Shipping TV's

[andykara2003]

Hi, I'm posting this because I want to learn more about shipping TV's from one country to another (in my case Germany to the UK) without getting them damaged.

I recently foolishly used DHL to ship a great TV from Germany & received it yesterday in 2 parts - totally broken.

I'm new to all this. Basically, my caveat is that as it's just a TV, the sellers probably won't be able to provide monitor cases or any specialist items. I would need to be very specific in telling the seller how to pack the TV. The seller for my broken TV did a fair job, but not good enough. It has to be expected that the box will be dropped at least once from a height of 2-3 feet.

I've already had a couple of suggestions from people on the forum. A great one is to wrap the TV in many layers of bubblewrap or equivalent and strap it down to a pallett. The only trouble with this is that as it's only a TV, it might be a stretch to ask the seller to get a palett and do this for me. Also, if the straps are very tight they might squeeze the top of the TV & mark/break it. A possible answer to this might be to further wrap the TV in bubble wrap but for each additional layer, pass the wrap tightly under the planks of the palett so the pressure on top of the TV is even, then tape the whole thing up.

But if the seller doesn't want to go and get a pallett, does anyone have any other reliable alternatives that make the chances of damage as low as possible but is reasonably attainable by the average seller? I can always get packaging materials sent to their house via Amazon/ebay to help them...

[cools]

Don't?

99.9999% of people selling a CRT TV are not going to be bothered palleting it. It's not worth their time.

I bought a Nanao monitor from Japan which arrived intact, but I basically wrote it off when buying it as I didn't expect it to survive the trip - I only wanted the yoke and chassis.

Collection or a specialist courier is the only way you're guaranteed safety, and that'll either be cheap or expensive depending on distance.

[andykara2003]

Don't?

99.9999% of people selling a CRT TV are not going to be bothered palleting it. It's not worth their time.

I bought a Nanao monitor from Japan which arrived intact, but I basically wrote it off when buying it as I didn't expect it to survive the trip - I only wanted the yoke and chassis.

Collection or a specialist courier is the only way you're guaranteed safety, and that'll either be cheap or expensive depending on distance.

Thanks Cools. Do you know what kind of specialist courier to look for that would be specifically suited for this? Or any specific companies?

[Xyga]

I remember paying 54€ to UPS for the delivery of a 21" Diamondtron, only about 800Km distance ... and they still messed up.

No matter how much money you put into this you never know if your parcel will arrive in good shape.
The only difference money will make is how much they will refund - if you bought insurance.

[MKL]

Don't ship it if it's bigger than 20"/21". Use a double wave carton box. Put 15-20cm soft foam sheet on the bottom of the box. Put the TV in the box face down, i.e. with the screen lying on the foam. Put more foam sheets on the sides/top. I shipped a few TVs this way (not internationally though) and they all made it safe to their destinations.

Don't they have TVs in the UK

[andykara2003]

Don't ship it if it's bigger than 20"/21". Use a double wave carton box. Put 15-20cm soft foam sheet on the bottom of the box. Put the TV in the box face down, i.e. with the screen lying on the foam. Put more foam sheets on the sides/top. I shipped a few TVs this way (not internationally though) and they all made it safe to their destinations.

Don't they have TVs in the UK

Thanks for that, that makes a lot is sense & is achievable by the average person too, if I send them the materials

It's a pain, but there are literally no 4:3 50hz Loewes in the UK as few later 100hz wide screens come up on eBay every now & then but that's it. As far as I can tell, they are only really common in Germany & Australia.....

[andykara2003]

I remember paying 54€ to UPS for the delivery of a 21" Diamondtron, only about 800Km distance ... and they still messed up.

No matter how much money you put into this you never know if your parcel will arrive in good shape.
The only difference money will make is how much they will refund - if you bought insurance.

Another good point - buy insurance! Something I stupidly forgot to do.....

