How to send me your gear without it arriving worse
Half of what reaches the bench comes by courier. Almost nothing breaks in the van: it breaks because of how it was sitting inside the box.
This is what breaks gear
Don't wrap it in clothes or newspaper
It compacts with vibration, and halfway through the trip the gear is rattling loose inside a ball of fabric. Bubble wrap or foam, and it must not move.
Don't put packing tape directly on the gear
The adhesive bonds to leather and rubber, and removing it ruins the covering. If something needs holding, paper first.
Don't ship it with the hood fitted or the lens on the body
A hood acts as a lever the moment the box takes a knock, and a mounted lens puts its whole weight on the mount. Separate items, each with its own caps.
Don't reuse a box that has already travelled
Cardboard loses its rigidity on the first trip: the inner flutes collapse and stop absorbing anything, even though the box still looks intact from outside. A new box costs two euros and is the cheapest part of the shipment.
What good packing looks like
- Caps on, front and rear. If you don't have them, protect the glass with something soft and clean — never paper, which scratches.
- The gear in a sealed plastic bag: it keeps out humidity and packing debris.
- Wrapped in bubble wrap until you can't feel the shape through it with a finger.
- A rigid box with 5 cm of padding on every side, top and bottom included.
- Shake the closed box before taping it: if anything moves inside, it isn't packed.
- The printed deposit sheet inside the box. It's what tells me whose parcel this is.
What it costs to send and return
| Item | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland Spain (each way) | €12 + VAT | Up to 5 kg and 100 cm total dimensions. |
| Balearic Islands | €18 + VAT | Canaries, Ceuta, Melilla and outside the EU: ask first, there's customs. |
| Transport insurance | 1.4 % of declared value | Always recommended. Declare the real value, not what you paid in 1994. |
| Inspection if you decline the estimate | €25 + VAT | Deducted from the total if you accept. Free if you bring the gear in person. |
| Priority service | +€55 + VAT | Delivery within 5 working days of acceptance, where the fault allows it. |
All amounts on this site are shown excluding VAT. The total including 21 % always appears on the written estimate.
I am not liable for damage occurring in transit, nor for shipments the courier loses or delivers damaged. Which is why I keep insisting on insurance: it's 1.4 % of what your gear is worth, and it's the only thing that covers you in the van.
What happens when the parcel reaches the workshop
It's opened and photographed
Before anything is touched. Incoming condition, accessories, and any transit damage.
You get confirmation
Same day, by WhatsApp or email, with the arrival photos.
It's inspected and quoted
3 to 7 working days. The estimate is written and valid for 30 days.
You decide
Accept and I start. Decline and it comes back as it was, paying only the inspection and return postage.
If a piece of equipment goes uncollected and unanswered for more than three months after I've told you it's ready, I have to charge storage. It isn't a threat: a small workshop has no room, and I'd rather write it down than argue about it on the phone.