pprudowe

I have quite a few old quality kits from the seventies/80's that Dad and I had and I have not been active for a long time and dad passed a few years back. Anyhow I may try to sell some here and some on ebay etc but was wondering about how to pack and ship the kits? Do I just secure the boxes- label and ship or should I wrap the kits or even try to find cardboard to wrap them in? It has been thirty years since I received a kit in the mail and just want to know what is acceptable.

Who do you guys use to ship kits? What do ya think I should charge to ship?


Thanks in advance-paul

Joe Nagy

My Feedback: (3)

Hi Paul;

Greetings to you from the ever warm and sunny 'Valley of the Sun'.

I am a rabid kit collector, buy mostly, but sell/trade a few also. & have just over 750 kits in my ever growing eclectic collection. For the past 13 years eBay has been my main source of older/vintage/classic kits. Of late shipping charges have increased drastically. The best methods of shipping are USPS Priority Mail, UPS and Fed EX. Always!!! double-box kits for shipment to save them from the ravages of same, there is nothing worse than receiving a highly desired kit that has been smashed by the 800$ S&H Gorrillas, and do not place shipping lables/or write on a kit box surface, as some collectors want their kits in as pristine condition as possible. Here in the metro Phoenix area are a number of 'paper goods suppliers outlets where I purchase quite inexpensively 4 x 8' sheets of cardboard, and I wrap kit boxes with same, and construct false box ends, tape all together with one of those tape dispenser guns available from Home Depot or Costco. Place your shipping lables on this disposable cardboard box. As for shipping costs, well I just received 2 kits, medium size this past week, they were $15.75 each [USPS], small kits will be $10>15, larger probably $12>25, all depending on exterior size and weight. You can get quotes for shipping charges from the above, but must take the boxes there for same.

USPS Parcel Post is another option, but is extremely slow, I never use it.

Another option is to include Insurance, payable to the item purchaser should damage occur.

I have had much0 experience herein, but again, just one modeller's opinion, 'been dere done dat', best regards from Glendale, Arizona,

Joe Nagy.

pprudowe

I can se I need to learn a new forum I posted a response yesterday- or apparently wrote one and its not up here I need to push the right buttons...

Anyhow- thanks for the response- after I posted here I got the bright idea to call the local hobby shop and ask if they would save me some boxes to aide in shipping and they said yes... I will look for other sources of cardboard too. I have shipped a lot of other but usually small stuff over the years selling on fleabay and other forums. I appreciate the experienced help though and do not need to reinvent the wheel so to speak and is why I asked I never did understand the guys that ask and then argue with the experienced ones...I do not want to damage any of the kits but there are some rarer stuff in the mix I definitely do not want to waste! Thanks for the help!- Be Blessed- paul

Hemikiller

My Feedback: (125)

Most guys who are kit collectors or buying older kits will want you to "double box" the kit for shipping to protect the box itself from damage. I will also pack some newspaper within the kit itself to keep the bits from moving around too much. Most kits back in the day were just taped shut, labeled and dropped on the shipper's truck, received plenty from Tower Hobbies like that.

I have access to large sheets of scrap cardboard, but good sources are appliance stores, bike shops, furniture stores, etc. The easiest way I've found to double box is to lay the kit the long way with the flutes of the cardboard, and trim the sheet to the exact length of the box. Score the inside of the cardboard with a blunt object down the length of the box and "roll" the box up on it's side. Score, roll, score, roll. You can then trim the cardboard and have a nice cardboard "sleeve" to protect the kit. I tape that up well to itself, make sure you snug it nice and tight to the box, (don't tape it to the kit box or your buyer might have a coronary) then make ends for the sleeve from scrap and tape in place. Make your life easier and get a tape gun, the $20 or so is well worth it.

The most reasonable method to ship will be USPS Standard Post, but it takes forever. I had a kit shipped to me, it left CA on the 13th and won't get to me until tomorrow the 27th. You'll find that in many instances Priority Mail is a dollar or two more and it's at the buyer's doorstep in three days or less.

