Peter_Suciu
Well-known member
Well, not much to say as I'm sure we've all been there, but this week showed the right way and the wrong way to ship a helmet internationally.
I collect sun helmets, so these things are a bit more fragile than steel helmets.
I bought a rare Japanese waterproof sun helmet. It has a raincoat-like material instead of canvas. Actually I've only seen three others of these. In fact, I owned one at SOS this year but put it on the table with an outrageous price and my wife sold it! I was actually surprised but for the money to flip it in an hour I didn't mind.
In July I found one on eBay that was a little more worn but was a great price. So far so good. The seller took three weeks to ship because he went on vacation. WHY does anyone have auctions end during or just before vacation?
Anyway, the helmet arrived in America on August 21 and sat in customs and then sat some more. No idea why, but it happened. So finally on Friday the helmet arrived. The box was crushed.
This is a soft, non-rigid helmet and the seller basically put in zero bubble wrap, no padding and had it in a single box. Needless to say I'm extremely upset. The helmet was slightly damaged. I was able to reshape it but 60 year old waterproof fabric tends to crack and chip. So the helmet lost some value. I don't know if I'll get a partial refund or what. Very annyoying.
I let it go and on Saturday received a colonial pattern New Zealand sun helmet. This has a badge for the colonial police but is the same pattern worn by the NZ Militia. Either way a rare helmet.
This shipper wrapped the whole helmet in bubble wrap, put bubble wrap inside the helmet as well, and then had newspaper to held fill out the box. A sturdy box was used and then covered in paper wrap and tape to provide extra protection!
So not much else to say except why are some sellers so lazy/stupid? Neither helmet needed the full on treatment but it is amazing how much a little effort goes.
I collect sun helmets, so these things are a bit more fragile than steel helmets.
I bought a rare Japanese waterproof sun helmet. It has a raincoat-like material instead of canvas. Actually I've only seen three others of these. In fact, I owned one at SOS this year but put it on the table with an outrageous price and my wife sold it! I was actually surprised but for the money to flip it in an hour I didn't mind.
In July I found one on eBay that was a little more worn but was a great price. So far so good. The seller took three weeks to ship because he went on vacation. WHY does anyone have auctions end during or just before vacation?
Anyway, the helmet arrived in America on August 21 and sat in customs and then sat some more. No idea why, but it happened. So finally on Friday the helmet arrived. The box was crushed.
This is a soft, non-rigid helmet and the seller basically put in zero bubble wrap, no padding and had it in a single box. Needless to say I'm extremely upset. The helmet was slightly damaged. I was able to reshape it but 60 year old waterproof fabric tends to crack and chip. So the helmet lost some value. I don't know if I'll get a partial refund or what. Very annyoying.
I let it go and on Saturday received a colonial pattern New Zealand sun helmet. This has a badge for the colonial police but is the same pattern worn by the NZ Militia. Either way a rare helmet.
This shipper wrapped the whole helmet in bubble wrap, put bubble wrap inside the helmet as well, and then had newspaper to held fill out the box. A sturdy box was used and then covered in paper wrap and tape to provide extra protection!
So not much else to say except why are some sellers so lazy/stupid? Neither helmet needed the full on treatment but it is amazing how much a little effort goes.
