eBay

1iampolly · ‎12-01-2021

Even if I hadn't been selling online for 27 years, I think I would still be insulted when a buyer sends a note to seller like these: "Please pack it securely in case of damages during shipping" or "Make sure you carefully package this" or "Add extra peanuts & tissue paper with the package" and my favorite, "Make sure this won't get damaged during shipping." Don't buyers know how insulting this is to the seller? Also, I've seen packages that look as if USPS drop-kicked them into a garbage truck & we certainly don't have control over how our packaged are handled. I've tried to think of ways to respond to these comments, letting the buyer know I always package with care & that it's insulting telling a seller how to do his/her job. And lastly, that I would have to ship in steel boxes in order to insure safe travels. Thoughts?

meme6253 · ‎12-02-2021

Customers have a right to ask you to protect their purchase, I don't have a problem with that, I have recieved numerous poorly packaged Item's with Sellers here & was never Very Happy about It!, There are Many sellers who put No effort at all in the way they package & Item, & Free shipping is a Disaster waiting to happen!

soh.maryl · ‎12-02-2021

The son-in-law of a friend, who's a USPS employee, recently was cut by a piece of glass or china that fell out of a package he was handling. He said there was already a spot of blood on the package, so he figured he was not the first person to be injured by someone's carelessness.

gosimus · ‎12-02-2021

@1iampolly

< I've seen packages that look as if USPS drop-kicked them into a garbage truck >

Doubtless so have those customers. Don't be insulted. Those are probably first time customers and haven't yet learned that you're the kind of seller who diligently packages your sold items. If you check my feedback given to others, you'll see that I acknowledge good packaging, such as saying that it came in a box, etc.

< we certainly don't have control over how our packaged are handled >

No, but we certainly do have control over how the items are packaged. You already know that you can expect those gorillas at the shipping office to try to score three points with your package, therefore it must be packed well enough to withstand any rough treatment... short of rolling over it with a Caterpillar D11 bulldozer.

tefka · ‎12-02-2021

No, this is a valid request, and I often do the same. I am a seller and it is common to receive a book for instance with no padding. A vintage or any book really in a thin ebay padded mailer that gets shipped media mail. Boards come dented or spine cracked. This happened several times and I lost a lot of time as I had to re-research and re-purchase a book to complete a set to re-sell. I didn't feel comfortable leaving negative feedback for a fellow seller as they were low-priced items, although I alerted the seller to the problem. It has made a difference since I started asking for adequate padding, and if I don't receive a package with adequate packing in the future, after I've asked for it, I plan on leaving negative FB.

Don't take this personally (I don't, and reassure the buyer of my excellent packing skills), and understand that clueless sellers created this problem, and buyers care about getting your item undamaged.

junkdrawerstodiefor · ‎12-02-2021

I HAVE ALSO SOLD HERE FOR 27 YEARS ON MULTIPLE id's AND I DO NOT GIVE A DANG IF YOU ARE INSULTED WHEN I SEND MY GENERIC PACKAGING MESSAGE TO EVER SELLER I BUY FROM. YOU MUST GET YOUR JUNK AT THE FLEA MARKET AND HAVE NEVER HAD A BAD DELIVERY THAT WAS THE SOLE FAULT OF THE SELLER!!!! I USED TO WORK AT UPS AND KNOW HOW THEY TREAT MY MERCHANDISE SO THEY GET NO BUSINESS FROM ME.

Most of my merchandise I purchase on ebay that gets broke is not the fault of the shipper USPS, it is the lazy lack luster packaging of the seller. Packages get thrown, duh, so prepare and treat all your items you sell as if it is a one of a kind grandmas keepsake. Lots of folks sell things that are worth hundreds of dollars and do not even know it and sell it for chump change so yes I always request special handling so it does not get thrown in with the rest of the junk and get cracked or scratched or chipped or snappers all of which effects the value of the item.

Check out my feedback, my customers appreciate the extra time I take to make sure their item arrives as advertised even if it get drop kicked into the back of a truck or falls out of the sky. No matter who breaks it, the seller is responsible and ebay will side with the buyer every time. So my advice, pack well and let your customers politely know that you do and they will return. You get snarky like you are here and bye bye, you have lost another customer for life.

What is insulting to me is their are ebay sellers who get insulted at these simple requests from ebay customers, after all in business, the customer is always right. I cannot believe you have not learned that lesson yet in 27 years. So take a chill pill and find some other thing in life to be insulted about.

nuclearomen · ‎12-02-2021

it's something you will deal with for another 27 years if continue to sell. This is one major reason why buyers come to marketplaces, because the bigger retailers are horrible shippers, generally item thrown in a box (usually too big for said item) with no protection at all and arrives damaged - ALL major retails ship like this, and ALL of them experience extremely high return and refund rates. 3rd party sellers are proven to take much more care in their shipping practices, not all but many. I know I spend a lot on shipping supplies, bubble wrap, air bags, packing popcorn, good quality boxes etc... but I also know it has paid 10 fold for itself, buyers come back become repeat buyers, leave good feedback etc... but it also costs and that cost is reflected in the price tag of items...nothing is free, but no one is going to complain they had to spend a few dollars more to buy item from a seller who took care in what they shipped. Even so, buyers will always add notes and send mails about the shipping and I just reply, they can rest assured the item will be packaged extremely well, always, with me. Anything can result from the brutality of the shipping services all we can do is package items the best we can to help combat that brutality.

