Here we go again with crappy shipping

[Louie D.]

So I bought a lobby from a fleabay member who I have had the same trouble with in the past.  With over 13,000 positives I guess I may be the only buyer who has had problems with their packaging.  I don't know how many people I have to tell, the cardboard the USPS uses for their packaging may be the weakest cardboard in existence:



And to top it off they surround the lobby with some thin posterboard that isn't even the same size as the lobby so the corners get dinged.  I just sent the seller a message that I wouldn't even mind spending $10 extra if I would be assured that the lobby was arriving to me in the same condition it left their hands. 

The main problem is it's a piece I REALLY need for my collection 

[Bruce]

Many Postal employees take "Please Do Not Bend" as a challenge!

I am sorry for your loss.

Bruce

[Louie D.]

Many Postal employees take "Please Do Not Bend" as a challenge!

I am sorry for your loss.

Bruce

Bruce, I gotta say you, Richard @ MoviePosterBid, and Heritage, really do it right when it comes to packaging and I never balk at paying for shipping when I know it's coming from you guys.  The above is just unacceptable.

[CSM]

Shitty Louie! 

This has been happening to me more and more as well.  Such a shame for vintage (I am assuming what you bought is fairly old) pieces to survive only to be destroyed through a combination of seller and postal incompetence!

[erik1925]

Ouch, Louie...

Did the seller get back to you?

Jeff

[paul waines]

The seller that packs badly, the postal Service,  All thorns in the side of the collector, I know only too well.

Do you have a pic of the lobby card, Louie...   

[Louie D.]

The seller that packs badly, the postal Service,  All thorns in the side of the collector, I know only too well.

Do you have a pic of the lobby card, Louie...   

I haven't taken a pic of the card yet, but can if you really want to see it.  The seller offered a bit of a refund, but it pisses me off because if the card was packed correctly he wouldn't be offering a refund and I wouldn't have a damaged card.

[erik1925]

Louie.. please snap a picture of the card.. would love to see the vintage item you most recently picked up (as would many, no doubt)..   

Jeff

[paul waines]

Yep, would still like to see it...

[Louie D.]

Yep, would still like to see it...

Well, I haven't had time to take a pic of it yet, so here is the one that was in the auction:



What I will say is that I have been in contact with the seller and he has been TERRIFIC about this whole situation.  A full refund was offered if I returned the card (which I declined) or he would give me a huge discount (which we are still working on the details of).  Either way, it's a real shame when something that's easily avoidable like this happens.

[erik1925]

Well, I haven't had time to take a pic of it yet, so here is the one that was in the auction:



What I will say is that I have been in contact with the seller and he has been TERRIFIC about this whole situation.  A full refund was offered if I returned the card (which I declined) or he would give me a huge discount (which we are still working on the details of).  Either way, it's a real shame when something that's easily avoidable like this happens.

Louie,

So this image is the "before" picture of the card you bought? Looks nice.

Now, an "after" shot would be great to do a side by side comparison.

Jeff

[Louie D.]

Actually it's really hard to see the damage as the bend is right over the left hand side.  I tried to shoot some pics of it but you could only see the bend if you held it at an angle and I couldn't get that to register in a photograph.  The corners came in dinged, for sure:



The seller reported that he knew the board he purchased for the card was undersized, but for some reason he sent it anyway

[CSM]

Man Farrell looks a hell of a lot like a young Howard Hughes in that pic!

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Bruce, I gotta say you, Richard @ MoviePosterBid, and Heritage, really do it right when it comes to packaging and I never balk at paying for shipping when I know it's coming from you guys.  The above is just unacceptable.

thanks Louie.. Packaging is one of the most important aspects of mail order sales and hey, I'm a buyer too and I expect no less than quality from people who sell to me. I am however frequently surprised when I get packages from some well known dealers

[Louie D.]

thanks Louie.. Packaging is one of the most important aspects of mail order sales and hey, I'm a buyer too and I expect no less than quality from people who sell to me. I am however frequently surprised when I get packages from some well known dealers

I agree, the people who do it correctly are by FAR the minority.  I will also say that the 3 sellers above have helped me hone my surgical skills as I usually have to remove whatever I bought from them with an x-acto knife because they are packed so well.  And Bruce, I have no idea where you get that reinforced tape that you use, but that has to have the strongest adhesive ever invented by humans.   

