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There were no takers (not so much as one inquiry) so I pulled the ad and am thinking of a way to keep it now.

Dave

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My current 24" StarStructure was shipped via air from Florida to California and then trucked 100 mi. to me on the coast for $1,000. It was packed very well on a pallet by Mike Zammit of SS. Entire load was 500 lbs. Photo shows two plywood sides removed to expose packing. The 55 lbs. Kennedy primary and cell are in there too. This is an expensive delivery, but not for a $20,000 scope. Any good local shipper (not UPS) an do this for you.

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Having been around loading and shipping docks for several years in my life I can verify that freight is handled in the way that moves the most as fast as possible,NOT gently.

When buying new stuff the manufacturer has knowledge of how to pack and access to proper packing materials that the average person doesn't possess.Nearly everything I have bough new suggests keeping the original box(es) and packing materials in case of a need to return the item for service!
BUt how many people have an extra room just to store all those boxes?

Ny big USED Dobs 0f 8 to 12" have all been bought by driving to the seller's location and those sold later were picked up by the buyer.Shipping would have added a lot of hassle and expense.
Shipping smaller scopes is much easier to find boxes and packing ..

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Why can't people keep their original shipping boxes (just stash them under the house, in the attic or up in the rafters in the garage or other handy place)? That's what I do.

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Why can't people keep their original shipping boxes (just stash them under the house, in the attic or up in the rafters in the garage or other handy place)? That's what I do.

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Having been around loading and shipping docks for several years in my life I can verify that freight is handled in the way that moves the most as fast as possible,NOT gently.

When buying new stuff the manufacturer has knowledge of how to pack and access to proper packing materials that the average person doesn't possess.Nearly everything I have bough new suggests keeping the original box(es) and packing materials in case of a need to return the item for service!
BUt how many people have an extra room just to store all those boxes?

Ny big USED Dobs 0f 8 to 12" have all been bought by driving to the seller's location and those sold later were picked up by the buyer.Shipping would have added a lot of hassle and expense.
Shipping smaller scopes is much easier to find boxes and packing ..

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Why can't people keep their original shipping boxes (just stash them under the house, in the attic or up in the rafters in the garage or other handy place)? That's what I do.

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Because some people don't live in houses with sheds, attics, lots of closets, etc...They're living in small apartments with limited storage room. Let's see, Lamp or Telescope to see in the dark????? ...or, mount a light bulb on the Dob front cover and put a lampshade on your dob....

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4) "Garage" is a car port--no protection from rain.

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Where we lived in Santa Barbara, many carports had large storage cabinets hung along the "back", where a cars "nose" would project under. Even so, there typically wasn't much room to spare in these for large scope-ship boxes.

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(just stash them under the house, in the attic or up in the rafters in the garage or other handy place)

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I did so with the large box my 10" Meade SCT came in- both the "pretty" retail box, and it's outer shipping box- and the inner Styrofoam pieces- all packed within one another. Stayed in my reasonably clean garage for the 10+ years i owned the scope.

The dark-foam liner it had been shipped cradled in, inside the box, i used to store the scope between uses, inside my home in a closet.

When selling it, the buyer came to my home. Didn't want the boxes. Good thing, too, because upon opening them up i found that mice had been using it as a gymnasium, cafeteria, bedroom & nursery, & outhouse.

As a result, i'm pretty picky about the "boxes" i keep.

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...or, mount a light bulb on the Dob front cover and put a lampshade on your dob....

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... and see how long before the spousal unit notices you've snuck a new into the menagerie!

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Just for some perspective, this is how my 12.5" came:

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You mean it took all those boxes to ship that 12.5" long scope on the table back there???? That was some serious packing...

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There were no takers (not so much as one inquiry) so I pulled the ad and am thinking of a way to keep it now.

Dave

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I'm glad you decided to try and figure out a way to make it work. If you still can't then drag it around to star parties with a for sale sign on it. It will eventually sell.

.....Bill

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Personally, I’d never buy a premium Dob without seeing it first. I’ve seen enough of them in pretty ratty shape at star parties to be skeptical of any description. I remember one Obsession 25 that looked like it had been dragged thru the mud…. still worked fine though. My 20-inch Dob was delivered to my house by the seller who drove 400 miles to do it. He was looking for a smaller scope and was happy to see the thing gone.

I have sold a large hi-end GEM by advertizing it “for pick up at Stellafane” on A’mart. It sold in less than a day and the sale worked out fine. I’ve seen similar adds for meeting at NEAF. I could see a buyer/seller working out something for a major star party (TSP, etc) swap where they would share the scope for their time there.

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Have shipped over two hundred dobs from 8 " to 24", only one minor damage on rocker box very small scratch 10 years ago. One scope take 6 to 8 hours to packing.

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If the scope is being sold via AM, then you can pay attention to the seller's ratings stars and ratings given by buyers.

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Have shipped over two hundred dobs from 8 " to 24", only one minor damage on rocker box very small scratch 10 years ago. One scope take 6 to 8 hours to packing.

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With all of that experience, and being “in the business”, you obviously know *how* to do it correctly. The used Dob owner has no experience packing such delicate instruments and just wants to get rid of a scope with as little fuss as possible!

The used-scope buyer has to not only consider the original builder’s reputation but also how well the seller has maintained the scope, and is not getting the builder’s warrantee.

For those who don’t want to spend a day or 3 driving, you are taking a chance on scope condition, or quality of packing done by someone with no experience doing it. You can also buy new….. for a lot more money in most cases.

Considering the number of ‘pick up only’ ads out there, it seems that that method works, at least for the sellers.

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