EBay Sellers

[xraytech]

Last week I purchased this nice JCPenney VCR to replace the one I have that quit rewinding.
Being an older model out of the 80s, it was a very heavy unit.
The seller put it in a box full of paper and placed a piece of bubble wrap on top of it.

Needless to say it arrived in pretty sad condition so I’ve requested a refund.

Hopefully it functions, but I’m but I’m not hopeful.

Why is it so hard for people to understand how to properly package items?

 

[fan-of-fans]

Tell me about it. Just last week I got a vintage telephone on eBay. When I got it I thought the box was a bit small but whatever. Opened it and found random pieces outside the packing paper so I knew it was bad news. It was wrapped with just brown paper, no peanuts or bubble wrap. They didn't wrap the base or handset separately, so the base cover shattered. At least it wasn't anything rare in my case, but still, I don't understand why they did this and expected it would work. They have all good feedback and a long history.

I can't complain much, because out of most things I've bought on eBay, they have been packed well for the most part. I only had one time where something arrived damaged other than this.

 

[lorainfurniture]

eBay

Usps is the problem. I overpack quite a bit and still manage to get things delivered damaged. The heaviest items are most likely to get damaged.

 

[launderess]

They have no shame some people

Despite ever higher prices many sellers still skimp on packaging/shipping boxes. Still same ole rigmarole; box is anything they can find from rubbish/recycling bin, packing material is limited to same. Often just a bit of yesterday's newspaper and if they can lay hands upon, a bit of bubble wrap.

To file a claim for damage with USPS, UPS, or whoever package must first be examined to show things were done properly. Often they aren't so shipper won't be issuing any sort of refund.

To get some of one's own back always make sure to mention poor packaging in feedback when feel it is warranted. Sellers are charging hefty shipping prices but clearly not all of that money is going where it should.

 

[tomturbomatic]

It's a sad state with idiots, nay effing idiots, trying to make a fast buck and not giving a fried damn about the packing because they do not know ANYTHING about packing and shipping and are too cheap to have it professionally done, even when sellers, like moi, offer to pay for proper shipping. I am sorry for your ruined purchase. We all have similar stories. Now if you try to complain about a ferkakte poor seller, they make you go through the effing Nutcracker Ballet before you can warn others that the seller is a poor dealer because we don't want to hurt feelings.

Then you can have "friends" give you bad advice about shipping something which makes for loss, too.

 

[perc-o-prince]

"It was wrapped with just brown paper, no peanuts or bubble wrap."

Peanuts- if people don't use them correctly, damage is done because they allow heavier items to migrate to a side or the bottom of a box. You need to overfill the box a bit then push down before taping the box shut. Not a 100% guarantee, but lots better than if the box isn't overfilled! If i's a light, fragile item, wrap in bubble wrap or even brown paper to give it a larger footprint then use the peanuts. However, if the box gets punctured or torn, your packing is all over the place and no longer in the box.

Bubble wrap- why do people mummify fragile items in bubble wrap? They wrap tape all around the bubble wrap and you risk damaging the item when trying to unwrap it!

Brown paper- Rich and I have shipped literally hundreds of typewriters in the last 20+ years. Brown paper bags, wadded up, are excellent packing material for heavy items. They give cushioning for when the box is dropped, they don't allow much migration, for when the box is dropped, and they don't fall out if a hole is punctured in the box.

I think the key is to use the proper materials for the job... not just what's available or cheapest!

$0.02

Chuck

 

[fan-of-fans]

This is part of the reason I don't sell on eBay. I wouldn't do it enough to make it worth keeping proper boxes and packing materials on hand. Plus, these materials can be somewhat costly if you don't use them much not to mention taking up space.

I agree on "mummifying" sometimes it's nearly impossible to open items wrapped in layers like that.

Brown paper is fine, but in this case they didn't use much at all, just lightly wrapped the item and didn't separate the handset, so when it got dropped likely the base shattered.

 

[launderess]

If one is careful about things good boxes are easily had.

On any given day tens of not dozens of Amazon boxes are at our building's rubbish/recycling area. When one has something to ship or will soon simply raid that stash before it is put out for collection.

These are basically brand new boxes and Amazon does encourage recycling, so that's me for you.

Bubble wrap and peanuts have been harder to come by (and rarely seen discarded nowadays) ever since UPS, USPS, and FedEx moved over to dimensional pricing. Professional shippers seem to be concentrating on right sizing boxes to there is little excess room, and or need for stuffing things with huge amounts of ballast.

 

[sarahperdue]

From a seller's perspective

The VCR and phone should not have died such a terrible death.

I used to pack things for maximum abuse. You could drop my packages from a second floor balcony without breaking anything. When the shipping prices skyrocketed, I noticed that most of the parts that were my "bread and butter" weren't selling as well anymore. I think it's one thing to pay $7.99 + $3.00 shipping for a replacement handle for grandma's teapot and quite another to pay $7.99 + 5.00 shipping.