[MKL]

It's a pain, but there are literally no 4:3 50hz Loewes in the UK as few later 100hz wide screens come up on eBay every now & then but that's it. As far as I can tell, they are only really common in Germany & Australia.....

I'm in Italy and find Loewes all the time at my local recycling center. I'm sure it's the same in most other European countries.

[BuckoA51]

Another good point - buy insurance! Something I stupidly forgot to do.....

Yeah but, you can insure something for hundreds and the couriers will never pay that. They demand "proof" of the value of the item, and when they see it's an old CRT they will just laugh.

[andykara2003]

It's a pain, but there are literally no 4:3 50hz Loewes in the UK as few later 100hz wide screens come up on eBay every now & then but that's it. As far as I can tell, they are only really common in Germany & Australia.....

I'm in Italy and find Loewes all the time at my local recycling center. I'm sure it's the same in most other European countries.

Ahh but I'm looking for a very narrow range of Loewes that only seem to appear on the German eBay site. I've scoured all the European sites and nothing comes up.

The ones I'm looking for are the last 4:3 63cm Loewes before 100Hz processing was introduced (E3000 chassis) - the best Loewes for 4:3 gaming. They're the Calida 5063, Planus 4063, Profil 2163, Profil 3263, Contur 1463, Contur 1263, Contur 2063 and the Loewe CT1163. They have 72/70cm equivalents but I prefer 63cm. If anyone has one of these in good condition I'll pay good money for it!

[undamned]

Don't?

Pretty much. As sad as it is to see great prices or rare models abroad, chances of getting them in hand without issues from being banged about are pretty slim.
-ud

[MKL]

It's a pain, but there are literally no 4:3 50hz Loewes in the UK as few later 100hz wide screens come up on eBay every now & then but that's it. As far as I can tell, they are only really common in Germany & Australia.....

I'm in Italy and find Loewes all the time at my local recycling center. I'm sure it's the same in most other European countries.

Ahh but I'm looking for a very narrow range of Loewes that only seem to appear on the German eBay site. I've scoured all the European sites and nothing comes up.

The ones I'm looking for are the last 4:3 63cm Loewes before 100Hz processing was introduced (E3000 chassis) - the best Loewes for 4:3 gaming. They're the Calida 5063, Planus 4063, Profil 2163, Profil 3263, Contur 1463, Contur 1263, Contur 2063 and the Loewe CT1163. They have 72/70cm equivalents but I prefer 63cm. If anyone has one of these in good condition I'll pay good money for it!

All those models are very common. Just because you can't find them isn't a good reason to think they're rare. There isn't just ebay or kijiji. There are many other local online markets you've never heard of. And people hardly ever mention makes and models in their ads. They just say "big black tv".

[andykara2003]

All those models are very common. Just because you can't find them isn't a good reason to think they're rare. There isn't just ebay or kijiji. There are many other local online markets you've never heard of. And people hardly ever mention makes and models in their ads. They just say "big black tv".

That's great to hear! In that case, I'll do some research into these markets for each of the EU countries. In Germany I already use Quoka, kalaydo.de, markt.de & ebay kleinanzeigen.de. Are there any other suggestions you can think of either specific to Italy of europe-wide apart from craigslist & gumtree?

There really is nothing in the UK though. I don't think the Loewes were popular here at that time, or weren't marketed here. I've checked all the local classifieds, & nothing apart from a few of the later widescreen models:( (Bang & Olufsen were the popular high end TV's here at the time).

[cools]

There really is nothing in the UK though.

Right, this is going to be my last post on the subject because it's doing my head in now.

I don't know of any UK source of reliable testing of local CRTs. Fudoh is in Germany, SCARTHunter is in Australia. In addition, the UK was far bigger on Japanese electronics than any other so models common elsewhere (Loewe) as you've found already are not easy to find here. Trying to track down monitors found and tested on the other side of the world, or other side of the channel even - while admirable - seems foolish. You may get lucky and ship one intact, but you've no guarantee you'll like the picture on it.

