Problems with shipping fragile mineral specimens

Greetings. I have been purchasing some mineral specimens from a friend in Pakistan. His last shipment to me was heavily damaged, even though it had been packed carefully .The carrier was DHL. The problem appears to be customs officials opening and "re-packing" the shipment. I am asking if anyone else has experienced this problem. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Thanks! Gary

Hi Gary,

same situation as you. I had a shipment of anatase crystals from Balochistan. Almost every specimen was broken (one sample was originally undamaged, with 5 crystals to 12 mm) by some moronic/disrespectful custom worker who left everything unwrapped. This was the only time I had specimens damaged (total of several DHL shippings, and 10+ trades world wide). Most of the time, I have had OK experience with customsm(only 2 other pkgs were opened), and have always had good experience with DHL.

Luckily the next shipment containing a matrix sample of 4 brookites (to 3cm) on quartz, and also a 6cm brookite crystal arrived undamaged!

If you insure the package, you might be able to claim an amount - but I never tried (insurance companies are evil, I do not expect much). I just hope for the best. Sorry to hear about your misfortune and best of luck on future shipments!

Phil



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2012 04:05PM by Phil M. Belley.

Shipping insurance and a note to customs, in both languages, asking them to please be careful to not damage the specimen. You also might ask the seller to pack the specimens in a way that they are protected but visible with the box open, and can be handled. I have a pyrolusite specimen with a "helmet" of styrofoam such that it can be handled to some degree without causing damage, and is still visible.

I have also had this problem, losing the best ones of a small lot. Pakistani dealer promised to make it up but never did.

I was once shipped a specimen of natrolite that arrived with minimal damage. It was a plate-like piece of matrix several inches in size, so it was big and heavy with a mat of very delicate natrolite on top, so the seller put it in a tight-fitting box so that it couldn't move around much, and then taped a thick styrofoam "collar" to the box around the perimeter of the piece. The collar did press down onto many of the crystal formations and actually broke some, but the specimen was in there nice and tight. Then, this box was placed inside a larger box that was packed tight with styrofoam "peanuts." The specimen was perfectly visible inside the inner box, but it was unable to slide or move around in there, even if the whole thing was flipped upside-down. As I said, there was some damage caused by the packaging itself, but it was minimal compared to what the specimen could have looked like if it wasn't packed so carefully.

I know this doesn't really help much with customs officials being too rough with specimens, but maybe it's a technique you can try.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2012 05:00AM by Dan R. Lynch.

Painful, but that's the risk.

One option is to simply not ship fragile minerals.

Other option is to only do business with people that know how to ship stuff. Eg: I got stuff from India that came in locked boxes made of sheet metal... unheard of in my experience... everything inside entombed in more wrapping material than they used on King Tut... truly amazing and professional work.

Or you could also go with a better shipping company.

Don't see how you can really ever protect against idiotic customs drones, or thieves.

Risks of the trade.

DHL has been the best international shipper in my experience, but no shipper can guarantee that your box won't be opened by some bored, careless, ignorant customs official and damaged; that is not under the control of the shipping company or the dealer. Most boxes arrive safely, most are opened carefully, but a few get damaged... It's like gambling. The problem is worse with boxes arriving from drug-producing regions of the globe (South Asia, Latin America...), because a higher percentage get opened by customs.

I think you have a valid point there, Alfredo. Apparently the package was opened by Pakistan customs agents. The specimens were very fragile brookite crystal groups. My friend went to great lengths to carefully glue the specimens to cardboard and foam padding inside transparent plastic boxes, then placed cotton padding around them. None of this survived the trip. When the package arrived, it was in a plastic bag with some of the original padding but the plastic boxes had been discarded. As soon as I saw the bag, I knew that the specimens were damaged. I will pass along everyone's suggestions to my friend and hopefully we can avoid this problem in the future. Thanks! Gary

Howdy all,

(Gary), I had a shipment of items from the UK one time, which had the package sealed on site of the courier at time of sending, allowing a customs slip to be attached at that point, it then remained sealed the entire journey.
The Australian customs acknowledged the slip as if they had inspected it themselves.
It’s actually the only shipment I’ve ever received from the UK that has not been opened by Australian customs!
Maybe you can see if this is possible for your shipments.
I know some countries have agreements allowing this and some don’t; but it wouldn’t hurt to check it out as a possibility!

Cheers Mark.

We will never have all the answers, only more questions!

I have mailed so many radioactive specimens to all parts of the world to collectors. I can't believe that every single package has made it to its destination. How's this possible considering the contents, the state of the world today, and of course customs?