[jayn_j]

And Bruce, I have no idea where you get that reinforced tape that you use, but that has to have the strongest adhesive ever invented by humans.   

+1.  I never expected masking tape to stick like duct tape.  and that fiber backed stuff challenges my exacto knife at times.  Good job.

[Ari]

three in ONE DAY!

its a record.



Two from France, one from Germany.

Folded into my mailbox.

NO card to protect. The larger yellow/brown one was nearly impossible to open, the paper was so thin and all edges taped, so I couldnt cut with a blade or it would cut the insides, and couldn't peel open edge. anyway got there in the end, but these three sellers are kinda bad.

Ahh well, everything OK, just need some time to flatten.

Anyway HELL DRIVERS ARE BUILT TOUGH.

[Simes]

I must admit, as a matter of form, after I have paid, I send them Another email asking for extra card and backing with offers of further funds to Get It Right.  I must stress, this is a separate email, as the Paypal email that offers one to also Send the Seller a Message, in my experience, is missed and is left unread.

Extra funds have never been requested.

I have been less upset of late compared with times past.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

I agree, the people who do it correctly are by FAR the minority.    

totally true, but there is a reason for this, aside from being "professionals"

facts are, that we all lose money on shipping

here is one example
to make a package (domestic, simple style), we use 2 sheets of cardboard (47cents each), plastic bag (16cents), large label & ink (est 38cents), plus tape etc & of course, labor (est $3.00 paid labor per package)

so when I ask $10 to ship to Washington state and it costs $7.85 to ship, leaving $2.15 to cover the costs.. I'm losing $3+/- per package.
It gets worse if the item can't go in a USPS box due to weight or size and I have to use a box that costs $1.68

and oh yeah.. it gets worse sending Internationally. I can be losing as much as $8-$9 on a package
obviously, if you're selling expensive $200+ items, these numbers mean nothing
when you have an order of 3 $2 posters.... (why did I waste my time?) and this is of course why I love pay&hold buyers, so I only make one larger package

most sellers use cardboard that came to them with something they bought, cut-up USPS boxes of no particular protection, the board from the bottom of an Arrowhead water case or a bubble envelope.
none of these work to any secure measure of course, and that's why a 1919 gambling lobby card I won on ebay that was a nice condition arrived with creases and cracks and I got a refund. But the problem is THE EFFING CARD WAS FROM 1919, IT WAS IN REALLY NICE CONDITION AND WHEN AM I GOING TO FIND ANOTHER??
I didn't want the effing refund, I wanted the effing card

oh.. thanks fo rthe compliments on packaging guys
 

[guest4531]

"this is of course why I love pay&hold buyers" -    Glad to hear this

[Ari]

likewise, I always felt bad though, cos I took SO LONG.
Say the word and Ill start looking again.

and yes, I lose every time I ship, actually occasionally I dont.

Especially now, ebay demands I send a certain way (fully trackable).
I dont mind that, except most of my buyers buy cheap shit and dont want to spend MORE on postage than the poster.

II try and meet halfway, but Im rethinking this, after ebay fees, paypal fees, and losing on shipping, theres only one of these I can control.

Also for larger orders, I usually shop free anyway, but thats just a thank you for buying lots of my junk.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

... of my buyers buy cheap shit and dont want to spend MORE on postage than the poster.

last year I had some silent half sheets I auctioned

two posters sold for just $1 each
one person in Cali griped repeated about paying $10 for shipping
the other in New Jersey likewise complained that they had to pay $14 for shipping

their complaint was the item only sold for $1 and certainly I must have been gouging
silent half sheets.. for a dollar!!
in both cases I had numerous emails back & forth

ultimately, both bidders never paid (crazily insane on any level)

[Ari]

I'll buy them. Thanks.

[Simes]

their complaint was the item only sold for $1 and certainly I must have been gouging
silent half sheets.. for a dollar!!

Which by definition of their crazy thinking, must mean a $1400 must cost $300 to post...

Oh dear.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

think of the real insanity of it fellas..

in the case of the $10 postage sale = $11.00 total
however, the poster cost me originally $25.00 and I was also going to lose $3 on packaging, so I was going to be completely underwater for $27 on this sale and I was only person in the deal willing to go through with it
it's funny just typing it out.. lol

you can't make this stuff up. This is the reality of selling and it hasn't changed one bit in the almost 50 years I've been involved