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Why would anyone buy a turntable that needs to be shipped?

Did you ever receive a turntable damaged in shipping

  • Yes, aren't they all?

    Votes: 13 8.3%

  • Yes, but just the dust cover was destroyed

    Votes: 7 4.5%

  • Yes, the turntable was totaled

    Votes: 18 11.5%

  • No, received them just fine, I got lucky

    Votes: 70 44.9%

  • No, I don't buy tables then need to be shipped

    Votes: 48 30.8%
  • Total voters
    156
  • Poll closed .
I buy and sell turntables on ebay all the time. I only buy from those who have documented experience of selling turntables and packing them well. I know how to pack and have yet to have any damage issues with those that I ship. If you know what you're doing there is no problem.
 
Bought a Dual off the 'Bay that was only 50 miles from my home. Asked the seller about local pickup, and he told me I'd still have to pay the 30 bucks he spent to make the packaging. Should have taken him up on it. He only packed the outside of the TT properly. Everything inside got shaken to oblivion. Now it local pickup only.
 
majick47 said:
Blue shadow I'll answer your question why would anyone buy a TT on Ebay and have it shipped by someone that does not know how to ship a TT, they buyers are probably the same people who would purchase white van speakers, need I say anynmore. How many hundreds of posts with all kinds of excellent suggestions here on AK and elsewhere and apparently it still falls on deaf ears and they disregard all the advice and bid/buy a TT from a know nothing Ebay seller. I don't feel sorry for the buyer, just sorry for the damaged turntable.
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Well, for instance, I gave the seller of my TT detailed instruction on how to pack, but he still left the counter weight on the arm!
I got lucky and it stayed in place, but I read here of another 838 where the weight came off in transit and trashed the arm and the lid along with the finish on the top.

Also, if nobody took a little risk when trying to get that sort after table, there would be a lot more of us here with lesser TT's as a result.

So, I did my research too and was confident the seller would do it all correctly, and he did apart for the weight, and with that, I got lucky :)
 
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Did you ever receive a turntable damaged in shipping
Yes, aren't they all?
Yes, but just the dust cover was destroyed
Yes, the turntable was totaled
No, received them just fine, I got lucky
No, I don't buy tables then need to be shipped
Click to expand...

None of the above. I have 2 distinct experiences with turntables being shipped to me:

- VPI HW-19: Shipped from Nova Scotia to California in all of the original packing system from the factory. Package arrived with part of the dust cover hanging out the side of the box, the plinth had shifted as a result. Seller was great, had taken out insurance with Canada Post as agreed, had packed exactly according to the factory directions. We worked out a deal and the TT stayed with me with rebuild parts from VPI.

Learning: International shipping adds a level of complexity to the whole transaction and factory shipping systems may not have been well tested for multiple-handoffs in transit. Certainly, the VPI shipping container's internal packing parts were clearly not up to it and were the root cause of the container's failures.

- HK/Rabco ST7: Shipped from Florida to California from original owner with no factory packaging. In this case, I arranged for a local UPS office to create the packaging according to my specific directions. I talked with the store manager and was very specific, followed it up with an email for how to package it, where to place tie downs, what to keep from falling loose and how to do it. T'was expensive but the turntable arrived in a huge box with _lots_ of custom-cut foam which I will reuse if I _ever_ choose to sell it.

Yes, I have received other gear packed without care. The sellers came to hate me, too, due to their negligence.

Cheers,

David
 
I have bought all but one of my tables off of Audiogon. Even the current one I own was shipped from a small one man manufacturer, who packed it liked a private seller would.

Every one of my tables have made it just fine. Actually I have sold every one of those tables when I upgraded, and they were all shipped too. Arrived without an incident. Often these tables, coming and going, were shipped cross country. Actually I have shipped a Mircroseiki DDX1000 and a Thorens TD125/Mission 774 table without any factory packing. Just spent a lot of time and careful thinking while packing. I would rather spend $10 more in packing material than the hassle of dealing with a shipping claim.

Actually your pole shows most tables arriving intact. I think the problem is who you are buying from. EBAY is not the site of choice for hobbyists who care about their turntables. Often many sell there who are actively trying to make a buck, and they don't know a lot about analog, or are just trying to spend the minimum on time and materials to pack. Buy from the classifieds on AK, AA, AC, or Audiogon and Canuck Mart and you will up your percentages on tables arriving safely. However, these people know the value of their items, so the chances of you getting a screaming deal drop dramatically.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
dshoaf said:
- HK/Rabco ST7: Shipped from Florida to California from original owner with no factory packaging. In this case, I arranged for a local UPS office to create the packaging according to my specific directions. I talked with the store manager and was very specific, followed it up with an email for how to package it, where to place tie downs, what to keep from falling loose and how to do it. T'was expensive but the turntable arrived in a huge box with _lots_ of custom-cut foam which I will reuse if I _ever_ choose to sell it.
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And David did a fine job of packing the ST7 when he shipped it to me. He did not ship it across the border as I wanted to avoid the import implications, but it was expertly done. :thmbsp:
 
Mister Pig makes an excellent point that if you look to Ebay for a turntable hopeing to pay as little as possible there's a good chance your going to be dealing with a seller who on the other end is going to try to cut every corner to save money also by spending as little as possible to package/ship the turntable. It ends up to be the elements for a perfect storm that will destroy the turntable. As both of us have recommended deal with reputable sellers and be realistic that you will have to pay a fair price for a turntable that will be properly packaged.
 
