Sending seller a message concerning packaging.
I am planning on buying a vintage CRT and I want to send the seller a message asking him if he would pack my package to keep the tv safe so it doesn't get damaged during shipping. I have seen where people have bought stuff and it was just put in a box with no packaging. It is being shipped by USPS Ground Advantage, so I don't know if that makes a difference.
Thanks.
18 comments
kafar-561113
OP2 years agoI forgot to say the seller only had 31 reviews in total
kafar-561113
OP2 years agoI also seen where he sold another crt tv on the 23rd
kafar-561113
OP2 years agoThe seller is also selling another crt for more money, so that makes me think he does know what he’s doing. He only has one negative review.
tinsoldierunderground
·2 years agoOK, so maybe this is the extenuating circumstance. What was the feedback concerning?
kafar-561113
OP2 years agoThe negative feedback was about how the buyer never received their item and it was actually sent to the wrong address.
tinsoldierunderground
·2 years agoSeller must not have done much volume in the past 12 months to get knocked back to 96.9 by one neg.
One can only speculate from here whether the error was on the part of the seller or whatever carrier was used. And many will fault the seller in any case.
mudshark61369
·2 years ago@kafar-561113,
You replied to my first post writing; "The seller has a 96.9% positive feedback, and the seller hasn’t sold a crt".
A 96.9% rating for a high feedback number seller is not a good one, as a matter of fact you should avoid buying from one with that low of a percentage. However, a low feedback number seller could have that rating for just one negative feedback. I should have told you earlier, if the seller has received any negative or neutral feedback, you can click on the numbers of those in the box on the profile page, to read only those comments. They can be very telling.
Your seller may never have sold a CRT before but if they have sold other types of vintage electronics, they may know what they are doing. Still even if they do pack carefully and mark a package as Fragile, there is no accounting for how a shipper/or their carrier handles it. Old CRTs can be very sensitive to the most minor shock.
A few years ago I moved my vintage Atari, Asteroids arcade game from one side of a room to the other, with 3 guys handling it very gently, no shocks to the unit whatsoever, but when I plugged it back in, the sound and all 5 buttons worked, we could hear firing and thrusters working, but the CRT was dead.
I contacted the guy I bought it from, 8 years earlier, who sells, rents, repairs, restores old arcade games, come over and check it out. He did a little testing and said, the CRT's time had come, it didn't have anything to do with the way it was moved.
bennotbill
·2 years agoThis reminded me of a couple of badly packaged items I've received.
A complete PC set up, base, LCD, keyboard, and mouse. All rattling loose in a big cardboard box. The LCD never survived that.
A touchscreen mobile phone in just a plain ordinary brown envelope. That was amazingly OK.
After that most things I bought I added a note along the lines of "Please put some wrapping around each ............, even if it's only newspaper, so they don't get smashed and broken in the post. Sorry if you have already done this".
Maybe it helped maybe it didn't. I'd like to think it did. Some sellers reply stating their item was securely packed. Much the same way as I reply to buyers who ask me to wrap an item well.
gosimus
·2 years ago@kafar-561113
< I want to send the seller a message asking him if he would pack my package to keep the tv safe >
The implication being that the seller doesn't usually pack adequately? I'm pretty sure that's not a practical way to get on a seller's good side. An experienced seller knows that getting the item to the buyer safely is in his own interest. He knows that, if it gets broken, eBay will force him to give back the money. It doesn't take many of those happenings before a seller either gets the message, or goes down the porcelain facility.
mudshark61369
·2 years ago@kafar-561113,
Before messaging the seller check their feedback profile page. To do that scroll down the listing page to where you see the seller's username in a Large font. Below that will be a few feedback comments, then an oval with See all feedback in it. Click on it and the seller's feedback profile page will open. on it click on the As a Seller tab so only those feedback are shown, and look to see if the seller has sold larger electric items like a CRT before. If they have and there aren't any negatives saying they arrived damaged or were poorly packed. Then there probably is not a need to message them and possibly get blocked by them. Seller's can be touchy about shipping questions.
kafar-561113
OP2 years agoThe seller has a 96.9% positive feedback, and the seller hasn’t sold a crt.
tinsoldierunderground
·2 years agoI agree with mudshark61369, in most cases, barring extenuating circumstance, a 96.9% feedback rating is akin to circling the bowl right after the flush handle is pushed.
kathiec
·2 years agoHonestly, asking a seller to package your item so it doesn't get damaged is akin to the sellers who add the big disclaimers "Don't bid if you aren't going to pay!!!!!!!!!" to their listings. No buyer ever said, "Oh gee, I'd better find another listing. This seller is requiring me to pay." And no seller ever said, "Gosh, this buyer is one of those rare ones who wants to get their item undamaged. I'd better not just shove this fragile item in a box with no padding."
There are much less insulting ways to approach this. And as others have stated, the time to do it is before you make a purchase. You can message the seller and inquire about how they plan to package the CRT for shipment. Don't make it sound like you suspect they're idiots and are just going to throw it in a box. That's very likely just going to get you blocked.
clemowbooks
·2 years agoAsk questions, including instructions about special packaging BEFORE purchasing.
The seller has calculated his shipping costs on the packaging (weight and dimensions) and service they plan to use.
If you pay then ask questions, the seller has little reason to be helpful.
If the seller is unable to follow your instructions, they can refuse to take your offer .
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoNo matter HOW a package is 'packaged'- a CRT can get damaged.
You, as a buyer, have the 30 day Money Back Guarantee.
Google it- read it, learn it, love it.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoSome sellers who know how to pack a crt will be offended by your message. You can tell who they are by the hundred or thousands of sales they have made. But you are free to offend them.
Those who do not know how to pack a CRT or who underestimated the shipping cost will still pack it wrong.
Fortunately, the seller is responsible for the safe delivery of the item, and the Ebay Money Back Guarantee will apply if you follow the procedures within the defined time limits if it arrives damaged.
gator08041971
·2 years agoThere is nothing wrong with asking the seller to do as much as they can to protect your purchase.
Some may already have a way of doing so, others may have no clue.
Whatever you do, be polite and to the point. Try not to put any insult into the request, or make any assumptions about the seller's capability.
How its shipped may not matter much here.
The biggest thing with shipping a CRT, is the packaging has to be not only strong to support the weight, the interior packaging needs to be strong to keep the CRT from moving around inside the box.
My suggestion would be some nice foam padding wrapped around it nice and snug, then using either larger cell bubble wrap as box-to-CTR filler support, or good packing paper (and plenty of it).
Here is an example of how I packed a large item:
  
Biggest thing, is to make sure there is no dead spaces where the item can move around inside the box.
Good luck!
kafar-561113
OP2 years agoThank you, that was really helpful. This is my first time buying a crt off eBay and seen where some people have gotten damaged crt’s and I just want to make sure that the seller will pack it securely before I buy it.