This video, via Syntaur, takes a look at something that most of us never think about until we either need to ship a synth – or we get one that was damaged in shipping.
In the video, Syntaur’s Sam Mims shows how to pack a synthesizer for shipping so that it won’t arrive damaged.
He mentions Reverb boxes in the video, which are available at their site.
If you’ve got your own tips for shipping keyboards or other gear – or a horror story about a bad packing job, let us know in the comments!
Hehe for those of us who suffer from G.A.S.
Nice video! 🙂
I’ve seen so many bad packing jobs that I think these days there should be a mandatory high school course for everyone on how to sell online with an emphasis on how to ship things safely! 😉
I used to work professionally in the shipping/warehousing industry, initially as a shipping clerk and in the end as a programmer/architect of automated shipping systems for large warehouses . I remember a carrier rep telling me one time that if you want to be reasonably sure that the contents of a parcel will arrive undamaged, you should pack it to an extent that you would feel confident dropping it from 5 feet up onto concrete and then dropping another package that weighs 70 pounds onto it, also from 5 feet up. And that may happen multiple times! That may seem ridiculous until you realize that packages are moved though high speed automated systems and your delicate 5 pound box is mixed in with robustly packaged 70 pound boxes.
Quick tip: Here’s a simple thing I like to do that makes it easier for the receiving party to unwrap what you shipped them and helps them avoid damage. When taping the initial layers of bubble wrap around the item, on one end of the pieces of tape fold over an inch or so to create a little tab. These tabs are easy to find, grab and pull off making it easy and quick to unwrap the item and no knives, razors or scissors are needed.
Another tip for shipping smallish but delicate and expensive items it to use a plastic 5 gallon bucket inside a relatively thin outer cardboard box. Those buckets are really strong and absorb heavy impacts without losing their shape. When I sold my very rare and expensive Don Martin Moog 9504A VCF, because I needed the money :-(, I way over packet it, partially because it was going to a destination on the other side of the globe. I used two different sizes of bubble wrap around the module, put it in a plastic bucket, taped the bucket closed, wrapped the bucket in bubble wrap and put it all in a thick cardboard box that I uses a lot of tape on. The ship or plane carrying it could have sunk in the ocean and it probably would have been OK for many years! 😉 Starting at 5:00 minutes into this video you can see a couple still shots. https://youtu.be/OMZ8MAR3x80
Very useful video for all people who buy used synths from Japan…
I prefer Anvil ATA flight cases for shipping myself, but since I can no longer afford them I welcome this post 😀
I once bought a full-size Casio CZ-1 or 1000 (I forget which) off the Bay. It came wrapped in 5 oxford shirts and a layer of thin cardboard sheet. Fortunately there was no damage. LOL!
Lol! Glad it was ok. Your keyboard fared better than my small synth keyboard bought off of ebay that was sent in a padded envelope. The seller eventually refunded and it was cool, but didn’t seem to draw the connection between the packing material and the broken synth! :p
Had a guy ship a Korg Poly-61 and inside the paper thin cardboard box was TOILET PAPER ROLLS! Of course the mint condition synth was damaged on the corner and did not play any recognizable notes. He refunded no problem but it was sad to see a vintage synth destroyed like that.