eBay

yuzuha · ‎12-28-2018

Last week my friend, who is a huge Disney fan, purchased a set of Limited Edition theme park trading pins here on eBay.

She received them today... wrapped in toilet paper and shoved into a manila (not even padded) envelope. Is it any wonder that buyers are leaving eBay? That sort of thing is shameful and sellers who do that should be given the boot. Don't wrap your purchases in TOILET PAPER, for crying out loud! At least use paper towels or napkins or SOMETHING! Take some pride in what you're doing and remember that there is another person on the other end who is going to be receiving whatever it is that you've shipped. Put in a little effort!

gew6463 · ‎12-28-2018

I think you will find you are preaching to the choir here. I also wish sellers who couldn't care less about proper packaging/shipping would come here & see this (along with other like-minded threads).

I don't know if you are a seller, but accusing sellers in general of this doesn't really solve the problem. I buy almost as much as I sell, and I could start a dozen threads on the crazy way my items have arrived (sometimes damaged). But I don't blame sellers as a whole. Like everything else in life, it is all about the individual (seller) responsibility. So you might suggest your friend notify the seller of her/his displeasure directly, as well as through feedback (perhaps a neutral to notify others that their item may come wrapped in toilet paper? calmly & politely stated of course). It's your choice, but just a thought.

lex-talon · ‎12-28-2018

I've received fragile items that were just placed in a box with no bubble wrap or any protection of any sort.

There are a few sellers whose packaging skills are horrible.

The majority I've encountered, do a decent packaging job.

Have your friend leave appropriate feedback to warn potential buyers.

luckythewinner · ‎12-28-2018

@yuzuha wrote:
She received them today... wrapped in toilet paper and shoved into a manila (not even padded) envelope. Is it any wonder that buyers are leaving eBay?

First - there will always be buyers who leave and buyers who arrive. But the dollar volume of merchandise sold here increases every quarter, so I not take your fundamental premise as fact.

Second - there have been and always will always be sellers who suck at packing. But I have been buying here for almost 20 years, and the vast majority of the sellers I have bought from have packed their items with care. So I would also not necesarily leap to the conclusion that poor packaging is recent phenomenon or a growing trend.

adkhighker · ‎12-28-2018

Unfortunately, ebay has never held sellers to task when it comes to packaging, at least not in terms of buyers being able to score them on it. There are more than a few sellers, including myself, who think something like "Care of Packaging" should take the place of "Shipping and handling charges" when it comes to rating sellers with DSR's.

I would never pack something in toilet paper myself, but if the TP was clean and if my items arrived in the shape they're supposed to, I wouldn't go bananas over it, but that's just me.

iowa_east_coast · ‎12-28-2018

Once I bought an item that I did not want shipped in an envelope. I asked the seller to ship it in a box, he did, a cereal box. Luckily no damage to the item.

I remember when if you asked Alexa to change the channel, she had to go to the TV and turn the knob. ~ iowa_east_coast

amysaint_0 · ‎12-28-2018

Worst purchase I ever made, I bought a squash blossom necklace $2000, it came in a white envelope, mangled.

Had they at least used tp it might have survived.

calntom · ‎12-28-2018

In person or through the mail.....

The delivery is the most important part of the selling process.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎12-28-2018

It is an ongoing problem. Ebay is addressing it, I believe in part, by offering the branded packaging supplies to some sellers. As both a buyer and a seller, I am uncertain what the solution is. I agree adding a “care of packaging” rating might help.

Buyers who are at the receiving end of poor packing efforts do need to make their displeasure heard, as one poster suggested. I for one am tired of receiving expensive designer duds crammed into manila envelopes or flat rate priority cardboard mailers. Clothes aren't documents! How is it these packages are even accepted by the USPS?

Sellers need to roll sufficient packing supply costs into their prices rather than trying to save a buck using improper methods. Jmtc.

the_fancy_fox · ‎12-28-2018

I have to ask, did they arrive safe and sound or damaged?

The Race is over
The Rats won.

yuzuha · ‎12-28-2018

@the_fancy_fox wrote:
I have to ask, did they arrive safe and sound or damaged?

They did, miraculously. She was amazed given that the envelope looked like it had been through h-e-double hockey sticks.

magicjohnsonsvariety · ‎12-28-2018

You have to keep in mind that not all sellers are professional salesmen and saleswomen.

Many are laymen...in other words, housewives, inexperienced young people and other ordinary people who only have limited knowledge about packing.

Even nurses, doctors and attorneys who sell here may be excellent at their day jobs but might not know how to pack safely for transit, or might use common materials found around the house that others find offensive.

There are tips on ebay and all over the internent, but it's not like there are Packing 101 classes in college to educate those just starting out selling.

When you order from a retail store you should expect professional packing, however, on ebay you are often ordering from other average people such as yourself....

......just some food for thought....and no, I'm not advocating the use of toilet paper.

castlemagicmemories · ‎12-28-2018

While I understand that not all sellers are professional sellers, still, it is not hard to deduce that sending breakables in an envelope may not result in the item arriving intact.

I've received a doll in an envelope; it was only by the grace of God that it wasn't broken. I've received a rare, fragile, vintage porcelain figurine in a poly mailer.

An intricately carved faux pumpkin in an enveloped covered with fragile stickers.

And the list goes on. Even got one item smashed, and this was a trading assistant who had sold on Ebay since it was started, and this transaction was just in the last few years. Seller put glass part in with heavy music box, no separation, it didn't stand a chance.

autopartspuller · ‎12-28-2018

I have had some really poorly packed items but, I think the worst I have ever had was actually this christmas. I ordered a piece of stereo equipment. It came wrapped once in paper and had used gatorade bottles for packing material with the bonus of just a spit of liquid in each bottle. It was beat to heck. I was just like, "WTH?"