Posting valuable pottery item

rose_sparky

I have a pottery ornament item listed which looks as though it may reach £100 plus. :T :T

I need to cover myself (and the buyer) should the item get damaged in the post. I understood that RM doesn't insure pottery or glass, is that correct?

How do others, who sell fragile items, get over this?

Advice gratefully received.

black-saturn

Go to the local shoe shop and ask for an empty shoe box. Wrap the item well in bubble wrap and pad out any gaps inside the box with newspaper. It needs to be packed in so tight that it won't move inside when you move the box. Cover the whole box with fragile stickers (even though I'm convinced it makes no difference). Then send it by special delivery.

Speculator

My advice is to wrap the item with lots of Bubble wrap, then place it in the centre of a large box filled with polystyrene chips.

rose_sparky

If the worst does happen, despite being very well packed, will Special Delivery cover breakages?

frivolous_fay

I heard Fragile stickers were 'please play football with me' signs

martindow

Good advice on packing parcels (from previous posts on this board) is that when you have it packed you would be happy to drop it onto a concrete floor. I would second Speculator's suggestion of using one box within another. Personally I would not be happy using something like a shoe box that is not very strong.

As far as compensation is concerned, I imagine the PO would say that a breakage in transit shows it was not adequately packed and would not pay out.

JohalaReewi

rose_sparky wrote:

If the worst does happen, despite being very well packed, will Special Delivery cover breakages?

No.
Royal Mail specifically exclude ceramics and glass from the breakages cover.
You will only get lost in transit cover.

It's a bit of a chore to find but it is all in the T&Cs.

ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/Inland_Parcel_Post_Scheme_2001_(master).pdf

Look for Part 7 on page 16 and schedule 4 on page 23.

rose_sparky

Blimey, they don't make it easy do they.

I've had a message from someone wanting to bid who has asked me to confirm it would be sent via Special Delivery. I told her I was still trying to find out about compensation for ceramics and she has replied that she's personally spoken to RM who's told her it is.

<< toddles off in total confusion >>

rose_sparky

Can someone who sells ceramics please tell me how they post their items please.

Thanks for the advice re packing but I also need to know the best way to send in case of breakages/compensation.

pianeet

i have sold quite a lot of china on ebay but on the three ocasions things have got broken royal mail refused to pay compensation,despite being sent special delivery,after the first figure was broken i was really carefull including,bubble-wrap,polystyrene chips and a box but they came back with the same excuse every time that the item was not properly wrapped,and there descision is final,

the only time they pay is when an item is under £50 because they will pay on photo evidence without seeing the actual item.

the best thing to do is wrap it up as much as you can and hope for the best

martindow

I send out crystal bowls and wooden carvings quite regularly. I wrap them in bubble wrap so they fit tightly in a cardboard box. If you are sending fragile items with an uneven shape you need to take particular care with projecting pieces so that they don't get damaged in transit or when being unwrapped. The hands on statues for instance are often very vulnerable. I use cotton wool or tubes of card to give extra protection here. If you are sending several pieces together each needs to be well wrapped and then they should be firmly taped to each other. Loose things will spend their journey banging against each other so it is important that they should not be able to move.

This box then goes inside another larger box with polystyrene loose fill between the two. Things like this need to be very well packed. There is expense, trouble and extra weight involved but it is cheaper than having them break along the way. When you hear anecdotes about the treatment parcels receive in sorting offices and see them being thrown about in vans you cannot rely on people's good nature and fragile tape stuck on the box.

As has been said by other posters most carriers will not pay out for breakages but most will cover you if they totally lose the parcel.