Rubbish eBay Packing - What Should I Do?

I wanted to sound out the Forum's opinion regarding something that's happened to me a couple of times now. Sadly, if you stay in the collecting game long enough, sooner or later you will probably be a victim of poor packing when buying an item and having it posted to you. I buy a fair bit from eBay (not just vintage, but all sorts of things), and the vast majority of the time the items arrive undamaged. With vintage items in particular, I always make a special point of asking how things will be packaged in advance of bidding / buying, and even ask sellers leading questions such as, 'will you send it in a very strong box with a couple of inches packing on all sides of the item?', etc.

On a few thankfully rare occasions, I have had to return vintage items due to sellers simply not doing what they said they would and cheaping out on the packing they've used, resulting in those items arriving needlessly damaged :-(. However, what I have experienced again today is something similar, but different.

Today I received a MOC, and it's in perfect condition. That's great news of course, and I am genuinely thankful. However, it's no thanks to the seller. Quite frankly, it's borderline miraculous that it is undamaged due to the inadequate, feeble packing they used. I won't go into specifics in case the seller is a member here, however believe me when I say that as the postman handed me a crushed box this morning, my heart sank into my toes as I feared the worst!

So my question is this; even though the MOC arrived undamaged, should I say anything to the seller about their packing? They could quite rightly reply to any comment / criticism of mine by pointing out that their packing worked (just). However, they have other MOCs for sale (and actually have sold a few already), and I wince at the thought of another buyer being less fortunate than me, if their purchase is packed in a similar way. I've got away with it, but what about them? Or should I be thankful that mine survived and not rock the boat?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

At least it was in a box, I once received a MOC from America in a jiffy bag and like yours somehow it had defied the laws of physics and arrived undamaged, not even creased!

If it arrived safely there's not much you can do other than offer them some friendly advice for next time, however last time I did that the seller took great offence and it was more hassle than it was worth.

I would offer up some advice. If they are a reasonable seller and genuinely did not know then they will be thankful of the heads up. I've had a couple of guys who have been happy to receive tips. If they kick up a fuss they're probably a knob anyway. Perhaps the way they handle the feedback might effect the rating you leave them as a seller.

The good thing is they can no longer leave you negative feedback as a buyer.

What's his feedback like? If he's been selling Mocs for year he's unlikely to give a toss what you say and you can't really neg him cos the item arrived as described.

If it's a newish seller then a polite private message might be well appreciated. Most people have no idea how fragile these 'toys' are!

I don't think there's anything to lose from a polite message offering a suggestion. Afterall, it's only a matter of time that those packaging practices will result in a **** up he's going to be out of pocket as a result of. He may respond positively or negatively. But either way, at least you tried.

I had a similar one recently; I asked the seller to please use plenty of bubble wrap and a solid box big enough to avoid damage to the item should it get crushed. He said he would do. It turned up in a star case which was jammed into a box barely big enough, so if the box had been crushed at all the star case would have done diddly squat!

Some people don't understand the concept of an item needing some padded space around it to avoid damage, sadly.

I'd give the advice in a non-confrontational manner; as others have said, if he's decent he'll appreciate it and you'll help others receive items in the condition they expect. If he's a knob he'll very likely fall foul of sending things packaged inadequately sooner rather than later.

I think you're overthinking it mate. It arrived undamaged so don't worry about it. As already mentioned, I would maybe tell them the box arrived crushed and it might be worth packing better next time. I once got home and found a box that had a MOC in it on my doorstep which had been sat in the rain all day. When I picked it up the cardboard disintegrated in my hands. Luckily the MOC was wrapped in **** loads of bubble and sellotape and was completely dry inside. It was the dreaded Hermes, not the sellers fault. I told the seller though, just to make him aware that's what Hermes are doing with his goods.

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I'll have a think about it and then decide what I should do.

Every item I've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well , I've never given advice as how to pack to anyone before buying as I regard that as insulting as if the seller is a moron and they know my sage guidance " how to pack an item ?" It's not that dam hard .

Survival kit Chris said:

Every item I've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well , I've never given advice as how to pack to anyone before buying as I regard that as insulting as if the seller is a moron and they know my sage guidance " how to pack an item ?" It's not that dam hard .

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No it's not hard at all, which makes it all the more infuriating when people **** it up!

