Packaging Guitars for Sale

[Dessery]

Hi All

I was hoping someone might be able to give me some advice. I am looking to sell one of my guitars but the problem I always face is how to package it securely!! In the past I have always held on to boxes from when I have bought guitars for when I sell on again but clearly I have not been buying enough guitars of late because I have run out!!!

I know a lot of people on here are regularly selling stuff, what do you do? Is there somewhere I can buy good sized boxes from? what do you use to pad them out?

I do have one of the Pack and Send places nearby that I could use but I am sure I will pay a huge premium with them.

Many thanks for any advice you can give.
All the best
David

[bod]

Hi David,

Some guitar shops will give spare boxes that guitars ship to them in away for free - Nevada Music near me does for sure. One thing to note, though, is that if they are shipping guitars out to customers they use bigger, stronger boxes than the ones that they give away. They will also supply such boxes but charge £5 for doing so, other guitar stores may do similar. Likewise, you might be able to get surplus packing from incoming stock for free from a local business, who would only bin it otherwise... If not, you can buy it online or from Argos (etc), but remember to budget for it in your p&p... I found the page at the end of this link quite helpful: www.ebay.com/gds/Guitar-Packing-De-Mystified-/10000000000760588/g.html Another piece of advice I got from somewhere, is to take a photo of the undamaged guitar / case etc., along with the packaging before you start and a couple more along the way of the packing process, in case of any disputes over damage and related claims about adequacy of packing.

Hope that helps.  

[Deleted]

For boxes for full sized guitars, either ask at your local music shop or rifle thru their waste cardboard skip...that's what I do! The best boxes are the ones Taylor guitar come in, as they have a neat suspension system in the ends of the box...a card insert with a taut plastic film stretched across them acting as isolating shock absorbers at top and bottom of the carton. If you are not sending it in a case, alway double box it. If you are shipping a decent number of guitars, you can get custom boxes made for you (in multiples of 25 by the company in Yorkshire that I use) at a pretty reasonable cost, which is what I do for my cigar box guitars and kits.

[pete1951]

The best (cheap) boxes I`ve ever got were from Busker/Messer guitars. The guitar , in a case or c/board `coffin` , was put in a square card/b. box with a handle on the top. When given a handle ,most people will use it, so the box is not dropped or tossed around in the post. I think the handle is almost as important as bubble wrap!
PT

[Dessery]

Fantastic, thanks for your advise guys!!! Might give a couple of the local shops a call and see if they have any spares!!!!

That's a really useful link to eBay too, thanks Bod!!

Many many thanks
David

[washboardchris]

Hi, you can usually get strong Boxes from your local bike shop, very thick cardboard & can be cut down to fit a guitar.They seem only to glad to be rid of them.