I had a frame go in for paint, after media blasting he found one of the stay caps with a bit of rust, only partially still attached. He repaired that without charging me. The fact that he "gets to it when he gets to it" is something that I've just put into the equation. He does do excellent work.



I've found that framebuilders and painters, for the most part, are very optimistic about their delivery dates.

upthywazzoo 

It's all about pipe insulation, zipties, and double-wall boxes