Casualties of shipping

[pratschm]

Why the hell can't sellers ship posters correctly?!?! Scored a Struzan-style Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom OS, something I've been trying to get for a while, for a cheap price, and it was shipped in a thin rectangular Moen faucet box with some plastic wrapped around it and a couple of those air bag things. Needless to say it got crushed en route and I'm pissed. How difficult is it to buy a f#cking tube?!? Gah!

Last month someone sent me a poster in a homemade franken-box. Basically chopped up some other boxes, taped 'em together, and sent it off. Also crushed. WTF!

Anyone else got stories to share? Need to keep the anger flowing...

[eatbrie]

All I can tell you is that I have zero patience for bad packaging.  I send the same email to everyone I buy from letting them know exactly how I want my posters to be shipped.  If they try to go cheap on me, I get full reimbursement from Paypal and negs follow.  I don't even want to discuss.  I don't have time to argue with stupid.

T

[jedgerley]

So sorry to hear that Mike. I always check the sellers other items on ebay. If it seems they dont solely deal in posters And have a hodgepodge of things for sale I will definitely write to them first about shipping. T can you copy/ paste your usual note to a seller here? Its covers everything thats for sure.

[pratschm]

All I can tell you is that I have zero patience for bad packaging.  I send the same email to everyone I buy from letting them know exactly how I want my posters to be shipped.  If they try to go cheap on me, I get full reimbursement from Paypal and negs follow.  I don't even want to discuss.  I don't have time to argue with stupid.

T

Really? I like this strategy. Do you send that up front and not bid if they don't agree, or do you win and then specify how you want it shipped?
Actually, writing that out just now made me realize, why the hell not tell them exactly how I want my new item to be shipped to me, especially if I'm paying for the shipping.
See, trying to channel the anger into good.

[pratschm]

So sorry to hear that Mike. I always check the sellers other items on ebay. If it seems they dont solely deal in posters And have a hodgepodge of things for sale I will definitely write to them first about shipping.

Yeah, I tend to do the same (check other items), but have never gone so far as to tell them how to ship it. With the ToD seller, he had other good 80's posters so I figured "he probably knows what he's doing". Well, you know what they say about people who assume...

T can you copy/ paste your usual note to a seller here? Its covers everything thats for sure.

+1 to that!

[eatbrie]

Hi,

I just paid you.

I buy a lot of posters from around the world, more than 1,000 a year, and I get a lot of damaged pieces that I return to sellers for Paypal reimbursement. 

Please, send the poster in a strong tube and roll it up tighter than the inside of the tube, so that if the tube gets hit (and it will) the poster has a chance to make it intact, because it is not pressed tightly up against the interior surface of the tube.  Also, please add protection at each end, like paper towels.  Too many sellers just "throw" them in tubes with no protection.

I send this message to everyone I buy from, and some sellers still decide that it’s not worth their time.  I guarantee you the poster WILL get damaged if you don’t.  Why take the risk?  It takes 2 minutes to package it properly.

Thanks,

Thierry

[pratschm]

Awesome. Thanks so much for this.

[erik1925]

Sorry to read that shipping horror story, too, Mike.

Ive had it happen, too, even when I have sent a note, after winning something, about shipping a rolled poster in a sturdy tube with end protection, or a folded poster between non-corrugated cardboard (because it will always likely get bent), during shipping. And if ignored,  and someting arrives dinged, I've asked for refunds or partial refunds, depending on the amount of damage. Some things have been reimbursed totally without question, as I will have taken a photo minutes after un-packaging the poster and emailed it to the seller (along with their ebay pic, as a comparison).

And while getting a refund is nice, it's the Poster we all are wanting.

What I have found too, is that some sellers get So "pissy" when you ask then to put some tissue in the ends of a tube--- like doing that is the biggest chore in the world. 

So i write uber nice, package-instruction notes, to keep them calm...LOL. It seems to work a lot of the time.

[pratschm]

Thanks, Jeff.

Totally agree. I'm not pissed about the refund process, etc, but the fact that a fine condition poster was ruined due to laziness / stupidity / ignorance.

Your mention of the folded posters just reminded me of yet another crap shipping job within the last month. A quad sent from the UK in nothing more than a thin cardboard mailer. It was bent and dinged, but somehow, miraculously, the poster didn't have any damage (at least not that I could see).

[erik1925]

For sure, Mike. It's not the $$$ we want back (we already have those to spend).. but the poster we bought in exchange for those bucks.

Good to read that the "poster gods" were looking down on your quad, as it traveled to you. So happy to read that it arrived unscathed.

And what makes all this worse, are those sellers that charge some outrageous "shipping and handling" fee. 

That money goes into their pocket, and a poster that has survived, (depending) for decades, is ruined in a heartbeat, due to someone who really doesn't care, and wraps & ships it in something ultra-flimsy.   

It's one of the banes (and potential unknowns) of buying online, that's for sure.

[Simes]

All I can tell you is that I have zero patience for bad packaging.  I send the same email to everyone I buy from letting them know exactly how I want my posters to be shipped.  If they try to go cheap on me, I get full reimbursement from Paypal and negs follow.  I don't even want to discuss.  I don't have time to argue with stupid.