I stopped packing most things to withstand maximum damage. So far, virtually everything has arrived intact except for a carbon button microphone with a ring and springs. I made the mistake of shipping it in a flat rate box. When it arrived in pieces, my post mistress told me to never pack anything fragile in a flat rate container because people put really, really, really heavy things in them, and the postal employees just toss them into the truck. Anything fragile, even with reasonable packing, gets annihilated. I also shipped a print sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard marked "Do Not Bend." The mail carrier folded it in half and put it in the buyer's mailbox. Sadly the two items that got ruined were rare and valuable, and I packed them well.

I use less packing on commonplace items that can easily be replaced. It's packed well enough that the carrier will pay an insurance claim, but not so well it can withstand an earthquake. If it's rare, no matter what the cost, I still pack the devil out of it.

I agree on the insanely taped bubble wrap--clear tape is a bad idea to start with, and wrapping stuff in layers and layers of tape is nuts. Sometimes it seems like I'm going to break the item trying to get it free from the tape and bubble wrap. I use masking tape on bubble wrap.

I've always thought the objective feedback choices should include packing quality and should not include shipping costs. A buyer agrees to shipping costs at time of purchase. It seems wrong to give them an opportunity to rate shipping costs that they agreed to. Good packing has always been one of my top priorities.

USPS priority mailing boxes are free (or were the last time I ordered them, and more often than not priority mail costs the same or less with the eBay seller discount. Like my favorite Launderess, I use a lot of Amazon boxes. I get sheets of styrofoam and bubble wrap from the Pier One dumpster and sturdy cardboard boxes from the pet store recycling dumpster. Hills Science Diet boxes are the best--sturdy and available in many sizes. Some newspapers give away or sell cheaply the roll ends of newsprint--not enough left for press, but plenty left for packing. I love it. The result looks very professional.

Sarah

 

[thomasortega]

Nothing can be worse than FedEx.

They've destroyed over 1500 brand new products from The Laundry Alternative. All of them of course were carefully replaced by brand new replacement units at absolutely no cost for the consumer.

That simply because FedEx is pushing the sales of their "premium" services.

Very recently, we had a Niagara washing machine literally broken in half. How can somebody break a washing machine in half? Fedex is like, well, it happens, you should improve your packaging or we can offer you an upgrade to our white glove service for only 99.95 per shipment. But don't worry, we will give you $5 discount on your next shipment as a compensation for the damages...

$5? Oi? WTF? $5 doesn't cover even our packaging cost!

 

[thomasortega]

Right now we have a warehouse full of Mojave dryers and we can't sell them.

Simply because we sold 513 units on the first week the product was released, 507 units arrived damaged.

You can imagine the CEO wants to eat me alive. more than a container destroyed and a warehouse full of brand new units we simply can't sell because FedEx will destroy them.

And before you think that I could have avoided that, the samples were crash-tested, drop-tested and vibration-tested to EXCEED by 100% all the FedEx specifications. Packaging includes even a wood reinforcement, edgeboards, tons of styrofoam, shrink-wrap, an absurd completely not eco-friendly.

The only things we didn't try yet were putting airbags, a motorcycle helmet and build a concrete bunker around the product.

 

[sarahperdue]

No FedEx insurance?

Wow, Thomas, that's awful.

It's pretty "out of the box," but if your product is within their carrying dimensions, you might try Greyhound. Seriously. They hand carry their items, and I have had excellent success with minimally packed items.

Sarah

 

[kb0nes]

If it's not packed to survive a drop from about 4 feet onto concrete in any attitude, it isn't adequately packed and it is the shippers fault.

I remain unconvinced that any shipper is any better or worse than any other. When I managed the retail astronomy store I worked at we received thousands of boxes via UPS, FedEx, USPS and DHL. I only ever received two that had damage to the contents (and I suspect a manufacturing defect more than shipping for both). Overall the external condition of the boxes was generally better from UPS vs any other carrier. Of the 4 places I have worked where I interact with delivery drivers I have to say UPS has BY far had more conscientious and friendly. UPS unfortunately tends to be more expensive, but perhaps this is due to not using non-corporate contractors as most of the other carriers do.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Insurance!  Do they offer it? Is it arm and leg expensive?

 

[sarahperdue]

The most elegant packing job ever

I've been shopping on eBay for over twenty years, and today, I received the most elegantly and well packed shipment that I have ever received.

Two Corning Ware sauce makers with lids arrived in a box so small, it gave me great concern.

The box was a new eBay branded box. The items were surrounded by about 4" of tightly crumpled newspaper. They were wrapped in a cocoon of large bubble wrap a couple of pieces thick. The sauce makers were nested with 3/8" pieces of flexible The small sauce maker had a dense ball of plastic shopping bags in it, and the lid was inverted on the top of the dish and wrapped in a single layer of large bubble wrap. The large lid was wrapped in a layer of bubble wrap and placed right side up on the dishes. The entire group of nested Corning Ware and lids was tightly wrapped in plastic film.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the outer layer of bubble wrap was secured by two small pieces of colored tape.

I am thoroughly impressed.

Sarah