Best shipping box for internal hard drive?

[ccmwl7]

I'm looking for a sturdy, secure and reliable box for posting a 3.5 in internal hard disk in case the winning bidder wants me to post it.

Asking because I had a previous sour exerience of a buyer receiving his hard drive and suffering more than a thousand bad sectors. Prior to postage, I had ran a thorough scan of it using HD Sentinel Pro which returned with perfect working order and zero bad sectors. I was frustrated as I had packed the hard drive inside an anti static bag and wrapped multiple layers of bubble wrap, placed the entire lot in a plastic box, then finally even wrapped multiple layers of bubble around the box itself.

Any advice which box (preferably something from Australia Pos) would be most secure for shipping a very fragile 3.5 inch internal hard drive?

[curraone]

but Tippy are you going to share the actual method of packing with us?    I would be interested.

[kitschkoven]

How about a tin, like a chocolates tin. Might be worth a trip to your nearest op shop to buy one for a few $. Bubble wrap inside and out. I've been toying with the tin idea for sending Pyrex and other fragile items.

[ccmwl7]

Thanks for all the ideas, guys. Very helpful. I'll probably double box it with plenty of bubble bags, newspapers and wraps.

Already making a significant loss on the drive compared to other sellers with the same condition/item, so will do Regular plus Signature as Express is out of my financial reach.

[*tippy*toes*]

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@curraone wrote:

but Tippy are you going to share the actual method of packing with us?    I would be interested.

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For the tea cup, I put stuffing inside the cup so there was no dead space. I then wrapped it quite thick with that thin foam packaging stuff. I put scrunched paper and packing peanuts into the bottom of the box, then placed the wrapped cup in. I then filled all the dead space. Every last bit of it. I closed the lid over, picked the box up and shook it. Even the tiniest bit of movement can cause damage, so more stuffing is needed if there is movement.

It's very important to have the item completely surrounded by the packing material. No point putting it into the bottom of the box and then filling it up. You want it suspended in the middle of the box with stuff all around it. Once I'm happy, I seal the box. Doing it this way, I've not had a breakage.

Depending on the item will depend on whether I use bubble wrap or that thin foam stuff. On very delicate items, bubble wrap can cause breakages as it can expand in hot weather. As my packaging means there is no room for movement, it can crush the item. 

[*tippy*toes*]

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@ccmwl7 wrote:

Thanks for all the ideas, guys. Very helpful. I'll probably double box it with plenty of bubble bags, newspapers and wraps.

Already making a significant loss on the drive compared to other sellers with the same condition/item, so will do Regular plus Signature as Express is out of my financial reach.

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If the packaged item is over 500g, there's actually not a big difference between regular post and express. Only a couple of dollars. You could check on the AP site. If your profit margin is very low, that couple of dollars could make or break, so I get it if you don't.

Depending on where you're sending it to, it could also be a cheaper option to send in a satchel. That way it's flat rate all over the country. Of course you would pack it securely in a box first. Over 500g can work out to be quite expensive if it's going interstate. Going from say NSW to WA, the difference can be quite significant.

If it's under 500g, consider using an eBay label for a satchel as it's only $7.55 as opposed to over $8 (I think it's $8.20 for a parcel and $8.55 for a satchel, but can't remember as it's been a while since I used regular post).

[clarry100]

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@ccmwl7 wrote:

I'm looking for a sturdy, secure and reliable box for posting a 3.5 in internal hard disk in case the winning bidder wants me to post it.

Asking because I had a previous sour exerience of a buyer receiving his hard drive and suffering more than a thousand bad sectors. Prior to postage, I had ran a thorough scan of it using HD Sentinel Pro which returned with perfect working order and zero bad sectors. I was frustrated as I had packed the hard drive inside an anti static bag and wrapped multiple layers of bubble wrap, placed the entire lot in a plastic box, then finally even wrapped multiple layers of bubble around the box itself.

Any advice which box (preferably something from Australia Pos) would be most secure for shipping a very fragile 3.5 inch internal hard drive?

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Did this previous buyer ask for/get a refund based on his claim of bad sectors?

This is a claimed fault that cannot be photographed and therefore is only the buyer's word against yours.

In cases like this I would insist that the buyer raise an INAD return claim to get their money back.

Then if/when they did that then you accept the return.

This means they have to actually mail it (or something) back with tracking to get anything back.

That will likely put them off and they can't be bothered proceeding with the claim if its fake.