How hard is it to pack a guitar?

Is this some sort of fucking mystery?

Why is it when I buy a guitar from a store making a profit that got it from some company making a profit that neither can pack the guitar properly yet when I buy a guitar from some random dude that's taking a bath on a guitar (or maybe breaking even) he packs it like it matters to him that I receive the guitar in one piece?

This message goes out to Jackson, Ibanez, Fender, etc. and just about every dealer I've dealt with.

I've bought a number of brand spankin' new guitars in the last couple years from a variety of brands and a variety of dealers.

In fact, I got a brand new acoustic guitar in the mail yesterday. It's a damn good thing I ordered the case to go with it because there is no doubt in my mind I would have received a box of green toothpicks if I didn't. And thankfully the guitar was snug in the case. Because the case was just rattling around loose in the box. There was a single strip of that balloon bag stuff in there. It was a joke. The box was busted open from obviously having the case thrash it open. My wife said the UPS driver was shitting a brick apparently because it looked so bad. She called me immediately said she thought I was gonna be disappointed - she was sure the thing was going to be hosed.

It looked to me that this is how it came from the factory. It got lucky on the first part of it's journey so the dealer decided to roll the dice and ship it that way to me. Gee thanks.
And it's not just that guitar yesterday. Every single brand new Jackson, Charvel, and Fender guitar I've bought online was packed with the roll the dice strategy. And these weren't $79 guitars (not that that would be an excuse).

Sheesh, I'm willing to spring for the extra 5 or 10 bucks for some freakin' packing peanuts for a purchase like this.

Now contrast that with the last couple guitars I got from online forum members and/or Ebay. The guitars are padded inside the case, the neck and headstock are protected, and there is some stuffing in the box so the case doesn't freakin' rattle around.

Two companies do get an honorable mention though - Line 6 and Taylor. They actually design their boxes so that the guitar doesn't freakin' move around. And the Taylors come with excellent cases on top of it.