I have shipped and received here and there over the years. Over the past 18 months, I've obtained a fairly large collection of control surfaces (everything from 172 elevators to 206 flaps in terms of dimensions). I am selling them on eBay and through other online venues. I have always built custom crates in the past, but given this volume of parts, that is time consuming, and possibly unnecessary given that many of these are cores only and therefore not needing great protection. On the other hand, I want the buyer to get the parts as described and pictured in the ads. The other problem with wood crates is 9 lb control surface weighs 70 lbs crated. Any ideas/ suggestions? Should I keep crating them? I know I can get the parts to the buyer without damage hat way. What is a viable alternative? Would you as a buyer be okay spending 75-200 on shipping/crating when the core may only sell for $150?

Drop it off at UPS or Fedex and let them do it.

Is it too time consuming to discuss with the buyer?

UPS or FedEx will package for a reasonable rate but the quality depends on what employee is at work at the time. If a miserable job is done, the buyer will be able to get insurance after having an adjuster come, take pictures, and provide the adjuster with proof of the value or a bill for the repair. I personally NEVER want to repeat that experience.

Uline sells a range of cardboard boxes as well as wooden crates: their degree of protection is proportional to their cost.

My experience was not with control surfaces but with fragile plaster gilded pictures frames that ranged up to 36" by 60" in size.

UPS ground curled a prop for me that was shipped in a pine box.
They dropped the box and it shot out the end like a spear and curled the tip.

UPS refused to pay because the prop wasn't bolted to the box inside.

Only to say that wood boxes don't guarantee safety. For control surfaces, I'd think a sturdy cardboard box with some rigid foam block end caps to protect the corners would suffice.
Even if they dropped it, they dont weigh enough to come out of the box and the end caps woudl protect them well enough.

If you're doing enough of them, you might even be able to get a bunch of foam blocks made up in advance.

I have done it with just several layers of cardboard. Some pieces folded over - some just flat - then LOTS of tape. No damage while I was doing it. Ailerons can be a bit more difficult - especially Cessna with the "curl" on the outer third or so.

Years ago I bought a diesel Landrover Defender frame from an outfit out of LA. It left his warehouse in a kick ass wooden crate, and was delivered bent, w/out a crate. Shipping company refused to pay damages at first. Turns out it was shipped thru a bonded warehouse w/ cameras. They paid when the footage was reviewed showing the forklift driver dropping it from 6' smashing the crate, then throwing the pieces in the dumpster.

No guarantees on shipping... I'd pack em in wood and document. Price on materials and labor for crating is cost of doing biz... If the customer doesn't want to pay, it aint worth the hassle.

rjb wrote:Is it too time consuming to discuss with the buyer?

No, I do that regularly. I was just curious what the thoughts of this group were. A lot of folks on here buy a lot of stuff, I'm smart enough to know I haven't seen it all

bigrenna wrote:Price on materials and labor for crating is cost of doing biz... If the customer doesn't want to pay, it aint worth the hassle.

I agree with this to a point. I don't mind offering them the option. I can box it in cardboard and foam for X, and it will probably make it, or I can build a kickass crate for 4-5X and have twice the confidence that it will. Your call.

Pourfoam inside plastic bags. I think you can buy them pre-assembled and you just break the seal and mix it up then throw it into the crate or box. If you do this right with a little trial and error then the foam can fully encasulate the item, which is also structural. At that point, a crate is just providing puncture resistance, so might as well use a heavy double layer cardboard box. My 0.02.