If the question is, "why would anyone buy a turntable from someone they don't know and who has no known experience packing turntables?", the answer is they shouldn't, and if they do, expect a box a junk.
 
My absolute worst experience was a very very clean Lenco L75 that showed up buy it now at around midnight for $75. What followed was a detailed set of instructions from me for packaging, an offer to pay above his shipping quote to cover it, and a demand that it be insured totally. This was met after several back and forths that it would take too much time and effort, and the UPS place would package fine, etc. I paid extra, it was packed "well" and shipped fully insured. What arrived was so completely destroyed that I practically screamed. Short end was I got my full refund, the poor machine was sent back, and who knows what happened to it after that. I gave up on my search for a clean old Lenco.

I have purchased several that made it fine too. One just took a bad whack from the shipper, but it was packed well, so no complaint there.

I have sent several turntables off after selling on ebay. I can say I have 100% success. I know how, and take the time. My secret to success is sheet of styrofoam insulation from Home Depot. The stiffer the packing - same as most manufacturers - and zero movement, and you are fine.

I have one that came today actually (bought for parts, so less hope or worry) and I will let you know!
 
Years ago I bought a Thorens TD126 MKII from a friend. He packed it well, using that blown in foam, and it still had minor damage, but I fixed her up. I still have it. It was a great deal and I took a chance on the shipping because I knew the guy. I would never buy one from an unknown seller that has to be shipped.
 
I haven't bought a TT from a seller that had to ship it. I would buy local, and with 6, I probably won't be buying any more, unless there's a local (St. Louis area) seller that has a screamingly good deal on something. It would have to be so good and (relative to the unit) inexpensive that I could buy and flip if I needed money, didn't like it compared to my gear, and whether I decide to continue with analog audio. As I expand and hone in on relative perfection I'm finding that files upsampled to 24/192 (my computer does this) are lighting my fire the most, with the schiit bifrost doing the conversion. SET fleapower tube audio was my most recent acquisition/transition, and I'm pretty sure that this is the plateau for me.
 
I've bought a few off of e-bay and all came without damage.

Had one shipped well packaged with lots of bubble wrap and surrounded by Styrofoam, tonearm wired down, etc. The only problem was the platter and counter weight were left on! It's a miracle it arrived with out damage.
 
Bought a vintage very early 70s NOS Sansui TT that got completely trashed UPS. Totaled. It was insured. Too bad to, it was a real museum piece. Even the seller was sick to his stomach about it. He bought it new but never used it. It was brand spanking new.

Then I bought a Sansui SR-838 and told the seller EXACTLY how to package it for shipment. Paid an extra $30 to package it my way. When it arrived: Perfect.
 
People tend to blame the shipper, when the problem is usually the packer. The box needs to be able to be tossed around with no damage to the contents.

I've shipped 10+ turntables in the past year or so, and only one had damage to the dust cover, and that one had plastic tabs that are susceptible to damage (my fault).

I ship from my local UPS store, and they know me and pack tables while I watch (and supervise). Each component gets heavily bubble-wrapped, then all go in a large box surrounded by foam beans. The box is overfilled with beans, then compressed down and taped up. It ends up taking a very big box and it costs $50-$75 for packing and shipping.

It goes without saying that all components are wrapped separately (table, platter, counterweight, headshell, etc), and transit screws are in place. If I don't have transit screws, I figure out what size they need to be and buy some. The tonearm is always secured.
 
Update: My decent shape Dual this afternoon arrived WRECKED. Packed by a novice/goober. After I asked him to remove the auto spindle, he left it in, tried to remove the tonearm (!!!!) and dust cover, base trashed, and auto spindle literally snapped in half. God knows what it did inside to the gears. I will find out. Parts will be spread around to two projects. Seller will not receive positive feedback.
 
Mister Pig said:
...Just spent a lot of time and careful thinking while packing. I would rather spend $10 more in packing material than the hassle of dealing with a shipping claim.

Actually your pole shows most tables arriving intact. I think the problem is who you are buying from. EBAY is not the site of choice for hobbyists who care about their turntables.
Regards
Mister Pig
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I think the knowledgeable seller is a good person to buy from if the need arises. You mention spending a bit more on packing for a good result but packing a TT for shipment is an engineering exercise, requires considerable time manufacturing packing materials and seems to be a lot of work to do properly.

It is good that most of the responses are from a positive experience but they are also TTs shipped by knowledgeable people, the AK, Agon, and the rebuilders.

I agree with another posted that my poll is biased but hell I now know what some of the other options should be by all the responses.

Seems the damage is done by the casual seller trying to make a buck and those that do not follow instructions on how to pack.
 
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