Find a 4x4 pallet. Drill a cheap piece of plywood to the top of pallet to create a floor. Cut to shape if needed. Drill 6 holes in the floor of the pallet: 2 in front, 2 in back, one on each side. the side holes should be acrossfrom each other, close to the cab, and drilled where a strap can be effectively run through. The back holes should be across from each other (front to back), about 4 inches from either side. Wrap the game with shrink wrap VERY well. Rolls can be bought at Home Depot or Lowes if you don't carry industrial shipping supplies on hand.
Use poly strap for straps. If you do not have shipping supplies, go to walmart and buy 4-6 of the longest ratcheting straps you can buy. Do not buy bungy straps, they suck. Run the straps through the drilled holes in the pallet, over the game, and ratchet tight, with the hooks from each end encompassing each other. THE KEY HERE IS TO STRAP IT TIGHT ENOUGH SO THAT WHEN YOU SHIFT/MOVE TEST THE GAME, THE PALLET MOVES WITH THE LOAD (GAME). This test ensures that the only way the game gets damaged is if the freight company or forklift driver is careless.
Wrap the game head to toe in cardboard. Wrap the very top as well, because the freight company doesn't give a poo if it is raining. If they have to move something outside the dock, even in bad weather, they will do it. If you have to wrap it with pieces of cardboard versus having a big ass box on hand that encompasses the whole thing, you can tape the bits of cardboard to the shrinkwrapped parts of the game.
Wrap the cardboard with shrink wrap again, and you're done. Run another set of straps if using the poly at this point, for good measure. I charge $60 for this service to a customer purchasing a game from me, and I think $60 for this service is way cheap. I do not do this for other people's games because it is a PAIN IN THE ASS. I try to keep the whole process affordable though, realizing that shipping costs are going through the roof.
Here is a pic of a game I have palleted. This game is a Stacker merchandiser that was shipped from the port in Newark NJ to Panama, and made it in one piece.
If you do not want to pallet, then tell the customer to use NAVL. They don't require palleting. In my 10 + years of selling games, the only damages I have ever had reported (knock on wood) were when Pilot Air put a forklift through the side of a Theatre of Magic pinball head, and when Old Dominion dropped an Addams Family GOLD off of their dock. None of which were my fault
mods, feel free to sticky this post if you feel it will be useful to others.
-Mike