Because you have seen the threads of horror with the ham fisted f tards

Its like anything else sh*t happens but for the most part you will worry for nothing… as long as the shipper preps it nicely it will make it safely 98% of the time.

Conversely, is there any reason that I as a seller wouldn't want to ship? I'm selling a pin right now and have had a few people ask me if I'd ship. Why wouldn't I? Doesn't the buyer assume all the risk of damage? Not sure I understand why some sellers don't want to ship. What am I missing?

I would never expect the buyer to be responsible for shipping damage? (Unless they choose the shipper and set everything up) If you bought something from Amazon and it was damaged during shipping would you think you should take the loss?

Whenever I sold something either on a Forum like this or Ebay I always thought safe delivery was my responsibility and if the person paid by PayPal, PayPal thought so too

If someone pays you with a check that clears or a bank transfer then I am not sure there is much they can do if the item was damaged and not insured but I would still think the shipper is responsible for safe packaging.

And the other 2% of the time R&L will dump your Jackbot off the pallet it was strapped to.... =P

Hmm... I do a lot of buying and selling expensive Swiss watches, and in that case the buyer is always responsible for paying for insurance on the watch and if it gets damaged in shipping, the buyer is the one to file a claim with the shipper, etc. I guess I figured it was the same with pins. I don't see how I as the seller can file a claim since it's no longer my machine (having been paid for by paypal or bank wire) and I am not able to take pictures of the damage, etc. Doesn't make sense to me.

Like I said, sh*t happens but I wouldn't be afraid to ship or have a pin shipped. Driving to work everyday is much, much riskier

I'm having a game shipped to me from Germany. How do you think I feel?

If the buyer paid with normal PayPal and not a gift then they can dispute the transaction if the item is lost or damaged on route. PayPal will always side with the buyer on this as does EBay.

Many before have tried...Oshkosh Ron, Dennis Dodel, Eric's, Jackrabbit. None could make it worthwhile.

Maybe Ned Ledod will chime in about what a PITA Dodel's Special Delivery was.

The going rate is greater than double of what you mentioned.

I have had many shipped and I have only had two issues, Leg twisted but nothing bad. Knock on wood.

At least if it is NIB there are replacement parts available. Sucks when a rare game gets a backglass shattered and there are no original replacements.

LTL shippers are universally garbage...so much can happen with a palletized load that I feel moving it legs-on with Michelle's outfit is the least risky and requires the least dependence on seller prep. I've done about a dozen games this way and never had more than a broken shooter rod. Not saying others haven't had worse, just my experience. It takes a lot of work to properly prep a palletized load and not everyone does it right, and even then you're counting on the shipper to not stack it, which they will almost always try to do anyway. Had a good experience shipping palletized to local terminal with Pilot Air, as well. You have to go get it, but it takes some of the handling at depots out of the equation.

I am the exact same way. Have not gone through with a few awesome deals because I am gun shy about shipping.

If someone has a bad incident, they post it on here and it stays in people's minds. Very few people post if they received a flawless shipment even though I'm sure that there are more times that a pin arrives with no problems then if something goes horribly wrong. I have had 4 machines shipped and shipped two others with no problems whatsoever.

It's an expensive, heavy, fragile item. You would be crazy not to have a few reservations.

Even if the buyer is paying you via a bank wire and there's no intermediary, you still have some amount of reputation risk on the line. Someone finds a blemish that isn't clearly called out in your description or photos and assumes you've defrauded them. Vibration due to shipping causes some connectors to come loose or whatever. Pins are complex devices and if the person you're selling to can't deal with any issues or find someone that can, you've got a pissed off customer.

I'd be fine with shipping once the funds have cleared, but I require that the buyer arrange shipping. I take a video of game play and condition immediately before pickup and also provide photos of anything I think could remotely negatively influence a buyer's opinion of condition. It's either that or require that people come check it out and then cash & carry.

_{Post edited by swf127 : Fixed spellin' errors and whatnot.}

I have had one shipped across the country, another from down south and no problems at all.

When I sell a game to be shipped, I expect payment via bank transfer ( no Paypal ) and buyer dispatches the shipper. I expect someone like NAVL that comes , packs, and takes the machine. The buyer pays for and is fully responsible for the shipping and its insurance. I do not ship. I do allow for buyer to arrange a pick up via a shipping company.

i have only had one pin shipped but it went smoothly i called naval i expected it to be about $300 it was $437 from SC to phila, pa. It was delivered to my garage door with legs on blanket wraped. Two young men carried it from the street to my garage. I tiped them each $20. The only down side was some things that seller did not disclose ( nothing beats hands on) but i was still happy with overall purchase and had no shipping issues.

i've got a game being shipped to me as we speak. my first time. we'll see how it goes!

All said and done, I've had (Wait, didn't I squelch you? lol...) the following shipped to me:

Tron NIB (pallet)
AC/DC Premium NIB (pallet)
Future Spa (On legs)
Paragon (on legs)
Jackbot (pallet)

Jackbot was the only one that got damaged, at all, but man they *really* F'ed it up. I have a resolution I'm happy with, but it's been 3 months of stress getting it sorted out, both for me and the seller. The pallet was completely destroyed and they put it on another one that was broken as well.

So you are saying you get in an accident 2% of the time when you drive to work?

I've sold and bought a lot of pins and used NAVL for years.

Most important is buy from someone that You can get references on from pinside as to quality of their pins

I ALWAYS tip the NAVL drivers $20 when they pick up from me. Now the same drivers always show up and wrap the crap out of pins I sell.

When I buy and use NAVL I always send an extra $20 so seller will tip the driver on my pin being picked up.

And always specify with Michele at NAVL that you want extra insurance and want your machine double blanket wrapped.

Most will tell You not to get extra insurance but I always do it. That little extra you pay sends out a lot of signals to everyone You want your machine to stay nice during shipping. And if you have a claim it's a lot easier! I assume they still do the extra insurance as it's been a while since I bought a pin that wasn't NIB.

I always take pics of the pin after being wrapped up. The drivers see this which is very important because I know some drivers want some of those blankets back and have unwrapped mine when they got back to warehouse and re-wrapped with less blankets(I put markings on the blankets after it's wrapped). I send those pics to buyer when truck leaves.

No I mean driving to work could kill you… shipping a game not so much.

Bottom line: Don't let the fear of shipping detour you from getting a pin you really want… Chances are slim something bad will happen. And definitely not life or death.

When I lived in Florida I had a game shipped from NJ - no problem. Now I'm in Colorado - had 2 games shipped from NY - no problem - next week having 3 games shipped from Va - minimum fear - just do it

I think some of the apprehension would come from buying a pin sight unseen AND then having it shipped. Ive never bought a pin in this scenario, but i would have a hard time. On top of that youd have to give payment up front. If there is some damage there is no way to tell of its from shipping of if it was preexisting. So i can understand you reluctance.

We should try each others games out. You know, just for a second opinion that they are working correctly.

You mostly only hear of the bad shipping stories. The good ones far out number the bad ones.

I've had probably 20 pins shipped by NAVL over the course of my time in the hobby. Only damage was a Paragon that had one of it's legs severely bent. (They clearly dropped it). Luckily, replacement legs are pretty cheap.

Don Bosworth, pinballs on the move, picks up and delivers pins and other arcade equipment. I had a CSI shipped from Maryland to SC with no damage/problems. http://pinballsonthemove.com/