Before you commit to a shipped price, be sure you use the calculator on USPS or the Paypal site.

http://postcalc.usps.com/

You'll save some money shipping online with them, tracking is included on all shipments and you can print labels right from your home computer. Sure beats standing in line at the post office and paying extra for things. A lot of guys will offer things for a shipped price within the lower 48 states only, which is kinda rude as there are two other states in the Union. It might cost a couple dollars more to get it there, but it's nothing like international shipping.

If you're using Paypal, you can ship right from the payment page. If the item is $200 or over, be sure to send it direct signature required, this covers your butt with the Seller Protection in case a buyer decides to file a claim. Paypal states $250, I use it at $200. Fedex or UPS are also an option, but don't use their site, you can ship UPS through Paypal, Fedex through eBay if you list the kits at auction.

Hope this helps...

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

When I ship a kit, I go to a furniture store's dumpster....LARGE cardboad boxes. I use that to 'build' a box around the kit box....just use a screwdriver to 'crease' a bend line and keep rolling the box over until all 4 sides are done, cut off the excess. Then do the same at each end.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

How about a list of what you have Paul or perhaps post some pictures.

John

049flyer

My Feedback: (18)

I have sold over 100 kits on Ebay over the last few years. ALWAYS double box! Take lots of pictures of the kit contents and the box and be honest with your descriptions. I always state the shipping charges up front so that the bidder knows what the total will be.

Between Ebay fees and paypal fees you will pay about 15%.

You can buy boxes from Uline. They have hundreds of sizes, just pick 3 or 4 sizes and modify as necessary with a box cutter and hot melt glue gun to get the exact size you want. If you have lots of kits and you try to make your own boxes you will be spending lots of time cutting and gluing. Better to pay for the ready made ones.

Most kits will ship cheaper with Fedex Ground and sometimes UPS. Forget the post office for boxes over 12 inches long unless it is going to somewhere within 300 miles or so of you. Then they are sometimes cheaper.

For packing material go to Sam's or Costco and look for a big roll of butcher paper, or you can go to Lowe's or Home Depot and buy the paper that is used to protect flooring when painting. You can find it in the same area as drop cloths. Just crumple up the paper and go. Newspaper is OK but very dirty, your hands will turn black from all of the newsprint.

Rv7garage

My Feedback: (10)

Still no list? I'd be interested- might buy a couple

pprudowe

HAHAHAHAHA- these kits have been "tucked away" in a hard to access but dry / stable area in a detatched garage for a few years,,,, before that they did 20 years or more at dads place. It takes time and SPACE to get them out. I have a table full in my machine shop now and another table in my living room and I have little room to take pictures and such. I have a life-a box of crap to go through and sort for last years taxes and file... it will take time- I think I have 70-100 kits to go through - I need to decide what I am keeping. I need to research pricing to a bit and even where to find out some of the values, and then there is an emotional side to it all to- a lot of good and bad memmories of dad in the whole mix- some of you may or may not understand.
If I post the list all the questions to follow might be nice to have some answers for- I do not necessarily need top dollar but there are some 300.00 plus kits that are hard to find in the mix too with the 50.00 ones... I need a idea where to start ya know- none of ya will offer top dollar off the bat and I do not blame ya but I do not want taken advantage of either

Then there is the shipping thing- I need some supplies etc. No one wants to say they will take something- send payment then wait till it ships I have seen the horror stories online and do not to be one of them, I pride myself on fast shipping and great communication when I sell stuff online and do not want to ruin that nor jeopardize it either.

So I hope that makes sense and I apologize for any inconvenience..

Rv7garage

My Feedback: (10)

No inconvenience, and certainly no need to apologize!! Didn't mean to rile you

We are just like kids before Christmas, is all

pprudowe

Believe me I do understand- I had been more active in some knife and airgun forums and the mere thought of a collection being sold both excites and scares us...

Maybe I will just list some of them... Is it against the rules to ask for help with fair values vs just sellin it all on fleabay?

Rv7garage

My Feedback: (10)

If you need help valuing, I think *most* folks here will be honest about things. If you have rare stuff, it'll be harder to value, but if you have a Travel Air Mystery Ship, or any other Golden-Age stuff in the 1/5-scale range, I want it!

pprudowe

RV7 shoot me a phone number in PM