[ChrisPlatt]

I have learned to NEVER put fragile on any package! The word fragile means “abuse mercilessly” in the package handler vocabulary.

Packages like the rest of your mail is handled in bulk by machinery in sorting and transportation.
Most problems of damage in transit can be avoided by packing properly.

Most private shippers - e.g sellers on eBay etc. - are not very experienced with shipping.
Many skimp on materials and pack in an unsuitably small carton to save on shipping cost.

USPS packaging requirements are listed on usps.com.
Read them sometime - they might surprise you.

Chris, a USPS employee

[stevebrot]

USPS packaging requirements are listed on usps.com.
Read them sometime - they might surprise you.

Chris, a USPS employee

In defense of the flat rate boxes. I use them a lot and have never had a report back of a damaged shipment. I also can't remember the last time I got a flat-rate box that had been munged.


Steve

[steamloco76]

Packages like the rest of your mail is handled in bulk by machinery in sorting and transportation.
Most problems of damage in transit can be avoided by packing properly.

Most private shippers - e.g sellers on eBay etc. - are not very experienced with shipping.
Many skimp on materials and pack in an unsuitably small carton to save on shipping cost.

USPS packaging requirements are listed on usps.com.
Read them sometime - they might surprise you.

Chris, a USPS employee

Sorry to burst your Postal bubble, the crushed package weighed under one pound and the shipper had packaged the contents properly. A medium flat rate box is NOT an unsuitably small carton for an item under a pound with a size of about three inches by four inches.

[Jean Poitiers]

Mid-January was my B-day, so I got these ... the paper was from my mother-in-law (I told her what to send me) and the second is a b-day gift from me to me, a Fujifilm X100s. An early afternoon eBay bid winner for 366€ delivered from Lille, France. There were only 2 bidders with the starting price at 350€. All is AOK, but a bit rough cosmetically. It came with 8 batteries of which 2 are OEM. The hood just arrived and was added on along with the strap and thumb rest.

[ivanvernon]

Flat Rate. Flat Package.

Just sayin'.

I do not like them except for document and other items that the post office cannot easily damage. I pack in a large cardboard box with lots of that bubble wrap around the camera or lens and then lots of crumpled newspaper all around the bubble wrapped item, never any damage.

[Jean Poitiers]

Last Sunday was the photo swap meet at Aulnay, about 90 minutes south. I picked a very nice Tamron AD-2 24/2.8 with a Nikon AI mount for 30€. I sold awhile back the same lens and regretted it, so here's a nice priced replacement. Also found for 20€ a M39 mount Russian Jupiter-12 (35/2.8) in excellent shape. Very happy since this lens was on my short list for a while. I have already bought a 35mm viewfinder out of Russia and will take all for a spin on the IIIf.



Also picked up a darkroom light for 5€ ... boxed and shown with its twin.



Plus some freebie straps ... the Nikons are for a friend and the Pentax one is mine.

[steamloco76]

The PZ-1/Z-1 era Pentax straps are the best ever offered. I was smart enough to keep the three from my PZ-1p’s when I sold them. Found a couple more over the years. My K3, K5iis, K-r and Spotmatic SPII all wear one. The little snap covered storage area is perfect for a hotshoe cover, extra SD card or finder blinder. Plus, they are really well stitched.

[edom31]

I should be getting the K-series 135/2.5 today!!!

To celebrate, yesterday I got a Super-Tak 200/4 and some Asahi extension tubes.

Eying now a Fuji X-T10... used. If anyone knows a fair market price for these I'd be happy to get a DM or response.

[aslyfox]

an original paper owner's manual for my M E Super looks like it is new

I got it from Kenmore Camera located in Kenmore WA

Kenmore Camera

[stevebrot]

I got it from Kenmore Camera located in Kenmore WA

I grew up on the edge of Briar, just up the hill from Kenmore and remember when they opened near the intersection of 61st and Bothell Way. Thankfully, they are no longer in that very small building.


Steve

[Racer X 69]

I grew up on the edge of Briar, just up the hill from Kenmore and remember when they opened near the intersection of 61st and Bothell Way. Thankfully, they are no longer in that very small building.


Steve

Back when Briar was rural.

[stevebrot]

Back when Briar was rural.

Yep...There was a little country store and the city hall/jail. A few people in the area had small farms, usually of the stump and goat variety. Briar was formed as tax protest to avoid annexation by Mountlake Terrace. In the early days they ran the "city" off traffic ticket revenues.


Steve

[Marcus Rowland]

Another Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 3.5-5.6 - in nice condition with hood and caps - for £16.50 including P&P. Easily adapted to full AF on Micro 4/3 and very popular.

Also bought some 2GB SD cards for rather more than I like, because they do seem to be getting a bit rare and a lot of older cameras don't like SDHC - 5 for £12.50 including P&P. I've wasted too much time trying to find them in CEX stores etc. but it looks like they no longer sell them, this is a bit more expensive per card but it means I can sell a few more old cameras easily.

[ChrisPlatt]

Sorry to burst your Postal bubble, the crushed package weighed under one pound and the shipper had packaged the contents properly. A medium flat rate box is NOT an unsuitably small carton for an item under a pound with a size of about three inches by four inches.

Postal bubble?

Sorry, that package is insufficient and does not meet requirements.
A four inch item must have four inches of space with packing material - on all sides.
That would require a box 12 inches on all sides, larger than your flat rate box.

Most sellers and buyers try to economize on shipping cost by cutting corners.
You can try shipping that way, but realize you are taking a chance.
No shipper will pay an insurance claim if item was inadequately packed.

Chris

[SSGGeezer]

Since I took over the shipping department of the company I work for this month, I am developing a better understanding of packaging! We sell soft goods soo packing on my end is easy, but the last lens I bought on the forum was mailed loose from British Columbia to Maine without one iota of packing material in the box. It banged around when the box was moved. (The lens, amazingly enough, still worked fine!) I think that this member no longer shoots Pentax so I doubt he will list anything here again.