I Need to Vent

[chuffle]

I wish that eBay sellers would learn that newspaper and shredded paper are not effective and safe packing materials...especially when glass and metal is involved in the same box.

I had two eBay purchases arrive today, and both of them contained shards of glass. I bought a Mixmaster for a friend, and it arrived with both bowls shattered. The mixer, base, and bowls were not wrapped in bubble wrap, but simply put in the box with a lot of shredded paper for packing. I am waiting to cool down before I fire off a note to the seller (otherwise, I might verbally rip them a new a*****e).

I also bought a Corning Ware electric percolator (shhhh...I know that they were recalled, and that eBay forbids them to be sold) and it also arrived, shattered. The heating element was not padded and stabilized, so it banged about during shipping, shattering the bottom of the perc.

Doesn't common sense lead folks to examine what they are packing, and realize that their methods are useless? I know the answer to my question...I just needed to vent to some like-minded collectors.

Thanks for listening,

Joe

 

[turquoisedude]

I hear you!

I have just about given up on buying anything fragile off of eBay... It makes my blood boil when I get a box full of glass fragments. I have gone so far as to send sellers detailled packing instructions, but the sad fact remains that most eBay sellers don't give a hoot... At least you can leave negative feedback, but it won't replace the items you wanted... Take heart, garage sale season is coming up and you may just turn up similar items!!

 

[whirlaway]

Broken

I bought an Emerson bakelite TV and when it arrived I happened to be home.I heard it when it got thrown on the porch.The guy left before I arrived at the door,and when I opened the box the bottom and sides where shattered,total loss and I even wrote the guy and asked that he please pack the set securely and that I would pay more for packing materials.I wasted my breath.Records are even more of a nightmare,78s.I did find a guy that I buy from now,he packs so well you could drop them from a plane and I think they would arrive safely.

 

[customline]

you know what.......

I had won a beautiful 1957 Lightolier ceiling lamp and when it got to me the glass cover was cracked. I see where all of you are coming from. Why can't we buy and sell common sense? Also, don't these people give a rats *** when they ship these items?

 

[mixfinder]

In the Bowels of Bowls

Joe, let me know what you need and I'll send you the bowls and any other damaged parts.
Kelly

 

[chuffle]

Thanks for listening!

Kelly:

Thanks for the wonderful offer. I need to cool off a little more before I go near the box (I see RED every time I go near it in the kitchen). I'll go through that box later tonight and get back to you.

Joe

 

[gadgetgary]

Joe

Had the same thing happen to me to a Corning Ware Electric percolator. The seller stated that she packed it properly. She left the heating element inside and it banged around during shipping and broke the base of the corning ware perk. I tried to get my money back, even by filing a claim at the post office, but, the seller insisted she packed it properly. From that point on, I insisted that the heating element be packed OUT of the pot to insure that there would be no damage during shipping. The sellers agreed to my terms since I explained my unfortunate situation.

Sorry to hear you had a problem, but, Ebay is definitely a learning experience.

 

[58limited]

I usually do not have bad luck with ebay, but:

Last month I bought six Hofbauer Red Bird crystal pedestal desert bowls. I've been collecting Red Bird since 1991 and had never seen this particular item before. Two arrived broken and I may never find more. The seller, who was new to the whole ebay thing, was very apologetic and refunded the value of the two bowls after the post office confirmed that they were improperly packed - USPS would not honor the insurance.

Today I received a pre-production prototype of the Spilhaus Space Clock (incomplete - I have another incomplete prototype and can make a complete one from both of these). It was well packed EXCEPT the three disks of the space dial were stacked on top of each other inside the clock housing without padding or paper in between them. They also rattled around inside the clock cabinet. End result: the disks are scratched and one had two teeth broken off. It will still function like normal, but I'm irritated over the damage. This might be the only prototype in existence.

 

[danemodsandy]

All You Can Do Is...

...Pursue the eBay process with refunding, etc., and if they don't take responsibility, leave the feedback no eBay seller wants to get, to wit:

"Poor packing - VERY HTF dream item arrived smashed."

