There was an article here a while back about a bike company having lots of trouble with damage during shipping. They changed their packaging so that it appeared that there was a TV in the box and not a bike and the damage claims dropped.

Found it: https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/25/13048668/vanmoof-shipping...

I actually had this same phenomenon with a desk that was shipped to me recently! The top came in its own box with a huge picture of a TV on it. At first I was really confused, but then I realized that while the huge picture was a TV, the small text said it was the desk top I'd been waiting for.

That's funny! I had heard of this before, but I misremembered it as a TV company printing a bicycle on the box to deter theft. I sort of wonder if that would work now, come to think of it.

If a TV company put a bicycle on the box, there would be plenty of shipping damage. The only reason the opposite worked is because people naturally assume a TV is far more fragile than a bicycle.

Maybe a bicycle wouldn’t work, but could there be something else that would?

By work, I think they were referring to avoiding thefts, not shipping damage.

Yes, perhaps I wasn't clear but I meant that instead of thefts it will become shipping damage.

TVs and bikes are pretty comparable in value (both range from hundreds to thousands of dollars). Disguise a TV as a desk, though, and you might be onto something.

Good desks are also in the same price range as cheaper TVs.

I bet most porch pirates will have an easier time fencing a tv rather than a desk, and so would be more likely to take a TV box.

On the other hand, fencing a desk would draw less suspicion than fencing a TV.