I felt the need to contact someone for sending me a boxed Snowspeeder simply wrapped in brown paper. S/he had very low feedback so I politely said that the boxes of these things are desirable and s/he might get caught out with a claim in future a similar item got damaged.

Survival kit Chris said:

Every item I've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well , I've never given advice as how to pack to anyone before buying as I regard that as insulting as if the seller is a moron and they know my sage guidance " how to pack an item ?" It's not that dam hard .

Click to expand...

If every item you've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well then you've either not bought very many things or else have been incredibly fortunate. I haven't been so lucky. Some of the things I have received over the years would have been packed better if they'd been given to a chimp with some sellotape.

A few years ago I had a boxed Dewback sent from the States. The seller said they would pack it well, but what they actually did was wrap a single thickness of bubble wrap around the Dewback's box and then wrap that in a single layer of brown paper. It should amaze no-one to learn that the Dewback's box arrived damaged.

You say it's not that damn hard to pack an item. Well it is if the seller actually is a moron.

Snaketibe said:

Survival kit Chris said:

Every item I've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well , I've never given advice as how to pack to anyone before buying as I regard that as insulting as if the seller is a moron and they know my sage guidance " how to pack an item ?" It's not that dam hard .

Click to expand...

If every item you've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well then you've either not bought very many things or else have been incredibly fortunate. I haven't been so lucky. Some of the things I have received over the years would have been packed better if they'd been given to a chimp with some sellotape.

A few years ago I had a boxed Dewback sent from the States. The seller said they would pack it well, but what they actually did was wrap a single thickness of bubble wrap around the Dewback's box and then wrap that in a single layer of brown paper. It should amaze no-one to learn that the Dewback's box arrived damaged.

You say it's not that damn hard to pack an item. Well it is if the seller actually is a moron.

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I've bought plenty of things so I'm not sure why you brought that up ? I've received over 200 items in the mail . If someone sends me something damaged due to negligent packaging I'll put in a claim , damaged goods due to negligence and get a refund . I'm not about to be a Back seat driver and tell people how to pack items.

Snaketibe said:

Survival kit Chris said:

Every item I've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well , I've never given advice as how to pack to anyone before buying as I regard that as insulting as if the seller is a moron and they know my sage guidance " how to pack an item ?" It's not that dam hard .

Click to expand...

If every item you've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well then you've either not bought very many things or else have been incredibly fortunate. I haven't been so lucky. Some of the things I have received over the years would have been packed better if they'd been given to a chimp with some sellotape.

A few years ago I had a boxed Dewback sent from the States. The seller said they would pack it well, but what they actually did was wrap a single thickness of bubble wrap around the Dewback's box and then wrap that in a single layer of brown paper. It should amaze no-one to learn that the Dewback's box arrived damaged.

You say it's not that damn hard to pack an item. Well it is if the seller actually is a moron.

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Why would you try and give advice to a chimp ? I don't see the point in that ?

Survival kit Chris said:

Snaketibe said:

Survival kit Chris said:

Every item I've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well , I've never given advice as how to pack to anyone before buying as I regard that as insulting as if the seller is a moron and they know my sage guidance " how to pack an item ?" It's not that dam hard .

Click to expand...

If every item you've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well then you've either not bought very many things or else have been incredibly fortunate. I haven't been so lucky. Some of the things I have received over the years would have been packed better if they'd been given to a chimp with some sellotape.

A few years ago I had a boxed Dewback sent from the States. The seller said they would pack it well, but what they actually did was wrap a single thickness of bubble wrap around the Dewback's box and then wrap that in a single layer of brown paper. It should amaze no-one to learn that the Dewback's box arrived damaged.

You say it's not that damn hard to pack an item. Well it is if the seller actually is a moron.

Click to expand...

I've bought plenty of things so I'm not sure why you brought that up ? I've received over 200 items in the mail . If someone sends me something damaged due to negligent packaging I'll put in a claim , damaged goods due to negligence and get a refund . I'm not about to be a Back seat driver and tell people how to pack items.

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If you read what I actually said, it was:

'If every item you've ever bought has always arrived safely and packaged well then you've either not bought very many things or else have been incredibly fortunate.'

I didn't say you haven't bought very many things, I said you either haven't bought very many things, or you have been incredibly fortunate. Since you say you have received over 200 items in the mail, if indeed all of them have been well packed then I stand by my statement; you have been incredibly fortunate. Congratulations for that, as it's a large enough sample size to easily be expected to have one or two poorly packed items somewhere within it at least, so if you haven't, you've beaten the odds. And that's why I brought it up (since you ask), because I was pointing out that whilst you may have been lucky, others sadly have not.