They'll have a hard time selling anything really desirable after that. You have to spell it out for other people.

Again, this is something to use only after giving them every opportunity to step up to the plate.

 

[perc-o-prince]

newspaper and shredded paper are not effective and safe pack

I'm sorry for your loss, but I must disagree. We're successful eBay sellers with no packing-related damage in 12+ years. Our favorite materials? Balled up newspaper. It's cheap, and provides excellent shock-resistance. Turn-of-the-century cast iron is about as fragile as glass. We've shipped literally tons of it (typewriters, sewing machines, et cetera) without mishap. The trick to any packing material is to use plenty of it. Pack it in there!

Styrofoam peanuts are probably the worst packing material out there. They allow heavy items to shift to sides or the bottom where they are more succeptable to shock damage. They can be used for lighter items, but only when jiggled to settle them, then slightly overfilling the box before closing so the item is held securely.

We're going through a claim now because the seller wrapped a percolator in bubble wrap, then used one piece of crumpled paper below and above it. The box was 12" tall, and the perc was 11.25" tall. It never stood a chance! Even though the seams were bulging, there was onlt about 1/2" of packing there!

Chuck

 

[bugsyjones]

Newspapers....psht!

The only good packing material is bubble wrap.

I purchased a 1950 Singer 66 sewing machine from E-bay. I got it for a good deal and it came with the wooden lid and lots of attachments.

The evening the box arrived was raining of course. I go out on the porch to get it. The box is on it's side, sopping wet, and appears to have been man handled very thoroughly in it's trip. "This Side Up" was written in ink pen on the side. Barely legible.

Anyway, I opened up the box to find the sewing machine inside it's case. The handle on the case lid was forced through the top. The base of the wooden case was torn at the joints. The base or sewing surface of the machine itself was broken completely in two. This heavy duty all metal sewing machine was broken in two. Now it had to have landed pretty hard for that kind of damage. What was the packing material? Newspaper. It was not enough cushion to keep the machine from moving around inside the box.

The seller was very kind and refunded my money. I eventually found another 66 on e-bay. The package arrived and it was completely wrapped in layers and layers of bubble wrap with extra bubble wrap to fill in the gaps. A MUCH better job than than the other. That machine was TIGHT in the box. No way it could move around.

If I sell something on ebay, and if it's breakable, I use bubble wrap only and lots of it.

~Tim

 

[cfz2882]

i've had good luck with my fragile ebay buys,at least items
sent from the u.s.and canada-overseas the record is not as
good,packages must really take a beating-won a russian hi-fi
from moldova,seller incased it in about 2" of styrofoam,
secured the turntable,and packed in box-that one made it
intact.The 2nd russian hi-fi was wrapped in about 2 layers
of cardboard and put into a canvas bag-when i picked that
one up,i could tell by the sound there was trouble in the
bag,smashed to bits!-now have a spares stash for the other
russki hi-fi.Two big european radios,a '58 blaupunkt and a
french-made ducaret/thomson,sent from within the u.s. were
well packed and arrived without damage.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Stuff those crevices!

Looks like many things will do the job. You just have to know how to pack it in well.

 

[petek]

I use packing peanuts sometimes but I first pack the peanuts into shopping bags (and tie it) etc to keep them together,, then shove the bags of peanuts into the crevices etc. Using them loose ain't so good.

 

[circlew]

My packing "recipe"

Obtain two sturdy cartons, the first 3" to 4" larger than the dimensions of the item being packed, and the second 3" to 4" larger in all dimensions than the first. For example, if you're packing a glass bowl thats 8"W x 11"L x 5"H, you would want to put it in a box that is about 12" x 14" x 8". Tape bottom of each box closed with heavy strapping tape, extending a good way up the sides.

Then wrap the item in plain paper, either 2-3 sheets unprinted newsprint or small items in heavy duty napkins. If object is hollow, like a creamer, teapot, etc., I stuff the inside full of paper first. Any protruding parts such as handles get extra padding. Then wrap with a layer of BubbleWrap, taping it closed.