Rather than focussing on what's remote, establish a local collection distance and keep an eye out for anything that shows up that catches your eye. You'll have a far more interesting (and less expensive!) time testing them personally.

I've no idea where in the UK you are, but a brief hunt through just ebay shows up a whole bunch of TVs that I'd be keen to try out:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Top-of-range- ... 3387f1ed39
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-toshiba-cr ... 540152bfb8
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasonic-TX- ... 19e5889a11
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-21-4- ... 4179aaa96e
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Goodmans-216- ... 3387ef7933

[Lawfer]

There really is nothing in the UK though.

In terms of displays there is nothing in France, Spain, Portugal, Slovakia etc. There is nothing and the prices are high if there is and its the same all around for pretty much all the other southern and eastern countries, but there is ALOT of choices from the UK (well England for the most part), my PC monitor comes from England, my Broadcast Monitor comes from England.

There is a great deal of choices and you can get it at a low price (like that BVM-3010P monitor sold for 30 pounds).

[andykara2003]

There really is nothing in the UK though.

Right, this is going to be my last post on the subject because it's doing my head in now.

I don't know of any UK source of reliable testing of local CRTs. Fudoh is in Germany, SCARTHunter is in Australia. In addition, the UK was far bigger on Japanese electronics than any other so models common elsewhere (Loewe) as you've found already are not easy to find here. Trying to track down monitors found and tested on the other side of the world, or other side of the channel even - while admirable - seems foolish. You may get lucky and ship one intact, but you've no guarantee you'll like the picture on it.

Rather than focussing on what's remote, establish a local collection distance and keep an eye out for anything that shows up that catches your eye. You'll have a far more interesting (and less expensive!) time testing them personally.

I've no idea where in the UK you are, but a brief hunt through just ebay shows up a whole bunch of TVs that I'd be keen to try out:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Top-of-range- ... 3387f1ed39
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-toshiba-cr ... 540152bfb8
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasonic-TX- ... 19e5889a11
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOSHIBA-21-4- ... 4179aaa96e
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Goodmans-216- ... 3387ef7933

Honestly thanks a lot for your time Cools - I think maybe you're right, at least I can test them here. I was really looking for a top of the line TV but I havent tested Toshiba & Panasonic yet - but they are middle of the road in quality. Definitely worth a try anyway, as you say. Goodmans were terrible though.

BTW I've been searching non-Germany local classifieds & haven't come up with one 4:3 Loewe TV yet. There are loads in Germany though. I'll be amazed if anyone found one of the Loewe models I mentioned above in any european country apart from Germany. I really have put a lot of hours into trying though.

[andykara2003]

There really is nothing in the UK though.

In terms of displays there is nothing in France, Spain, Portugal etc. There is nothing and the prices are high if there is and its the same all around for pretty much all the other southern and eastern countries, but there is ALOT of choices from the UK (well England for the most part), my PC monitor comes from England, my Broadcast Monitor comes from England.

There is a great deal of choices and you can get it at a low price (like that BVM-3010P monitor sold for 30 pounds).

Thanks for that Lawfer but I'm not looking for monitors, just TV's (25 inch). I had a 25 inch PVM & didn't like it's overly dark scanlined & barrel-like screen. The smaller ones look better but I don't want to go down to a 20/21 inch. That BVM looked amazing but it's 16:9

[Lawfer]

Thanks for that Lawfer but I'm not looking for monitors, just TV's (25 inch). I had a 25 inch PVM & didn't like it's overly dark scanlined & barrel-like screen. The smaller ones look better but I don't want to go down to a 20/21 inch. That BVM looked amazing but it's 16:9

Yes I know, I used it as an example.

[andykara2003]

Thanks for that Lawfer but I'm not looking for monitors, just TV's (25 inch). I had a 25 inch PVM & didn't like it's overly dark scanlined & barrel-like screen. The smaller ones look better but I don't want to go down to a 20/21 inch. That BVM looked amazing but it's 16:9

Yes I know, I used it as an example.

