I sold this on eBay a few weeks ago. I spent several hours carefully packing it. Dated 1943.

After FedEx got through with it.

FedEx paid the claim today so its not a total loss, but it makes me sick that it got destroyed.

That Sucks!!!! It was a nice sign.

Yep, FedEx returned the package to me last week and I can't even bring myself to open it.

Ohhhhhhh no!

not to many people would of had pictures of the sign as you are shipping it..

I'm pretty anal about packaging and I was worried about this one (MD to CA). In hindsight, a crate was probably necessary, although I was pretty confident my packaging would have been okay with a reasonable amount of care.

Man, that really does STINK!

I know how you feel. I won a BF Goodrich metal sign on ebay years ago. When the mailperson delivered it, it was folded into a 90� angle. The seller refunded my money thankfully, but the sign bit the dust....sad!

just bought a sign on ebay last week fed ex called me on saturday to tell me got stuck in the conveyor belt bent it in half.got lucky too the seller refunded my money. no matter how you look at it this stuff kind of blows.

For shipping small paintings (large ones need crates) I cut masonite to fit on both sides and wrap tight with the framed painting the middle of the sandwich. In my case I am more worried about the canvas getting punctured or the paint on a painted panel painting getting scraped. The ones I have sold (as apposed to gifts for my mom) I always insure...

I wonder how that would do for a metal or wooden sign like the one that got blasted?

I'm guessing a conveyor may have been involved with my damage as well. A delivery guy would have had malice in his heart to have done that by himself.

Hey floyd what is that sign made of? Looks like masonite(?) from the break.

Yep - Masonite. I learned (on this site) that masonite was used on the Delco signs during WWII to conserve metal. I've heard from others that those signs are pretty rare since they didn't hold up well when exposed to the elements. A real bummer...

You hit the nail on the head when you said reasonable amount of care!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's awful. At least FedEx accepted responsibility.

I had a clock break insured and fed ex would not pay the claim. Saifd box was not damaged enough to cause the breakage.

I really hate it when one of the really nice ones get damaged like that! Compensation really does not make up for the loss!

Ever wonder why it's always the real nice minty ones that get damaged?

Shouldn't have put fragile on it. The read that as throw it and step on it.

I believe that..

Had a Tidewater sign that was beautiful in a wooden crate and sent it Fed ex ground, insured. The buyer got it and accused me of selling him a bent sign. It was sent back and they had broke open the crate, sign slide out and was bent. They would not pay the claim only $100.00 because they said it was a collectable. I explained that they sold me insurance. Manager pulled out a book and said read where it says they do not have to pay more than $100.00 for a collectable.
Tell me about how that is less than desirable.

Packages (cardboard ones) can be dropped from as high as twenty feet in sorting facilities....if its a sign you do not want damaged use luane (thin lightweight plywood) and 1x's....wood packages are sorted by hand...they do clip you an extra 7 or 8 bucks though ....

Looks like you used Foam Board to save shipping weight!

Yes it is sad ending. Quarter inch plywood and 1by2s,and it would of been happy ending.Would of shipped anywhere in 48 for 40 bucks. If sellers don't want to pay it they need to buy local.Just my thoughts.

Similar thing happened to my dad on a united motors neon. The lady he bought it from paid the UPS store good money to "professionally" pack the sign. Sounds good right. All of the neon was broken on arrival. Come to find out the store used the wrong crush weight of box and that was what did it in. It was insured but my dad went round and round with the UPS store get the money and they still would not refund the total shipping amount even though their store was the one that packed it.

Total Bummer on the delco sign. It almost feels like someone stabs you in the heart when something like that happens. Your pack job looked really great. Had to be a conveyor like you guys said. But there was video going around of the fed ex driver throughing the flat screen TV over a tall fence a while back....

UPS won't insure it if it can't be replaced either.
Some stations here will even refuse shipping it all together if it's a collectors item.
To me,that speaks volumes about the confidence in their own staff.

This is quite common, I packed rare items real well and have had several items that lasted 70 plus years be destroyed by these shipping companies

Bought a 4 ft Wood oil co. sign w/ lion head years ago. Super rare and in ex cond. Guy built a nice crate of plywood and put it on a pallet as it was heavy. Forklift driver ran the forks through the crate and creased the sign side to side. Like stated above even though it was insured. beings it was an " antique " or collectible all u get is $100 argue all u want, wont help! so if you are shipping valuables it is best to have your own ins providers like collectibles ins. co. or others.

To Bad that was a nice sign.

I insure my art seperately (%60 of selling cost as that's what I would get if it was sold in a high-end gallery) and do not remove the painting from my insurance until it is safely delivered. Don't know if you can do this with collectables for the price you sold it for, but it might be worth looking into.

Seven years later... Now retired with some extra time on my hands. I finally brought myself to pull the shattered sign out and see if I could make it presentable. I found a local old school sign-maker that helped me with the frame. Feels good to bring it back, albeit with some additional “patina.”

Looks good Floyd.

Way to turn lemons into lemonade. It is definitely presentable and has added "character". Good save!

That definitely looks presentable now. Nice job.

New thread title: Nice End to a Sad Sign.

One thing I noticed in common among the several bad stories from 7 years ago..... Fed Ex.

And Joey is right, I’ve been in these sorting facilities several times. Those conveyers are easily 20 feet high at times and packages do fall from log jams. Also the speed of the packages is significant. If one gets stuck on the rollers and a 60 pound package is bearing down on it.... it’s like a large bowling ball headed towards your sign.