Postage at buyers risk...

[Kev]

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1373797189' post='2141610']


You have a point but what is deemed a suitable case or suitable protection? I've always been conscientous about packing and protection, given the vagaries within the courier industry. Let's be clear, here: we'd all (?) take the best care possible in packing and protecting an instrument someone we may not even know has bought from us. However, after it leaves my hands someone else is responsible for its handling and protection and if anything untoward happens to it then the courier firm has to pay out, shouldn't it? It's really irrelevant who takes out the insurance - the buyer or the seller - as long as it's in place. Incidentally, I have been more than happy to arrange couriers/ins to pick up gear that a seller has refused to ship. It's a personal choice and should be respected whether one agrees with it or not.
[/quote]

This didn't really answer my question; if the bass was, say, just packed in a cardboard box and the insurers don't pay out as it wasn't in a rigid hardcase, who do you feel should pay for repairs, buyer or seller?

[Stacker]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1373809761' post='2141813']
This didn't really answer my question; if the bass was, say, just packed in a cardboard box and the insurers don't pay out as it wasn't in a rigid hardcase, who do you feel should pay for repairs, buyer or seller?
[/quote]
Why would you not ship something as securely as you could? You seem to be focussing on improperly packaged items. Why?
As far as I am concerned, I would always ship an item as securely as I could. I always have done.

I also get the impression that you may not agree with my maxim of not shipping abroad unless a buyer/interested party sorts his/her own freight/ins out; fair enough, that's your right. But now you seem to be taking me to task on improperly protected items. Again, why?

Edited July 14, 2013 by Stacker

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1373809761' post='2141813']
This didn't really answer my question; if the bass was, say, just packed in a cardboard box and the insurers don't pay out as it wasn't in a rigid hardcase, who do you feel should pay for repairs, buyer or seller?
[/quote]
The seller who takes responsibility for packing and for delivery.

[Johngh]

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1373826698' post='2142005']

Why would you not ship something as securely as you could? You seem to be focussing on improperly packaged items. Why?
As far as I am concerned,[/quote]

Don't get hooked up thinking that everyone is conscientious and will pack things up exactly right, I bought a +£1000 bass from a guy who boasted in his add that he worked for a major guitar importer in France. The bass arrived without the case and in a box in the most pathetic attempt to pack a bass known to man. With a ding in it. !!!!!

[Kev]

[quote name='Stacker' timestamp='1373826698' post='2142005']
Why would you not ship something as securely as you could? You seem to be focussing on improperly packaged items. Why?
As far as I am concerned, I would always ship an item as securely as I could. I always have done.

I also get the impression that you may not agree with my maxim of not shipping abroad unless a buyer/interested party sorts his/her own freight/ins out; fair enough, that's your right. But now you seem to be taking me to task on improperly protected items. Again, why?
[/quote]

Are you in politics?

I am talking about a hypothetical situation. Forget improperly protected, the bass has been lost and for whatever reason, insurance wont pay. Would you refund the buyer?? Yes or no would be fine! I don't agree with your shipping abroad thing but i respect it just fine, providing you take responsibility if it goes wrong.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Kev

[funkgod]

if i had to buy an expensive bass i would go and collect it, for two reasons,
1, to check it out
2, i dont trust any post. ( or sellers !!!)
so...
if i had an expensive bass for sale i would expect the buyer to do the same
if he cant be bothered to do this and wants it posting then he can arrange that.

why should i trust my bass in the hand of the post i would not use myself ???
if buyers want to trust them then thats their chance,
if it arrives in bits he has only himself to blame providing the packing is sound,
england is not that big and if it is something special then make a special trip.

[Stacker]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1373829056' post='2142045']
Are you in politics?

I am talking about a hypothetical situation. Forget improperly protected, the bass has been lost and for whatever reason, insurance wont pay. Would you refund the buyer?? Yes or no would be fine! I don't agree with your shipping abroad thing but i respect it just fine, providing you take responsibility if it goes wrong.
[/quote]

Politics? The realm of the damned; not for me!

If I was shipping in UK, if the buyer paid what I had requested with regard to insurance and the item went missing or was irreparably damaged, then I would refund him first then deal with the insurance claim myself, unlike the Italian luthier who expected me to wait weeks/months for [i]his[/i] insurance to pay out after a purchase of one of his basses disappeared in Milan.

Your 'hypothetical situation' of insurance not paying out sounds like a nightmare and I would never want to put myself - as a buyer or a seller - in that position.

Let me run this one past you: several years ago I bought a Warwick Dolphin from the US, via ebay. The bass disappeared off the tracking radar and so did the seller after the time-limit expired for me to make a claim. Ebay would not assist due to that expiry and the bass was paid for by bank tx. Where does that leave the insurance issue, now?
The bass, oddly enough, turned up a couple of months later, undamaged. The seller had kept the extra money I had paid him for expedited freight/ ins and shipped it USPS standard. That's just another reason I prefer to arrange my own freight/ins on international purchases and expect a international buyer to do same. If that request scares prospective buyers off, fine; I just have to accept it.

[Colonel36]

I would never buy a bass with "shipping at buyers risk",
Also, why don't some sellers display their location. Is it a way of making buyer beg for this critical information.
The bass could be just around the corner from me but I'm sick of asking so no sale to me or perhaps other buyers because of this important detail.

[ead]

As thisnameistaken said above, when I do ship I photograph every stage of the process and plenty of the bass pre shipment. Reduce string tension a bit, pack with copious padding etc. hard case, sturdy cardboard outer (old bicycle boxes are really good), and then keep my fingers crossed.

In future I may consider agreeing with a buyer who has received the pics who would pay in the unfortunate event of courier damage if the claim on the insurance was rejected.