Sure. I'd love to find a high end shadow mask tv here though. Thats the thing I'm really after as they have less pronounced scanlines. My only choice in this category over 21 inch is the 29" B&O mx6000/mx7000 which are easily available here. The only trouble is that have something they call 'grey glass' over the screen which makes the tv look stylish but dulls the image.

[Lawfer]

Thanks for that Lawfer but I'm not looking for monitors, just TV's (25 inch). I had a 25 inch PVM & didn't like it's overly dark scanlined & barrel-like screen. The smaller ones look better but I don't want to go down to a 20/21 inch. That BVM looked amazing but it's 16:9

Yes I know, I used it as an example.

Sure. I'd love to find a high end shadow mask tv here though. Thats the thing I'm really after as they have less pronounced scanlines. My only choice in this category over 21 inch is the 29" B&O mx6000/mx7000 which are easily available here. The only trouble is that have something they call 'grey glass' over the screen which makes the tv look stylish but dulls the image.

In what town are you?

[andykara2003]

In what town are you?

Solihull, near birmingham

[Lawfer]

In what town are you?

Solihull, near birmingham

Get in contact with this seller and ask him if he has any left, if he does drive to Preston and pick that up:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281179732900/

Test it at the seller place before buying.

[andykara2003]

In what town are you?

Solihull, near birmingham

Get in contact with this seller and ask him if he has any left, if he does drive to Preston and pick that up:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281179732900/

Test it at the seller place before buying.

Thanks I think you've got it! I think I'm right in saying that these hantarex monitors have mellower scanlines? I seem to remember that they are dot triad or chromaclear or something....

[Lawfer]

Thanks I think you've got it! I think I'm right in saying that these hantarex monitors have mellower scanlines? I seem to remember that they are dot triad or chromaclear or something....

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/8918/dscf6964.jpg

Ask this guy also, thats what he has:

http://shmups.system11.org/memberlist.p ... ile&u=9142

[andykara2003]

Thanks I think you've got it! I think I'm right in saying that these hantarex monitors have mellower scanlines? I seem to remember that they are dot triad or chromaclear or something....

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/8918/dscf6964.jpg

Ask this guy also, thats what he has:

http://shmups.system11.org/memberlist.p ... ile&u=9142

Thanks - am I right in saying this is 15khz material? if so, it doesn't look like they're any scanlines at all!! This would be my perfect monitor if that was the case..... Or is that because the image is a touch blurry?

[Lawfer]

Thanks I think you've got it! I think I'm right in saying that these hantarex monitors have mellower scanlines? I seem to remember that they are dot triad or chromaclear or something....

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/8918/dscf6964.jpg

Ask this guy also, thats what he has:

http://shmups.system11.org/memberlist.p ... ile&u=9142

Thanks - am I right in saying this is 15khz material? if so, it doesn't look like they're any scanlines at all!! This would be my perfect monitor if that was the case..... Or is that because the image is a touch blurry?

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 0&start=30

PM this guy:

http://shmups.system11.org/memberlist.p ... ile&u=9142

He is the one who took the picture and who has the monitor.

[andykara2003]

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 0&start=30

PM this guy:

http://shmups.system11.org/memberlist.p ... ile&u=9142

He is the one who took the picture and who has the monitor.

Thanks again Lawfer, your help is extremely appreciated

[Lawfer]

hanks again Lawfer, your help is extremely appreciated

Wait, go to this guy house and test the monitor to see if you like it:

http://www.distance-calculator.co.uk/di ... lihull.htm

andykara2003 Solihull

lettuce Bedfordshire

[andykara2003]

hanks again Lawfer, your help is extremely appreciated

Wait, go to this guy house and test the monitor to see if you like it:

http://www.distance-calculator.co.uk/di ... lihull.htm

andykara2003 Solihull

lettuce Bedfordshire

Sure will do - I'll give him a PM