I have been told that most customs agents don't really care about what's in the packages they are opening and care even less if they damage the contents. They are only looking for "prohibited items" Obviously the Pakistani customs agents have no respect whatsoever for the mineral specimens they are destroying. I don't think that the shipping company is at fault. Hopefully we will find a solution to this problem, everyone's suggestions are very helpful.

Hi

A polite note - large print - face up on the inside of both ends of the packing box asking for great care in opening and repacking of the specimens can sometimes help.

But as stated above, customs handlers are not expert at unpacking and repacking fragile material. It doesn't even have to be "fragile" to be damaged. I have had several non-fragile specimens damaged by customs.

Even transsporting by hand has its risks. I have carried fragile material through customs and despite asking to unwrap myself - that wasn't permitted and minor damage ensued when security/customs unpacked - they at least let me rewrap afterwards.

You just have to be understanding. Customs don't intend to damage anything, they are simply doing their job. Most minerals appear as solid masses on their xrays and 'cos they don't look like something they readily know, then they have to take a look.

If the specimens are small then they can be 'glued" into a transparent plastic perky box and at least are easily visible. Larger specimens are more problematic - can pack in washing powder / talcum powder etc but this can cause untold problems at customs end. if they empty out the washing power.
Even small fragile specimens glued into a box can be damaged by simply shacking.

Remember when you pack your specimen in a box, once mailed, it will undergo as many tumbles and drops as playing a game of footy with the package before it gets to you and that's without customs and security opening it.

Pack specimens in boxes within boxes and surround them with newspaper. Ensure that they cannot move within the box.

There can never be any absolute guarantee - but you can at least give them a fighting chance if packed well and with helpful handling notes included.

Cheers

last years i bought a small bag with many micro boleite .The custom service open the bag and never closed it .they only stick a paper with write on it :open by customs .When i received my order i was only able to find one or two specimens but a chance the seller send a replacement and he arrived close this time .the customs employees are bunch of idiot and thieves .a friend tell me than he know someone working for Us customs with canada and this guy tell him than all the employees take evetything they find interesting in package without insurance or tracking number or they make them dissapear. some of the youngest and stupid one broke the thing inside parcel just for fun and they laugh and said :the next time i sure they will pay for the insurance.My friend work as a security guard for a company and this persons tell him than he will make a lot of cash with this kind of extra if he quit is job and come working for the customs service.

Sometimes , since minerals are educational, it is of value to see if one can arrange to ship mineral specimens from a University geology department in the senders country, to another University geology department in your area. Scientific materials, involved in research and well documented on the packaging, usually do not attract the kind of careless attention, that packages from individuals to individuals can. This of course assumes that you can make good friends in a university in the country of origin and of destination.

This is just one possibility, , and if the departments in question get something for their help like a donation or a specimen, all the better for future relationships between collectors and the University departments.

We have received a number of parcels from various countries and have had a few opened by customs. We have also shipped many that have been opened by customs as well. Some of the things I have noticed that resulted in better results are the following:

If specimens are packed in individual boxes this is WAY better than if they are simply wrapped in TP, bubble wrap, etc. If they are in individual boxes they at least get placed back into the boxes. Specimens that are simply wrapped often get placed back carelessly and, in most cases get re-wrapped poorly, if at all.

In those boxes, if the specimens are wrapped in a way where one can easily see the specimen that also helps dramatically. For example, if wrapped so it tightly fits in the box but the top of the specimen can be seen (with a tight collar of TP that wedges the specimen in the box) or, if the specimen is more fragile, cradled in a nest of plastic dry cleaner bags with one easily removed ball of plastic material on top.

Hi Mineral lovers !

The Brookites sent to Mr.Moldovany was packed so carefully and I packed them as defined below.

1) I got a nice mobile phone box and glued foam cushion on all the side of the box.
2) I glued the Brookite to the bottom of the box so it won't move in the rough journey. Even it could not move when the box was turned upside down.
3 ) The contingency plan if the the brookite got removed from the base of box was I filled the box with smooth cotton so it will not demage if the brookite is removed.

I then put the boxes in the different hard plastic box. and wrote the following quote on it " The minerals packed inside the small mobile phone boxes are very fragile hence glued to the bottom of the box so they will not move and stay safe from any sort of damage. Please handle them with care and do not touch or detach.THANK YOU "

but my packing got all in vain and the whole packing was changed by the stupids and idiots of customs. They have no respect for minerals and when someone like us sees their behaviour towards these beautiful creatures of your earth , it hurts a lot.

I sent a Brookite lot to a friend of mine in US with same packing , no specimens got damaged . LUCK !

No solution to human stupidity . There is one solution that some of mineral lovers should be hired in customs but I see its far from implementation.