Shipping Concertinas

[Woody]

Hi all,

 

I've just sold one of my Concertinas (a Jones) and I need to arrange to ship it from the UK to Australia. I'd really appreciate it if anybody could pass on their experiences of shipping Concertinas abroad, recommend which service would be best for shipping & also whether you insure the package. I also have a potential issue in that the destination is a PO Box which I believe some couriers will not deliver to. Any and all advice will be most gratefully received.

 

cheers,

 

- W

[chris]

Hi

have you asked the buyer for advice? When I worked (no longer ) i have had items shipped to my work place - maybe that would be possible?

best of luck

chris

[Chris Timson]

I can help here, since last year we sold a concertina to Chris Vonderborch in Tasmania. After a lot of checking around we ended up using DHL, who were very helpful at all stages of the transaction. Particularly useful is an application they have on their web site here which guides you through the process of completing the Customs documentation, and at the end prints it out for you. One of the reasons we used DHL was the fact that they would insure at reasonable cost, whereas the maximum insurance available from Parcelforce is quite low.

 

A very useful piece of advice came from Colin Dipper. Customs have no idea what a concertina is, but they do know about accordions, so on the paperwork say "Concertina (small accordion)".

 

Chris

[Woody]

I can help here, since last year we sold a concertina to Chris Vonderborch in Tasmania. After a lot of checking around we ended up using DHL, who were very helpful at all stages of the transaction. Particularly useful is an application they have on their web site here which guides you through the process of completing the Customs documentation, and at the end prints it out for you. One of the reasons we used DHL was the fact that they would insure at reasonable cost, whereas the maximum insurance available from Parcelforce is quite low.

 

A very useful piece of advice came from Colin Dipper. Customs have no idea what a concertina is, but they do know about accordions, so on the paperwork say "Concertina (small accordion)".

 

Chris

Thanks Chris, that's really helpful.

 

One thing I'd point out to anybody using Parcelforce with compensation cover - in their small print they say the cover only applies in the UK - so if it was damaged or lost abroad, you get nothing. If it gets damaged in transit, what do you think the chances are that they'd agree that the damage occurred in the UK?

[Theo]

If you plan to use DHL it is worth considering booking through interparcel.com

 

They act as a booking agent for several couriers, and their price for the same DHL service seems to be about half the DHL direct price.

[Marien]

As for insurance, to my opinion the best insurance is decent packing. My experience with insurance that it is difficult to claim money back when something is damaged during transport. That is where they started asking: Can you proof that is wasn't broke before it got shipped? I had this more than once with instruments shipped from US to my place. It feels like insurance is just for when a package does not arrive at all at the "signed for" destination, but I do not have any experience with that.

 

They sometimes throw with parcels during transport. So I tend to add big stickers saying "careful" "fragile" "do not throw" "musical instrument" (the latter for what it's worth). I'ld pack it such way that it cannot move within its box, and use double boxing with polystyrene foam around the edges of the inner box, to create a buffer against bumps and other threats form throwing it.

[asdormire]

Never shipped a concertina, but I have run a shipping department for a china and cookware store. Marien is correct about the best insurance being in how it is packed. If it has a good fitting case, ship it in it, and in my experience shipping crystal and china, pack your insulation around it tight. Don't use too big a box. Make sure it is well sealed. Cover up or remove any previous shipping labels. Most likely it will be fine.

 

Alan

[JimLucas]

As for insurance, to my opinion the best insurance is decent packing. My experience with insurance that it is difficult to claim money back when something is damaged during transport. That is where they started asking: Can you proof that is wasn't broke before it got shipped? I had this more than once with instruments shipped from US to my place. It feels like insurance is just for when a package does not arrive at all at the "signed for" destination, but I do not have any experience with that.

It depends on the carrier, but some carriers even give different answers at different times and quote conflicting "regulations". I don't know ParcelForce. The responses of both FedEx and UPS regarding insurance were both unacceptable. I no longer remember which was which, but one said that they wouldn't insure anything that's more than 50 years old, while the other said that they would insure the instrument, but only to a maximum of $1000... which essentially means that it's not insured against loss or major damage. Oh, except that that last one was the answer they gave on the first call. The person who answered my second call said that they wouldn't insure used musical instruments, at all.

 

DHL was the exception. They did not balk at insuring a vintage concertina (or any other class of item), nor put a limit on the insured value. There was a per-value rate for the insurance. And one very important thing is that they insisted that their agent (who came to pick it up) examine the item and the packing before the container was finally sealed, then sign off on it and take it away.

 

As for insurance, to my opinion the best insurance is decent packing. It feels like insurance is just for when a package does not arrive at all at the "signed for" destination, but I do not have any experience with that.

Nor do I, nor have I ever had to file a claim for damage. Still, loss or theft is a possibility, and good packing can't prevent it. One other thing I like about DHL is their on-line tracking system. Each shipped package gets its own tracking number, so the shipper can use an internet site to follow the progress from point to point. And if the shipper gives them the number, the intended recipient can do the same, without having to contact the shipper about it unless something goes seriously wrong.

 

They sometimes throw with parcels during transport. So I tend to add big stickers saying "careful" "fragile" "do not throw" "musical instrument" (the latter for what it's worth). I'ld pack it such way that it cannot move within its box, and use double boxing with polystyrene foam around the edges of the inner box, to create a buffer against bumps and other threats form throwing it.

That's not necessarily a help. Two anecdotes, both involving the US Postal Service, and both from years ago, but I haven't seen any fundamental changes in human behavior in that time:

1. A friend of mine used to work in the Parcel Post division of the Post Office. She said that there were actually members of the staff who would deliberately throw a parcel against the wall if it were marked "fragile" or "glass", and they were not disciplined for this behavior.
   
2. There's an annual competition among high school in the US called the Science Fair, in which students design and carry out original experiments, and these are judged in a cascading multi-tier competition. One year a student packed and mailed recording accelerometers, with some merely addressed, some labelled "fragile", some labelled "special handling", and some with both cautionary labels. When the packages arrived at their destinations, the readings on the accelerometers (registering the maximum acceleration experienced in transit) were compiled. A calibration was then done by dropping similar packages from various heights onto cement and compiling the acceleration equivalent to impact from each height. As I recall, the average acceleration recorded by parcels posted without cautionary labels was equivalent to a 3 story drop, while the average for doubly-labelled parcels was equivalent to a 10 story drop! The singly-labelled packages fell (pun acknowledged) somewhere in between. Oh, and the couple of accelerometers that were damaged so that they couldn't give readings weren't included in the compilation.
   

[Chris Timson]

My experience with DHL is the same as Jim's. A very good company to deal with. Glad I went with them.

 

Chris