The range of unboxing experiences purchasing from independent sellers

[jenniegirlscloset]

Recently I went on a buying bing to get vintage Moschino pieces for a special project.  I shopped on all platforms I could find.  My experiences were as wide as it is from here to Mars.  From Cereal boxes with duct tape to fully wrapped presents with hand written notes.  From pieces so poorly discribed (condition issues) to the joy of that great unbelievable pristine find.  I was turned off by so many of the packing (one was tissue paper with clear pcking take over every inch) that I thought even though my packing is always good...I should take it to the next level to increase repeat customers and surprise and delite the buyers.

My quesiton is how far to you take your unboxing experience as an ebay seller?  I am in the process of trying to compete withe likes of the ecommerce giants with branded stickers, cards, and boxes.

[dougsue123b]

When I buy something all I care about is it getting here as described and unbroken.

When I sell something I use plenty of bubble wrap and sometimes new foam laminate flooring underlayment. I try to use new boxes when I can, but for larger stuff its just what I can scrounge.

[lex-talon]

As a buyer, I expect the seller to package my items so they are not damaged during transit. Not too long ago, a seller just threw a lot of 25 cd's in a large box with no packing material.

Several of the jewel cases were damaged as a result. Some sellers are just lazy.

I don't find it necessary to use stickers or ebay branded boxes. The boxes I use are mostly from Amazon or plain brown boxes. Never had a buyer complain about how I package my items. If you take the time to package items adequately,  there should be no damaged items.

[chrysylys]

Packaging tells me a lot about how the seller feels about their operation.  Shoddy packaging tells me I probably won't buy from them again.   I would never reuse a box from a competing site.  Nor would I use a retail box that was unprotected by an outer box.  In some cases, I may reuse a brown box with some writing on it, but I would cover that writing with tan spray paint.  For my items, I bought new boxes of a special size I had to search for, then created and printed my own labels.

[vintagemoth12]

  I would never reuse a box from a competing site. 

I know you are a great seller and so I hated hearing this from you. I order most everything from W-world or the river that aren't priced competitively on eBay. Dog supplies, laundry detergent... all that kind of stuff.

I get really nice quality boxes and packing from them and have reused them selling on eBay. I am a very small seller so usually, the most listings I have is 5 at a time as I sell things I don't use anymore. 

As the buyer, I don't mind getting boxes that have obviously been used before as long as they are sturdy and do the job. 

If I had a store and a large inventory I would definitely use the whole branding thing as I really get into that sort of thing anyway and always pack very neatly and try to make it look very professional (except for the box) 🙂

[tunicaslot]

I have to say - I reuse boxes that my mom saves from her purchases and that I have from my own purchases. I also buy boxes and get the free boxes from the USPS. I dislike when I buy something that could break and it's sent in a poly mailer. I also wouldn't like to recieve anything in food boxes - but many sellers aren't professional - they are just people cleaning out their basements.

For clothing items - I wrap them in tissuepaper first - is it needed - no - but I get lots of complimentary feedback due to that. For breakables - I package well in case a heavier package falls on it. My goal is for it to survive it's travels.

[chrysylys]

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@vintagemoth12wrote:

I get really nice quality boxes and packing from them and have reused them selling

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A single $5 can of tan spray paint will obliterate names and advertising from other sites on a large number of boxes.

I'm all for reusing boxes if possible, but NOT those that advertise for other sites or retailers.

[vintagemoth12]

Thank you for your input. Maybe I’ll try the paint thing. I have thought of somehow covering up the emblems with something. It’s funny, because I don’t see the places I mentioned as competitors of eBay. EBay, from me has always been a place of its own. And I’ve also associated it with receiving the product side order in strange packagings. I know there’s a lot of people who were just selling their own things. I kind of look at eBay like it’s just the facility where people are selling through but I can tell that eBay is wanting to change that image.

[bigoljim47 · Accepted solution]

First impression. I sell mainly clothing. When wrapping I use tissue paper between folding to prevent some wrinkling/ Then the entire item is wrapped in tissue paper. Then the item is placed into a Shirt bag, so if the outer shipping bag breaks, the item has some protection. I Like the new Logo tissue paper, it looks more professional.

I have purchased many clothing items on my buying ID and took note of what looks good or not. In the beginning, if I needed a box, I used whatever box would fit. But now sellers should impress buyers by using clean packing materials. Lets face it, we have to compete with other sites. I want buyer to come back to Ebay to purchase whatever. 

[chrysylys]

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@bigoljim47wrote:

Lets face it, we have to compete with other sites. I want buyer to come back to Ebay to purchase whatever. 

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With their antagonistic and punitive approach to anything that even hints at offsite sales (like the messaging and invoicing issues), I'm surprised they haven't outright banned packaging that includes logos or names of other sites.