oldsewnsew

I puttered with her for a few hours this morning. She went from being hard to turn, rusty and filthy, to looking pretty decent (except for the walnut base which I still have to reglue). And it spins so nice it quiet, hard to believe it's a shuttle bobbin.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]469369[/ATTACH]Hey how about that bobbin winder, think it's missing a little something. I do have a plan though, borrowing an idea from the Ellsworth Midget.

tropit

Yesterday, I posted in the Vintage Sewing Machine Photos thread about a beautiful, vintage Bernina that arrived a mess. So sad. I even contacted the seller before she sent it off to hopefully educate her on how to pack this lovely machine. She did not listen. When it arrived water poured out of the soggy, home-made, broken box and out of the machine as well. The case was smashed, parts missing...it's so disheartening.

I wonder how she'd feel if I took those dollar bills I gave her for the machine, out of her pocket and lit them ablaze with my old Zippo?
"Oh, it's OK...you can get replacements."

(Yes, I filed a claim with EBay.)

OK, I'm done venting now.
~Cindy

tropit

The machine head cleaned up nice Jim.

tropit

Oh, I don't think we're dising EB, or GW. It's the individual sellers that make the mistakes. It's such a common problem that I personally think that it should be addressed. Maybe we can come up with a solution by venting our frustrations and putting our heads together.
~ Cindy

tropit

One packing tip that I don't see done often enough is to put the machine, case, etc in plastic bags after they've been padded. The bags would not only help to keep moisture out, but would also help contain any loose pieces.
~ Cindy

tropit

While I'm into the tips...Home Depot and other home improvement stores carry solid foam sheets that are great for padding the box. I think that they run about $10 for a big sheet, approx. 3X6', or maybe they're 4x8. They also have rolls of bubble wrap in various sizes. Personally, I would gladly pay an extra $10 in shipping/handling charges for the seller to go out and buy these items and pack things properly.
~ Cindy

oldsewnsew

So if I'm going to vent about the bad ones, I need to give credit for a great one! This seller kept insisting in PMs that he would honor my wishes except that he would be using green popcorn. Went back and forth, and eventually I just said "whatever...". I did say, if you do what I request, I promise I'll leave exc feedback even if something goes amiss, since it was my call. Well, this is the absolute best packed 5lb object ever, pkg weighed more than the machine, and he disassembled everything and put in in a seperate padded little sealed box. And the machine itself was in a double box! Now if I could just get sellers to do half as much on the "Big Iron"!![ATTACH=CONFIG]469402[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]469401[/ATTACH]

tropit

Jim,

I'm totally envious. That package is sure a sight for sore eyes. A good idea to dwell upon the positive.

LOL...my DH just came in with a machine that arrived at our gate. "That one's packed well," (thumbs up.) You can see that at least I've got the hubby trained.

~ Cindy

tropit

Ha Ha! Here's a funny update to this. My husband and I were marveling on how well this sewing machine was packed. So much so, that we got out the camera to take pics in order to document how to pack a sewing machine. I was thinking, "Geez...this must be a SM collector that sent me this machine. I wonder which machine it is? I'm not expecting any fancy, high-end machine to arrive."

I carefully unwrapped it, layer by layer and when I got to the machine, I didn't recognize it...well, not at first. It turns out that this machine was originally purchased by me on EBay about a month ago. It arrived in shambles, poorly packed, with parts missing and case smashed. So, opened up a case with EB. They took my side and totally refunded me my money, including shipping. They also gave me a shipping label in order to ship the SM back to the seller. I guess the seller moved, because the UPS tracking says that they tried to deliver it, but couldn't, so it was returned back to me.

There was not a hair out of place. The box was solid and the SM came back to me just as I had sent it, snug as a bug. I know, I sound a little arrogant, but I'm proud of my packing skills and they certainly paid off. Now...what the heck do I do with this SM? (I'll post pix of the unpacking as soon as I can.)

~ Cindy

oldsewnsew

Maybe now that some time has passed, resurrecting it won't look as daunting.