Mail Order Packaging

How well do most retailers pack their Nikon gear?

 

My memories are of large piles of styrofoam packing peanuts. Environmentally

unsound but reassuring for delicate (or maybe not so delicate) optical

equipment. But two recent orders from the large internet retailer whose name

begins with A pretty much had the product in a Nikon box thrown into a larger

plain brown mailing package. The air-fill cushioning was tossed only on one

side which of course leaves the camera and lens basically protected only by

Nikon's packaging.

 

My D300 works fine with nice sharp focusing. And I don't think the 85mm

mentioned in the previous posting was damaged by shipping either.

 

Does anyone from the retail mail order business know if the Nikon packaging is

suitable for shipping or is it just careless packing by the shipper?<div></div>

I think Nikon's own packaging is sturdy enough for normal handling. As long as there is no

dropping of the package from a few feet.

 

I've complained to Amazon a couple of times about their packaging especially of high-priced

items like these, but all I get are apologies.

From my experience, B&H and Adorama do a much better job than the photo above. Amazon

is really and group of sellers and they a little hard to hold accountable. I purchase my new

Nikons from the two sellers above.

Cheers

To think that packages aren't regularly dropped, thrown and kicked around by the shipping companies is delusional, esp during the frantic X-mas season. A sound box and ample padding to suspend the item is critical. I regularly watch the driver of a big brown truck toss packages onto the floor/steps of his truck, some rolling out onto the cement. Nikon Service is very good about their packaging but on two occasions it was no match for Brown; it looked as though a linebacker put his foot through the box and then emptied 2/3 of the foam peanuts. The result was a time-saver: I didn't have to bother with opening the box...I merely reached through the enormous hole and pulled out the F100. UPS's local Customer Service amounted to spit in the eye. Moral: upon receipt thoroughly test all funtions.

Looks like someone took the phrase "drop shipping" a bit too literally: drop it in the box and ship.

 

Nikon equipment is packaged to standards that would be fine for careful handling (which means *not* by UPS or FedEx). If shipping via USPS Priority Mail I'd feel comfortable simply slipping the original Nikon box into a Priority Mail box (heck, they're free and good quality) with only enough padding to keep the inner contents from slipping around. USPS won't insure Priority Mail packages that rattle or slip around.

 

But I like to pack things more carefully.

 

The outer shipping boxes I've received from B&H (camera equipment, darkroom supplies, etc.) were of good quality - not particularly heavy but not flimsy either. (The heavier boxes I use for larger stuff tends to cost a fortune to ship.) The packing was excellent, tho' - plenty of padding materials. If I'm recalling correctly B&H typically uses air filled packing, either air pillows or bubble wrap, not styrofoam peanuts.

 

I always pack for the worst case scenario, as if my packages would be handled by UPS or FedEx (which I never use unless there's no other choice). Even then there's no guarantee they won't screw it up. The last time I used UPS - which was the *last* time I used UPS - they were ripping open every single package of every customer, "inspecting" the contents (i.e., snooping around), and repacking the boxes sloppily. Never again. Fortunately most sellers I've purchased from who use UPS or FedEx know how unreliable they are and package appropriately.

 

I use USPS, typically Priority Mail, but international parcel post has been fine. Never lost a package, never had one damaged, either as a sender or recipient.

www.skgrimes.com has some good advice For packing Lens/cameras Ect. a Lot of

shippers must be trying to save Money But packages are tossed around in loading and

unloading. The name of the game in shipping industry is move the packages fast or you are

jobless, so you do not carry them one at a time unless they are to heavy to throw then they

might get dropped instead.