The great truth is there isn't one
And it only gets worse since that conclusion...
...There is something about the rigid posture of a proper, authentic blind
As if extended arms reached to pass his blindness onto others.

imakesugar · ‎12-02-2021

I am M a seller. You would not believe the horror stories of purchases that I have made that ended up broke.

1) I bought an antique tea set. It was porcelain. The seller put it in a box with nothing but newspaper. The set was nested between the papers no bubble wrap no protection nothing. The Chinese cups worked their way to the outer edges and thank God nothing was broke. Ridiculous packing.

2) At one point I was buying many camera parts. You’d be surprised how many very small packages and boxes I got with no protection around the lens. Some were broke because of that.

3) on the other hand I bout some dishes. They were packed with paper all survived. The box was 24X2 and had some much brown shipping paper I could hardly find the merchandise. That was over kill!! I paid much more for the shipping because the box was too big and stuffed with paper ( heavy)

4) I bought a mahjong game set. It was in a plastic shipping envelope. I thought I was purchasing from a USA seller, wrong. It had a wooden case. it was bent out of shape the inside had been squished. The top seemed to have got wet. I messaged seller ( and sent pictures. he offered me $5.00. Inwardly I laughed. He would give me 20% for a broken item. I said no! He then offered me $11.00. I can fix it. That was 1/2. ( I wonder how many buyers would have accepted that and moved on Not knowing that the seller, who sent it with FedEx., that he would make a profit when he got the insurance from shipper.) I ask him right out if he needed more pictures to file a insurance claim. So he still made a neat profit on that sale. I am sure he was a reshipper.

On the other hand I’ve learned many shipping tricks from great sellers.

One Seller I remember used foam house insulation toBubble his glassware. Sure wished I could remember how he kept it from sticking to the glassware? Anyone know that? I have been straining me brain trying to remember that LMAO.

I don’t take those requests to seriously. I did have a request last month… I advertised a set of large jewelry and stated it was in a gift box. They wanted to save $3.00 on shipping by having me put it in an envelope. I replied. I am putting the item in a gift box to make sure it arrives safe. I can not send it without a gift box for the safety in shipping the item… I heard nothing back.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎12-02-2021

@imakesugar wrote: ... One Seller I remember used foam house insulation toBubble his glassware. Sure wished I could remember how he kept it from sticking to the glassware? Anyone know that? ....

IIRC the process involves lining the bottom of the box with a plastic bag, squirt the foam into the bag and close the bag, press the item on top of that bag before the foam hardens so you have a customized shape, and then top off the box with another bag filled with foam. So you end up with two plastic bags filled with foam that has been molded to the shape of the item, and the item in between them. To unpack, you just lift out the top bag.

glasser · ‎12-02-2021

I have not one single issue with someone requesting I take care with their item. They just spent money and want the new thing to arrive on harmed.

I know how I pack and ship and have plenty of positive packing feedback that should make buyers confident. I sell (and buy) mostly fragile items and I know shipping can be the most nerve-racking part of the process. New international customers are most likely to make this request to me. I get it. You are talking about a piece of glass spending 10-15 days in transit, probably sitting on a tarmac (in who knows what kind of weather) once or twice in the process, bouncing around customs, and then the last mile.

Think of this way. eBay is a 1-1 buying and selling site. I can't communicate with Amazon my concern about shipping, but on eBay I can communicate with a real human. That's a good thing even if you think it's not needed.

luckythewinner · ‎12-02-2021

@1iampolly wrote:
Don't buyers know how insulting this is to the seller?
Thoughts?

I see it as an opportunity to respond and reassure my buyer how carefully I will pack his item and hopefully "win" a repeat customer who has likely been subjected to poor service in the past.

One example: I recently bought a 45 rpm record that came without a paper sleeve, and wrapped in a single layer of newspaper with a shipping label on it.

IMHO there is no question that many sellers need to be educated about proper packaging and I do not find those messages insulting at all.

singular-source · ‎12-02-2021

Can't blame them. eBay sellers have a limited budget for packaging. I always take someone that has a request like this more seriously. Smart buyer. Steel boxes haha, I have no experience with that. Don't take it personally.

sextons-sweet-deals · ‎12-02-2021

So with 27 years selling, I assume you know what you're doing when packing.

I can also see these comments from buyers as possibly trying to set you up for a complaint. I would take photos of the packing process and make sure you use labels like "glass", "fragile", and /or ""handle with care". Maybe even add signature required based on value and ship priority so less handling / bouncing around of package.

I would say any seller shipping fragile items this Christmas need to take extra measures on packing. Many carriers hire temps that don't care about your package.

yuzuha · ‎12-02-2021

@shado-x wrote:
As a seller, I can be a buyer too, and guess what-----I bought an Elemis shampoo on eBay and ask me if it was packaged properly? Best smelling box ever to arrive. Went directly to Elemis the next time, packaged properly, but am still waiting for my free samples. LOL. Get over it, package it right like the rest of us.

I once bought a tube of scented shower gel on eBay... it showed up wrapped in a square of bubble wrap and shoved into a manila mailer. I'm truly amazed that it didn't burst in shipping! I was nice and didn't neg the seller, but they really deserved a red donut for that (lack of) packing job.