Best way to package and ship a home built PC?

[Skott]

Hopefully this is the right place to ask this type of question.

So, lets say I build a budget PC for a buddy who lives several states away. Nothing fancy just a nice low cost rig. Lets say the case is a Antec 300 Illusion case. I put everything together, case, mobo, cpu, ram, GPU, hard drive, optical drive, and psu. Wire it all up, and install all the software and so forth so all he has to do is plug it in and fire it up. Of course I would pre test before shipping.

Okay, now to my question. How best to package and ship it? I was thinking put the finished PC back into the original case box along with its packing material. Hopefully has the hard styrofoam material. Then I would put it into another box slightly larger with good packing material as well so its snug inside. Does that sound right? Then choose which shipper, UPS, FedEx, etc., give me the best price and careful protection and maybe insurance of it arriving to him in one piece and working order. How is that plan?

I have never shipped a built PC so not sure what is the best method. Basically its just the box. No peripherals like kb, mouse, and monitor. Any tips would be appreciated.

Edit: I havent built the pc. I'm just contemplating doing it for a buddy.

 

[LagunaX]

DO NOT ship USPS unless you want to worry about damage or loss.

UPS is great but will cost you more - but great service and care with fragile items if you tell them fragile.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Whatever you do, don't use a huge tower heatpipe heatsink. Those will stress the board (or more likely, rip right off) during transport.

For AMD rigs, just use the stock heatpipe cooler.

For Intel rigs, I dunno. Stock cooler too? That kind of prevents you from running an overclock though.

 

[Herald85]

You can use a tower cooler if you stuff the inside with (lots of) paper or those foam pellets. It's not a 100% guarantee it'll be fine but that's how boutiques do it.

 

[Skott]

It would be a stock Intel cooler. It would be just a simple basic budget rig. Nothing fancy. No overclocking. I wouldn't use USPS. Thinking either UPS or FedEx. Whoever would give me the best protective care I'm thinking. Not too worried about shipping costs as long as it is reasonable. I'd even get some shipping Insurance just to play it safe if needed. Does the original case box inside a box sound like the best way though? That is the part I'm wondering about.

 

[cparker]

I have had good luck with UPS. Shipped one of my mid-tower builds to a relative. No problems at all. Just shipped it in packaging that the case came in including the styrofoam pieces that allowed the case to sit in the box properly and not get damaged.

 

[ElFenix]

unless antec has severely cheapened out its boxes lately, i wouldn't bother with a second box.

 

[mfenn]

unless antec has severely cheapened out its boxes lately, i wouldn't bother with a second box.

:thumbsup: Ibuypower and Cyberpower just ship the PCs in the case boxes (or at least they used to).

 

[ShippingExpert]

I own a pack & ship store in San Diego and ship computers many times throughout the year. I am amazed at the way people pack them thinking their pack job will be okay.

First things first, use a box made for shipping. A box that's made to move items from one house to another is not made to withstand the rigors of the shipping process.

Double box your computer. That way if the outer box takes an impact, the inner box should be okay. The outer box should be 1-2" bigger on all sides so that packing peanuts can be placed between the two boxes for added safety.

If insuring the computer, make sure you double box it. Most carriers require this in order to pay out a claim. If you haven't packed it right and something happens to it, the carriers are not liable and will not pay even if you purchased the insurance. Take pictures of your packing job also.

Put "Fragile" tape and stickers on each side of the box. Again, if you insure the package and you have made it obvious that the item is fragile it will be a plus on your side.

Don't ship with USPS. Even if you did a splendid job on the packing, they find every reason to deny the claim. If going ground, use UPS. Much better at handling claims should there be one. FedEx Ground is a sub-company of FedEx and each driver purchases his route and is his own little business. If there's a claim, good luck getting it approved.

I think that's all for now! Happy shipping!

 

[Agent11]

I shipped my dad a pc from Oregon to Colorado no problem using USPS, they even had a box that was the perfect size. I padded the bottom of the box with lots of old envelope packaging that has bubble wrap inside it and set the pc on its back, so that the video card would be vertical during transit. I wrapped the monitor in bubble wrap and stuffed old styrofoam spacers for the sides of the box and plenty of bubble wrap, wadded paper, styrofoam spacers, and other cushy stuff for between the tower and the monitor.

I bought insurance just to be safe and had them mark it fragile and this side up.

Started right up once it got there. Cost $30 for the shipping ground, and like $16 for $1500 insurance, iirc.

If you don't have any styrofoam spacers or other packing material I would cut some cardboard and fold it into rectangles, tape some bubble wrap to those cardboard rectangles for the sides, top, bottom of the box and inserts for between things to keep things from rattling around or whatever. And as you are putting it together make sure that any weight put ontop of the box is bore by the vertical side padding and inserts, in case something heavy is put on top of it.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

*double post*

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I own a pack & ship store in San Diego and ship computers many times throughout the year. I am amazed at the way people pack them thinking their pack job will be okay.

...

Don't ship with USPS. Even if you did a splendid job on the packing, they find every reason to deny the claim. If going ground, use UPS. Much better at handling claims should there be one. FedEx Ground is a sub-company of FedEx and each driver purchases his route and is his own little business.

You mean like UPS Store Franchises?

Brown-like typing detected.

 

[DavidoFoo]

You mean like UPS Store Franchises?

Brown-like typing detected.

How is a UPS store franchise the same as a driver purchasing a route?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

How is a UPS store franchise the same as a driver purchasing a route?

You buy a franchise and serve customers to, hopefully, the standards of the company you bought the license from. At a profit.

One involves a truck, though.

 

[PowerYoga]

I disassemble my heat sink before shipping, especially if its a heavy thing. UPS, FEDEX and all those guys CHUCK their boxes or at the very least slam it if its over 20 lbs. I've never had an attached heavy heat sink survive a transit. There's a very good chance it'll break off and either damage your mobo or kill some component.

I ship hardisks separately in carefully packaged boxes with plenty of cushion. If its a buddy you can give him instructions on how to reconnect all that crap, its just SATA cables. Leave that stuff on and color code it with tape if you have to.

You shouldn't need to double pack your boxes, for starters it'll add about $20 to your cost (cardboard boxes are HEAVY). The problem with the transit is the shock, not the padding. CPU boxes can take a beating. I've only ever had one instance of my case getting scratched and it was because the cardboard box the case came in was junk, and even then its not a big deal.