The RIC factory shipping carton was intended to safely deliver the guitar to the retailer, but it was never intended to be reused for another shipment to the customer. If you read any of the online RIC forums, I am sure you have read about RIC guitars that were damaged while enroute to their owners. North Coast Music double boxes every RIC guitar and bass to maximize the possibility that no damage will occur to our guitar in shipment. In fact, since North Coast Music started double boxing RIC guitars (about 400 RIC guitars ago) not one RIC was damaged while in shipment to a customer.