I then line the box with 1 or 2 layers of BubbleWrap (depending on weight). Place item(s) in carton, fill spaces with firmly crumpled newsprint so item(s) can't move. Tape box closed with heavy duty strapping tape.

Line second carton bottom with either 2 layers jumbo BubbleWrap or a 1 1/2" layer of firmly crumpled newsprint. Place first box centered in second, and fill in all spaces with firmly crumpled newsprint, making sure top will not push down. Tape outer box closed with strapping tape.

If you're packing more than one item in the inner carton, leave at least 1 1/2" of space between them, and fill with BubbleWrap or crumpled paper. Small items such as lids should be wrapped as above, and placed in a separate box, and put in inner carton, again with proper space between. Flat items such as plates and shallow bowls should be packed standing on edge. I usually stack four plates with padding between, and then wrap the stack with BubbleWrap. I place an extra sheet of wrap between each stack. Heavy items such as mixers, blenders, etc., I will disassemble and wrap each part, boxing separatly. Place heaviest parts in bottom of carton. Glass parts should probably be shipped separately. If you need to place them in one outer carton, seperate the inner boxes with heavy corrugated board, again making sure nothing can move.

Packing in this manner is rather time consuming, and not cheap, but if it's something you care about, it's well worth the effort and expense.

 

[whirlcool]

I like those expandable packs. You put your item in the box with the expanda-pack and then pull the tab. They blow up and encase your item. They can't possibly move or break.

 

[alr2903]

Whirlcool you are right about those packs, Overstock, packs with these, your items arrive intact, even if the box is a total wreck on arrival. alr2903

 

[aeoliandave]

Joe, I know that feeling when you open a box of shattered glass...or worse. I do hope the mixer itself is ok and as you now know, orphaned bowls are fairly plentiful 'out there'- I doi howp you are all fixed up again.

I have been fortunate that 99% of sellers I have explicitly instructed about proper packing have listened (and many learned and thanked me for the info) so vacuums and appliances have arrived intact, evn tho many of the shipping cartons show the abuse they endured in transit. But there was this one disaster that broke my heart two tears ago...

I knew I was taking a chance but since it was being shipped a relatively short distance from eastern Pennsylvania to Butler Pennsylvania I felt my emailed guidelines to the seller were sufficient. Not so, but then it is now obvious the seller didn't give a hoot anyway.

Was a superb all original Singer S2 upright - the Raymond Loewy 1949 design and my first one. They were not sold in Canada, as far as I know so far. Anyway, the vacuum was simply placed loose in a long box with no padding whatsoever and of course, the handle got snapped in half. Arghhhhh!

Here, a smerged picture of the damage. I opened the box to find all the handle internals rolling around in the bottom, thanks the Gawds. I immediately began photo-documenting the box and damage for the claim I knew I would be making.

Thankfully the rest of the vacuum survived intact and unscratched somehow.

 

[aeoliandave]

In the end after 2 months of wrangling with the seller and then putting the case in the hands of Ebay Paypal Dispute console I was refunded 90% of the purchase + shipping and got to keep the vacuum.

Being molded of GE's Cyclac plastic there is no way to glue or 'weld' these pieces together so I settled for a repair with strong clear packing tape to the two halves, then re-bolted them together with another shaped layer of packing tape. It has held the handle together over two years now without separating so this is a mostly happy ending.

Lesson learned, these days I will only 'go after' an upright vacuum cleaner if The seller can be instructed how to remove handles and bails and bags for compact, bubble-wrapped and styrofoam board supported boxing with all box seams taped...or I (or someone I trust) can do a personal pick-up.
I did just that this past weekend to retrieve a superb condition 1946 Singer R1 I won for a mere $13 cdn, over in Taylor Michigan. This allowed for a nice stop with Petek in Sarnia reducing the drive down to Taylor to about 2 hours, a quick visit over to Ann Arbor to see Chad and drop him off some Canadian vacuums and a fine shopping adventure at JC Penny, Sears and others for new jeans, shirts, chinos and underwear for the coming work year