I once bought a guitar that had to be shipped to England from the US. The store packed it, hardshell case and all, into a cardboard carton and stuffed up every inch of space with old newspaper. It arrived OK. On a sadder note, I remember reading about a rock guitarist in the 70s who bought an old Gibson Les Paul in the US. It got to England OK,but a Customs Inspector insisted on taking it out of the case. He swung it up by the head fairly violently and the body fell off the neck!