Navl is best and will ship collect. great care. they'll set it up, or wrap it in plastic for you when they pick it up. They cover 1500 ins, but you can buy more. They strap it to the side of their delivery truck. They're also the most expensive.

Avoid it unless it is with someone you know very well, then still forget it.

How we do it:

First of all, we're a company that has been around for 70 years. Don't buy from a company or person with nothing to lose if they scam you. I try very hard to keep a good reputation online, and so should anyone selling pins. If you see bad feedback about someone or some place, don't buy from them! Make sure you have seen plenty of pictures and footage before you pay, so there are no suprises. A good seller should be willing to jump through hoops for you.

We take payment through credit card, paypal, check, and so forth. Credit card is nice because if something goes wrong, you can dispute the charge. Paypal is OK, but has been known to do insane things on both the buyer and seller side.

Once the machine is paid for, we ship it out. If you are uncomfortable with this, you should use an escrow company. The problem is, they are not experts, and will not be able to evaluate if the machine is in the condition described. So you really have to have a trustworthy seller.

I have to agree. I want to be able to go over a pin from top to bottom before I buy it and don't like not knowing if and how bad it could be damaged during the shipping process. But to each their own, I know how frustrating it can be when you can't find the one you want locally.

Aren't pins shipped all over the place from the original manufacturer's? Why so scary? What company did they use to ship across the country?

trouble is sometimes determining if trouble was from shipper or was there before shipping... switches not working, etc...

Like others above have said TRY not to play the shipping game.
Deal with people face to face and with cash

I have shipped one pin and the transaction was smooth. As noted here, it is risky regardless of seller and shipper....

FWIW, I packed the pin on a skid, on it's butt/rear just like the manufacturer would. I shrink wrapped it, wrapped it with carpet padding, then a layer of rigid cardboard, then shrink wrapped it again with the legs across the head horizontal to the pin. I used CEVA as the shipper, I had to drop at the terminal so it was actually banded to the skid at the depot, I stood there and watched them as they did it. CEVA had awesome rates, it was $190.00 total.

Also, most shippers will not insure the pin because it is not a "new" item. Even if they do and it get's damaged, they will probably not cover it anyways for the same reason, it is not a new item and the value is subjective, so I did not get any insurance. It arrived perfectly, delivered to the door(garage), not in the house. Again, no matter how you do it you are taking a risk, period. I do it only if I have to and that has only been once. Hope this helps you, good luck!!

Sometimes there is no choice but to ship a game and I tend not to worry about it. I usually make sure I work with someone I know. I have shipped and set up shipping of many pins. The key is to make sure it is well packed and banded on the skid (usually oversize so it doesn't hang off if shipping flat). I use several freight companies depending on where it is going or where I am picking it up from. Recently I got a Demo Man with the help of BR, Jack had it banded, wrapped on a oversize skid, UPS freight picked up and a lift gate for delivery here. I have had no issues getting insurance on them depending on the shipper is will be built in on the quote once you give them a value Of course I have not had to use it knock on wood.

When we got our Rolling Stones from Stern, it was actually a little scratched up from shipping. Nothing horrible, and it will get much worse on the route, but there were some noticable marks. So even the manufacturers don't always ship things perfectly.

What company is that? (Didn't see anything on your Pinside page.)

You have to remember that shippers are also moving hundreds of other pallets of industrial goods along with yours.

All of these other pallets are NOT fragile.

If you game is just wrapped in stretch wrap and cardboard, it will be damaged by other pallets and the machines that move them (like a forklift). Don't picture two guys with white gloves carrying your machine around, picture Buba and his pals hustling 20 pallets off of a Semi in 10 minutes...

If you want the game delivered undamaged, you need a wooden crate built around it. Crating keeps the game from being damaged 99% of the time (obviously a drunken HiLo driver could still conceivably run his forks through a plywood crate).

Don't just roll your eyes, if it really needs to arrive undamaged, it needs to be crated.

Ive used a private shipper with great success a couple of times. Fingersport is who I use. He runs between Fl. and VA allot. Not sure where your located but he does a great job at a great price. Ive used a commercial service twice and so far with good results. Once from an E-bay purchase and once another pinhead hooked me up with his freight line that he worked for. Thus far Ive been lucky I guess. No damages so far but wow are there some horror stories out there. I usually try to buy only from respected members on these forums. If I havent seen your name around for a while, I just dont deal with you if its a long distance deal. I obviously prefer to inspect the machine, but thats not an option at times if its a title that I have been envying for a bit and one pops up hundreds of miles from me. I always pay up front, but then again, its from a respectable member that we have had correspondence and tons of pics. I also wouldnt dream of letting a pin of mine out the door before I had money in hand. So, its a trust bond that both parties would have to enter into. Good luck. Its a stressful decision and hard to send out large sums of money before hand but unfortunately, a gamble that you'll have to take to make the purchase.

easy to say, but now when you're in the boonies of an outback state. Majority of my pins had to be shipped. I'd still be a pinless pinhead if I could only do cash personal transactions.