Very positive experiences. Unless the shipper is an experienced bike packer, pay $75 or so to have a bike shop pack and ship (and insure) it.
If packing yourself, pack it in a used shipping box from a bike shop, and check the dimensions of the box closely to avoid paying huge oversize charges. I've had the best luck - both in cost and condition - using FedEx. Remove front wheel (& skewers) and pad the fork ends. (There's plastic shipping inserts you can get from a LBS.) Pull stem and lay bar over. Remove seat and pedals. You might think about removing the RD from the hanger. Pad tubes (Home Depot pipe insulation works great) and tie-wrap loose parts to the frame so they can't move and chafe.
If you have extra cardboard, reinforce the sides. Otherwise there's not much that packing materials will do for it, but wads of bubble wrap can't hurt.
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Stupidity got us into this mess - why can't it get us out?
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