How to box and ship seats

[Unobtanium-inc]

This topic comes up fairly often and I was packing up some seats today to go to Australia and thought it would help everyone to document the process.

1. Go to Home Depot, Lowes, or U-Haul and buy a Wardrobe Box
2. Put the first seat in right side up
3. Put the second seat in upside down. This works well because the only parts of the seats that are touching are the soft, cushy parts.
4. Tape up the box

I've done this probably 100 times, never had a damaged seat.

---Adam

[Racerbvd]

Yes Sir, been shipped that way for years.

[Matt Monson]

Late model seats won’t fit. I had to buy custom oversized boxes recently to ship some 996 RSR hardbacks. Plus with the hardbacks they need to be protected so you don’t scratch them up.

[MichaelB]

I bought a set of seats that were auctioned on P-Car market. I asked the seller (before bidding) if he was capable of shipping them. He said yes. Then (after winning them) the wanker who was selling them said that he had no boxes, and would not provide any. When I questioned how he thought he was going to get them to me (the buyer) he told me to come get them (in NY, about 1000 miles away). Now the story gets better...

So I let him know that driving to get them was not going to be a good option and asked again why he said that he would assist in shipping. He says "P-Car market made me state that I would assist with shipping or they would not accept the auction" So again I asked what he could do. And again he said that he had no ideas. He even said that I had to have my own UPS account as he was not going to provide any help with that either.

So I jokingly said "well I have two Recaro boxes sent from Germany here, what do I need to do? Ship the empty boxes to you with my own labels" He replied "Yes, ship the empty boxes with labels"

So... I broke them down & shipped him two Recaro boxes (with extra cardboard to strengthen the boxes once reassembled). I also asked if I needed to send a friggen roll of packing tape...

Anyhow he got the boxes, assembled them with my instruction, then wrote me some bazaar cryptic email (that was hilariously mental) about how he was butt-hurt & all from my simple instructions (after he made me the buyer jump through hoops). This after he got more than double what he had set the reserve for. You would have thought he would have been overjoyed to help. But he was simply not. He was also connected to some aftermarket Rover truck company so you would have thought he would have access to boxes, but no. Capital Wank.

Anyhow they did ship (at the cost of $700 for two boxes insured UPS) and I got my German Recaro boxes back (that only cost me $175 to ship when originally shipped from overseas).

Wardrobe boxes... Who would have thought it was that easy?

[snbush67]

I recently sold some early SC sport seats, took about 4 hours to take the seats apart, pack and ship. It was much more work and time than I had anticipated. I bubble and shrink wrapped each section in separate boxes. The buyer appreciated my efforts and thanked me. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have just held out for a local sale.

[Racerbvd]

Another trick I use is to go to a bike shop that is a Cannondale dealer, as the boxes used for some of the MBT are wider and the cardboard is heavier duty, so you recline the seat until flat, bubble wrap and drop in the box and add foam peanuts and you are good to go.

[Unobtanium-inc]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

Another trick I use is to go to a bike shop that is a Cannondale dealer, as the boxes used for some of the MBT are wider and the cardboard is heavier duty, so you recline the seat until flat, bubble wrap and drop in the box and add foam peanuts and you are good to go.

Bike boxes also work very well for doors, double walled, usually stapled and glued together and usually FREE!

---Adam

[Matt Monson]

I have used bikes boxes for sheet metal and once even shipped a windshield. It actually worked.

[jcvass]

The best and safest way inmop to ship seats is simply take them apart . If you dont want to do that then your better off putting in the wardrobe Home Depo box and strap to a skid . To simply ship without disassembly in a wardrobe box thru UPS or Fedex is not a great idea . We sent a set of Sport seats to Washington State several years ago and somehow UPS lost . Fortunately we insured . My 2 cents

[Unobtanium-inc]

Originally Posted by jcvass

The best and safest way inmop to ship seats is simply take them apart . If you dont want to do that then your better off putting in the wardrobe Home Depo box and strap to a skid . To simply ship without disassembly in a wardrobe box thru UPS or Fedex is not a great idea . We sent a set of Sport seats to Washington State several years ago and somehow UPS lost . Fortunately we insured . My 2 cents

You have a far greater chance of damage shipping them LTL freight strapped to a skid then through the UPS system with a bunch of smaller boxes. LTL trucking is a meatgrinder and insurance is pennies on the dollar.
Like I said I've probably done the wardrobe box 100 times, never had an issue, just happy customers, that didn't have to re-assemble their seats upon arrival. A lot of these guys don't know which end of the screwdriver to use.

---Adam

[Otter74]

I bought a pair of Recaro LXes a couple of years ago from someone on the forum. They were shipped to me fully assembled, one upside down on top of the other, in a single oversize wardrobe box, via Greyhound bus. Arrived to me with no damage or issues.