How to pack and ship glass lenses

Paul Steinberg

Paul Steinberg

PCS Life Member Past President 2010-2012 2020-2024
Staff member
Super Site Supporter
Bought 2 lenses for the Miller Meteor Ful-Vu lights. Seller put them in a box with foam surrounding them, and handed it off to UPS to deliver. This is what they looked like when they arrived. :mad:
 

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Yup, that's UPS. We see that almost every day where I work. We stopped using "FRAGILE" stickers years ago once we found out "FRAGILE" only means "kick me (or throw me) harder"
 
the good news is you got all the pieces. if not some one sent you a bill of goods. the glue that you use to put the review mirror on will put it back to gather enough for a shelf sitter. wrapping each piece in the foam then lining the box would have stopped them from clinking together. carving a place out of a block would have been better. now everyone is out
 
That is really not UPS' fault. That is a horrible job of packing those lenses!! I have had a run of bad luck myself recently with eBay sellers doing crappy job of packing. Many sellers don't feel that they should have to put any effort into packing, regardless of how fragile or heavy an item might be. I still feel that the Postal Service does the best job when it comes to shipping anything. FedEx and UPS tend to destroy even well packed items
 
Bad luck with UPS

I shipped some radio equipment via ups last spring.THEY LOST IT!!!!! I submitted a claim and they would not pay.Said that it was not their fault that it was lost,but they could not tell me when or at what stage of the shipping it was lost.Another fine job by ups:thumbsdown:
 
After using Fed Ex Ground and Priority Mail to ship many collectibles over the years, damage-free and without incident, I gave UPS a try. They destroyed the item in shipment. Upon getting it back, they said that it was "improperly packaged" and they denied my claim. The local terminal manager even went so far as to admit that they don't pay very many damage claims. My parting words to him were, "I'll see you in small claims court." I received a check for the full value of the item about a week later. I learned a long time ago that, for many large firms, sending an company attorney to small claims court costs more than the amount of the claim, and they will often pay up under the threat of a hearing.
 
The seller refunded the money, including the shipping. They were misidentified on eBay, and consequently there were no bids, and I got the two for the opening bid of $50. Would have been a great deal if they didn't get damaged. I didn't save the pieces, and now the rest is headed to the trash.
 
I shipped my model to the Micro-Meet last February. I marked it "Fragile" and "This End Up". The first thing - the very first thing - that the guy at the UPS place did was put it on the scale on it's side! I said, "Do you think it's possible to not destroy it before it even leaves town?" :mad: Of course, it ended up disheveled. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad, and George Hamlin was able to repair it before I arrived.

I have yet to see a "good" way to pack/ship those Ful-Vu lenses. They might do OK if they are shipped mounted in the lights, the base and top plate would seem to be good support. For 1/4" thick glass, they are awfully fragile.
 
I ship radios, lights,and more all over the world.I pack well and have had few damage problems. Those poor ful-view lights did not stand a chance the way they were packed.no matter who they were shipped with. Should have been wrapped with more foam and double boxed or at least a much bigger box. That aside a few comments on carriers. UPS if you pack well few damage issues,damage claims are hard to collect.they have an reason not to pay for almost any claim push hard and you get paid in two to three months most of the time. FED EX again pack well and little chance of damage. Had a $600.00 damage claim on an item shipped to me (Very little damage but at the cost of item I did not want it). Sent pictures at FED EX request and claim paid in one week and item picked up and returned to shipper free. Very good service. USPS again pack well its in your hands. Priority Mail is fast for the money and seems to get better handling. Had a radio shipped to me arrived smashed filed claim got a check three months later and kept busted radio. When you buy fragile items on Epay or other places admonish sellers to pack well remind them carriers use packages for footballs. When you ship use lots of bubble wrap for light items lens and glass wrap with bubble wrap and double box with pellets between boxes. The jury is still out on Fragile stickers I use them. My thoughts Pete
 
Denny Shira said:
I shipped some radio equipment via ups last spring.THEY LOST IT!!!!! I submitted a claim and they would not pay.Said that it was not their fault that it was lost,but they could not tell me when or at what stage of the shipping it was lost.Another fine job by ups:thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

Earlier this summer, I received a box of parts shipped by Fedex. One corner was a little smashed, and the cardboard torn. It had tape over the tear, in an effort to repair it. I wasn't too nervous, as the parts I ordered weren't particularly fragile. When I opened the box, and unpacked my parts, I found a smaller cardboard box inside. It was a package shipped from a different company, and addressed to someone on the other side of the state from me. Apparently, it was shoved into my package through the tear. I called Fedex, and they sent someone out to pick it up, but I'm sure someone was wondering where their package was.
 
The way those lenses would have arrived without being broken is...

1. By packing each one in its own box surrounded by packing peanuts with at least a 1" extra space around all sides of the lens.

2. By taping both boxes together so they do not hit each other during travel.

3. By putting the taped together boxes in another box packed with packing peanuts with at least 3" (or more) of space around all edges of the boxes in the center.

4. Tape all edges of the outer box (plus the flaps closed of course) to prevent splitting of the edges or corners.

( as the jerks toss around your box marked fragile around. )



My shipping experiences...

I have shipped thousands of packages and have only had a couple people with damage (due to carriers). That fraction is like .001 or so. You take care of the people like it was your fault (even thou it wasn't !) and they are happy repeat customers.


Darren
 
The one thing about packing peanuts, is that the item can shift within the box and displace the peanuts. I have had much better luck using bubble wrap, and then using the peanuts around the bubble wrap inside the box. Then I will use a larger box, and put peanuts underneath, on all 4 sides, and the top of the inner box. That way, everything is cushioned, and it is less likely to get damaged. Before peanuts, we used Excelsior for packing fragile items.
 
Packing peanuts do not work for heavy objects. I'm the king of scrounge, when I get packing materials. I only buy tape. Dumpster diving for box's is not out of the question.
 
if your going to ship anything like this take a block of Styrofoam carve out a nitch for each of them then tape them in place in it. add a layer over the top. then go off safe and sound as they can't shift around at all.
 
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