Thanks.
I refer to my packages as "portable safes".
With the TBC-1000 being firm metal construction, I actually don't have to package it as well as some other more-fragile items, though I do usually double-box most TBCs. It depends on the corrugation of the outer box used.
You should see how well I pack VCRs. I make "bubble wrap burritos" for them, using a specific kind of bubble wrap. The box voids are strategically filled with specific packing paper and peanuts. What you have to watch for are the box impact zones, and you have to take extra care protecting the most fragile parts of the decks. Packing boxes can sometimes be an all-day affair.
Somebody recently told me it took him 35 minutes to unpack my workflow box.
A few other reputable deck sellers (mostly in PAL-land) have various inadequacies in their packing, and too often damage still happens. I've actually tried to help them improve, as I hate to see good gear damaged by bad shipping, but my advice mostly fell on deaf ears.
To date, I've only had one deck arrive damaged, and it was because it was the SR-VS20, one of the most fragile S-VHS decks there is.
I've bought gear from
eBay myself (most often for parts to refurb with), and overall a large % of it has arrived catastrophically damaged because sellers are mostly idiots. (Realize sellers = general population = idiots.) And even when you specifically instruct them on how to pack well, so the item arrives in one piece, they still don't do it. Lazy, cheap, stupid. Example: Last month I bought a PCI card from
eBay, and told the seller to use an anti-static bag and a box. Want to know how the seller responded to my request? He cancelled the order and blocked me. What a dumb SOB. My previous attempt to buy the card (from yet another seller) also ended badly, as that lazy seller used a grocery bag and an envelope. As expected, the card was broken. Now on attempt #3, fingers crossed! So much time gets wasted on bad eBay buys.
When it comes to packaging, I'm the anti-eBay. And I'm your quality video gear easy button.