T

Yup - I do the same.

It has been many yeas since I had a problem.  But I don't know whether it is due to the email, or just luck.  Either way...

[pratschm]

I didn't realize so many people did this as part of their purchasing routine. Good to know.
Just goes to show that no matter how long you've been doing something, there's always more to learn.

[eatbrie]

Yup - I do the same.

It has been many yeas since I had a problem.  But I don't know whether it is due to the email, or just luck.  Either way...

Luck!

I get at least one damaged package a week.

T

[eatbrie]

Luck!

I get at least one damaged package a week.  But never from Bruce, HA or Dale.

T

[Simes]

Luck!

I get at least one damaged package a week.

T

Ah yes.  But you buy 1,583,513 posters every week.  Mine is a low 'annual' number. 

That which happens to you weekly, will next happen to me in year 2097.

[eatbrie]

Ah yes.  But you buy 1,583,513 posters every week.  Mine is a low 'annual' number. 

That which happens to you weekly, will next happen to me in year 2097.

Hahahahaha... funny

Also, I feel like my postman wants revenge, since I force him to make a special trip to my house daily.  He distributes the mail first, and then has to come back with my packages.  I wouldn't be surprised if he hit a tube or two against a tree before delivering it to me.

T

[Damomac]

I have bought around 20 items of ebay since i started collecting six months ago. 4 of the 20 packages were trashed and i had to get my money back. Id love to know how many posters each year were trashed by bad packaging. I suggest it would be a lot. I might take T's approach and send a email to each seller after payment.

[jayn_j]

I have bought around 20 items of ebay since i started collecting six months ago. 4 of the 20 packages were trashed and i had to get my money back. Id love to know how many posters each year were trashed by bad packaging. I suggest it would be a lot. I might take T's approach and send a email to each seller after payment.

Sounds right.  20% trashed from eBay, 1% from the other auction houses, .005% from emovieposter.

[Undead]

I have had a horrible run with shipping lately no matter what I am buying, it just comes broken. EVEN FURNITURE! Bought a piece off of amazon, it came in a destroyed yet well packed box where pieces of the wood were actually broken off. Returned for replacement, second one was worse.

Anyway for posters I have had plenty of issues but since I started using a form message both to the seller through PM and in the  payment notes box I have had pretty good luck. I unlike T though link to one of my sites where I put up a guide for shipping. Someone hear recommended adding a video as well which I will do in time.

Message I send to sellers-

My name is Mike and I won your auction for XXXXX.
   
When shipping can you please try to ship according to the instructions from the website at http://posterfrom.com/resources/how-to-ship-a-poster/ I have had horrible luck with the post office damaging shipments lately and this will help minimize the chances of damage. If you have any questions or issues please do not hesitate to let me know. I am looking forward to adding this to my collection.

Thanks,

Mike

As an example, I got one today that I forgot to send the message too and lo and behold, crushed on arrival. Shame too, not an overlay expensive piece but extremely hard to find. 

[erik1925]

This is a great shipping and packaging tutorial on your site, Mike. 

http://posterfrom.com/resources/how-to-ship-a-poster/

[lalatin]

The triangular shipping containers are the worst. Any time I receive a poster in one of these I cringe. 40% of them are crushed in the middle and so is the poster inside.   

[Huey Dewey]

One time when I bought a really expensive poster via eBay (from a non-poster seller) I wrote a nice email to the seller and made arrangements to send them a tube for them to use. They were happy to do this and all was well.

I always add a "please pack with great care to avoid any possible postal damage" message for just about everything I buy via eBay.

That poster was the Hildebrandt quad and is my favourite all-time poster (still not up on the wall though - four years later. Oh dear).

[erik1925]

One time when I bought a really expensive poster via eBay (from a non-poster seller) I wrote a nice email to the seller and made arrangements to send them a tube for them to use. They were happy to do this and all was well.

I always add a "please pack with great care to avoid any possible postal damage" message for just about everything I buy via eBay.

That poster was the Hildebrandt quad and is my favourite all-time poster (still not up on the wall though - four years later. Oh dear).

Im sure you breathed easy, knowing it was your shipping tube they would be using.

Might you have a pic of your quad you could post? 

[Huey Dewey]

Here it is.

Im sure you breathed easy, knowing it was your shipping tube they would be using.

Might you have a pic of your quad you could post? 

[Neo]

 

The message T mentioned is a great template for an email to send sellers.  I send a similar copy and paste message, that unfortunately most sellers ignore, and often the package ends up damaged.


Good story there, HD.  And for a Hildebrant quad, eh?  Nice.   

I had a similar situation, where there was an extremely rare poster I tracked down, and it had to be sent flat, so I sent the seller a flat package for shipping.  It gave me some peace of mind.  I found the poster via the Google search engine, and one of the results was a thread at the old Movie Poster Forum.  There was a lenticular thread, and a guy mentioned that he had been looking for a Brainscan lenticular for some time, and was willing to shell out big bucks for one.  A couple years after that, someone mentioned he had one that he'd part with, and the guy who was originally inquiring about buying one had vanished.  I chatted with the seller and he was ready to move it, and I picked it up for a great deal.