Gary Don Auctioneers Packaging SUCKS!

If anyone does consider buy remotely from Gary Don Auctioneers and getting them to pack & post your items, you might want to think again!

They seem to think that so long as they can squeeze your item into a box, that is good enough.
As you'll see from the photo's below, they sent me a Leaper Bull in a box that was  NO LONGER than the figure and a tad shorter in height
I've removed the packaging for the pic's, but the box actually bulged at the top.

Obviously this turned up broken!!

Now I must be fair. When I contacted them about this, they offered a refund, without any fuss! Which they did the following day.
But I'd still rather have had the Bull unbroken.

They say that the Bull was well packed and that the box didn't bulge - but how could it not, if anything was wrapped around this figure - there was a little bubble wrap and paper.
There were even small dents on the inside end of the box, which look to have been made by the horns poking into the cardboard. But no damage to the outside of the box.

Now the synic in me, wonders whether they actually broke this before or during packing and put it in a tiny box, hoping the post would totally smash it?
I don't know how it got away with just a broken horn.





To those who know about restoration.
AS I have the bits, would I be better using 'superglue' or a regular PVA to glue the bits back on?
Which is easier to remove if a proper restoration is wanted in the future?

As a dealer in ceramics, I always double box, and if anyone doesn't then they are not fit to be offering that service. I also do not charge for packing, just the postage at cost.

The auction houses that offer in an in house postal service tend to have disclaimers about what they will send. I am surprised that they actually agreed to send ceramics. As Studio and Naomi said, it needs Double boxing and a great deal of Bubble wrap. That takes both time and money, and is generally expensive for the sender
Auctioneers normally refer you to specialist packers. Their costs reflect that Time, and is generally VERY expensive. But are by far the safer bet.probably a safer bet.

I agree double boxing is by far the best. But it is still possible to pack ceramics safely, so long as the box is large enough.
I've had very good 'in house' packaging of ceramics from other Auction houses.
Wingetts Auctioneers - fantastic (double boxed), more or less at cost, maybe a few quid added?
Bowler and Binnie - Good, single box, but plenty of padding - only £6 +vat added to postage cost.
Clarks Auction Rooms - Very Good. Sent me a large Celtic pottery dish, single boxed, but well packed/protected. Under £10 added for their time/materials
And there have been other 'in house' packing which have arrived safely and cheaply.

Even Pilgrims Hospices (Canterbury) off ebay, have just sent me an incredibly well packed item Double boxed.
Even though the actual boxes were quite flimsy on their own, the good padding and double boxing was MORE than adequate.
The cat was wrapped in thick brown paper, then bubble wrap and extra padding inside the first box. With more paper and poly chips in outer box. You can see in these photo's - the cat can sit in just the corner of the outer box. I couldn't believe the size of the parcel when it arrived. HATS OFF TO THEM!!


The cat was inside the smaller box it is lying on.



I pack and post items myself regularly. I regularly get good feedback about the quality of my packing - even for items which aren't breakable, I still treat them as if they were.

It isn't 'rocket science'. With just a little care and making sure the box is big enough to allowing packing materials around ALL sides, Top & Bottom, then most things can be safely packed.
It doesn't even take that long (less than 30min) and most people are happy with recycled/reused packing materials which don't need to cost the sender anything - I go out on recycling day and get a load of news papers.

But why on earth, would anyone squeeze a ceramic item into the SMALLEST possible box? This bull physically would not have fitted into a box even 1cm smaller in length!
That is just madness and will ALWAYS end up with damage!

I don't mind Auction Houses adding their reasonable cost for time and materials, that is to be expected. But this makes it possible for people to actually bid on items and so increases the price achieved and the fees the Auction House gets, so it does benefit them to do so.
But as we all know, most of those Pack & Send firms such as mailboxes, charge ridiculous amounts (often more than the item is even worth), so making it not worth even bidding, which reduces the price achieved and the fees the Auction house gets.
But as you know from a previous post about packing, when the item is so 'must have' and fragile/heavy, I have used specialist providers at very high cost!

It's just that most ceramics don't need this and CAN be safely packed, relatively cheaply, with just a little care and common sense (which doesn't seem to be very common these days).