As for your comment about 'not being a backseat driver and telling people how to pack items', the (very strong, IMHO) argument for doing so, based partly off my experience of being on the receiving end of some very poor packing down the years, and partly through my knowledge of vintage Star Wars items, is that poor packing can easily and needlessly lead to damage of rare and valuable items which cannot always easily be replaced. They're not making any more of these vintage Star Wars items, and every one which gets damaged or destroyed reduces the number of good condition / mint examples left in the world, thereby damaging the hobby for us all. However by offering packing advice to an inexperienced seller (or someone who's packing expertise is unknown to you) you help ensure that the item you are buying is well packed and hence is more likely to arrive undamaged. This in turn obviously helps you as the buyer (because the item arrives in the condition you want), it helps the seller (because they don't have to deal with a returned item), and it helps the hobby as a whole (because it doesn't reduce the global supply of undamaged vintage items). And if the seller doesn't appreciate the advice they have been given, they'll get over it! I would far rather risk slightly offending a seller trying to sell me an item by offering them some packing advice, than I would risk receiving a needlessly damaged item.

Survival kit Chris said:

Why would you try and give advice to a chimp ? I don't see the point in that ?

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As for your other comment above, I suggest you re-read my post as that's not what I said.

I read what you said , I don't need your extensive explanation as to what you wrote nor do I need anyone's advice on wrapping up an item in bubble wrap and sticking it in a box . I haven't been extremely fortunate , most people have common sense and they apply it , that's the reason all my items have arrived in a 1 shape , nothing to do with luck , in regards to your general info , these are limited toys etcetera , save your breath , I know all about that .

I would agree that if you've never received a badly packaged item in 200 plus transactions then you have been very fortunate - I've received MOCs in bubble envelopes on more than one occasion, including one where the seller actually folded it in half to fit in the envelope.

Whilst it may seem like common sense to pack items in boxes with bubble wrap/peanuts etc not everyone does so.
I also get that it can be like teaching someone to suck eggs by sending a polite note about careful packaging and can even feel irksome to receive such a message if you know how to ship items professionally, believe me it's well worth it even if it only saves one item from being ruined.

I wasn't fortunate , most sellers are well aware that the customer always gets right of way with eBay so most people send their items in a sensible fashion . There was no luck involved. I'm well aware that some people are as thick as a brick when it comes to packing however if I'm dealing with someone like that then I highly doubt I'll change their ways , kind of like people who think putting a fragile sticker on a box will make a difference. Anyone actually think when a postal worker sees a fragile sticker they decide to suddenly become alert and handed it carefully? If anything a fragile sticker encourages bored staff to throw it around for amusements sake .

I would ask you to please buy me a lottery ticket, I'll of course send you the £2. :wink:
The reason being that you've had 200 items shipped to you without any damage then you are very very lucky, so I'm hoping that your luck will rub off on to the lottery ticket.

I've had very few items damaged in the post as I put as much effort as I can into asking about how the item will be shipped before I buy to ensure that the item arrives as I purchased it.

Today I received a loose figure in a small padded envelope, the figure was in a plastic bag, no bubble wrap.
Thankful it did not get any rubs or damage when shipping, it was only a cheap £130 figure! :shock: I would never send a £10 figure like that.

I think that everyone here can share poor packaging disasters, and that's why I always do everything that I can to try to reduce the risk. If they are a collector they totally understand and those that aren't will normally understand once you explain nicely about the value often being in the packaging and not the figure it's self.
If I don't get the right vibes, I simply do not buy from them.

I am not going to get into a slagging match as that's not me, and that's not the reason I ams responding on this thread, but I do feel that your experiences are the exception not the rule, I hope that your luck continues.

Have a good weekend.

Perhaps all the collecting geniuses can have how to pack and ship something properly demonstrations , wait a second that's happened before ! Do people think they hold exclusive genius knowledge when it comes to wrap up an item in bubble wrap and shipping it ? Get over yourselves with your sage packing advice given to sellers . You give your advice to sellers , the sellers to be polite say no problem, consider it done , then they packed how they had planned to anyway , you played zero significant role , you think you did .