Ebay buying habits (1 Viewer)

[ucla1967]

I always ship within the US via UPS and follow the same procedures Michael does. It always amazes me how dealers and sellers do not follow this when it comes to toy soldiers. Also, as K & C used to do, I put straw pieces over exposed points. I think the key is to making sure there is no movement in whatever you ship. So, I shake the job. If there is movement, I redo it. The tighter the better.

That is my pet peeve regarding packing. I receive carefully packed shipping boxes with no packing inside the smaller toy soldier box to protect the actual figures; if the figures can move inside their box, they will break or be damaged in some way (e.g., paint chipped, rifles bent, etc.). I recently received from Argentina a beautiful set of Magico (never heard of them before) figures of the Argentina Army in 1864. I could hear the figures moving when I gently shook the shipping box. One head was decapitated and three rifles were sheared off inside the Magico box. This was going to be a gift for Bob Walker for his open house in San Jose. I e-mailed the eBay seller two week ago and have not heard back from him to date. This is another reason I use my credit card and not Paypal's direct transfer from my bank account.

 

[Beaufighter]

The same thing happened to me recently as the figures (older retired K&C set) shifted during transit resulting in chipped paint. Although there were cut-outs for them in the foam insert, it was not sufficient to handle the USPS wild ride. That is why I wrap the figures in tissue and or a similar protective process in case this happens. I would like to think that any veteran collector would anticipate and realize this especially with the delicate nature of the older sets. What a waste-sorry this happened to you Mike too.

Beaufighter (USC1993)!

 

[VIRIATO]

I always ask for a shipping quote in advance and (if it's a overseas (US) item) to mark the item as a gift, otherwise I'll lose a ton on import duties/taxes.

BTW, I usually ask online retailers the same, not just Ebayers.

This gift thing, I never ask for it, but sometimes sellers do mark items as gifts, but, as far as I can remember, it has never worked for me here in Portugal. So, when buying from the US, I always factor in shipping plus around 35% taxes/duties ( on value plus shipping cost!!!!) . Fortunately the Euro is on a high.

 

[kilted vampire]

The same thing happened to me recently as the figures (older retired K&C set) shifted during transit resulting in chipped paint. Although there were cut-outs for them in the foam insert, it was not sufficient to handle the USPS wild ride. That is why I wrap the figures in tissue and or a similar protective process in case this happens. I would like to think that any veteran collector would anticipate and realize this especially with the delicate nature of the older sets. What a waste-sorry this happened to you Mike too.

Beaufighter (USC1993)!

I will try to remember the tissue

 

[Beaufighter]

I will try to remember the tissue

OK-how about kleenex (generic white of course) then.

 

[Capitolron]

Marc

Has a good point - I just bought something recently from a very reliable source and payed good money for the item and it came with a bunch of chips on them - becuase it the figures bounced off each other during the shipping.

This was really a bad situation beacuse the figures are very hard to find - so I cant send them back - but, the seller really did take me a little because they were not MINT as described - when you pay top dollar - you expect what you pay for. So you grin and bear it.

Ron

 

[Rob]

Marc

Has a good point - I just bought something recently from a very reliable source and payed good money for the item and it came with a bunch of chips on them - becuase it the figures bounced off each other during the shipping.

This was really a bad situation beacuse the figures are very hard to find - so I cant send them back - but, the seller really did take me a little because they were not MINT as described - when you pay top dollar - you expect what you pay for. So you grin and bear it.

Ron

I'm guessing you won't be leaving positive feed back about him Ron?.Its annoying if you get something thats nothing like the condition you thought it was.

Rob

 

[ucla1967]

I'm guessing you won't be leaving positive feed back about him Ron?.Its annoying if you get something thats nothing like the condition you thought it was.

Rob

Ironically, I never leave Negative feedback for those sellers who deserve it. I figure they will reciprocate against me and ruin my 100% positive feedback rating. Most of the time I just don't leave any feedback in those cases. However, if I leave Positive feedback, I will mention that the figures were carelessly packed and arrived damaged. It is Positive and Negative at the same time.

 

[jazzeum]

I once received some old K & C figures that weren't cheap and considering the amount of money that I paid for it, you would have thought that the seller could have invested in some decent boxes and packaging. Instead, the figures arrived somewhat damaged (fortunately easily fixed) that could have been easily avoided had some proper bubble wrap been used (to avoid movement) and/or a more adequate box used.

Regarding feedback, it continually annoys me how some sellers will not leave you feedback until you do. That's not the way it should work. When I sell an item, I leave the feedback right away. Obviously sellers are concerned that a buyer may leave negative feedback and then they have no recourse. However, if a seller has done his or her job by packaging it safely, there shoudl be nothing to worry about. It's just a cop out.

 

[nmrocks]

Brad,
I agree with you on the packaging issue, i can't believe people don't know how badly the delivery companies handle packages. I recently purchased an older set of 2 from a person on the forum and they packaged them both in a singles box with tissue wrapping. Not suprisingly, they were chipped, very disappointing.
As for the feedback issue, I couldn't disagree more, I sell a lot and never, except with trusted repeat customers, leave feedback before a transaction is complete. Feedback is an evaluation of a transaction and it isn't complete until the buyer recieves there purchase and everybodies happy. Also I find that not leaving feedback for a buyer encourages them to leave feedback so they also will recieve feedback. I have recieved a much higher percentage of feedbacks per transaction since adopting this formula.
Ray

 

[Canadian Samurai]

I'll echo everyone's comments about poor packing jobs. And it's not just ebay sellers - two prominent dealers (who shall go unamed) did a poor packaging job on figures. To their credit their return/exchange policies were excellent.

When you're buying loose figures split up from sets, it's entirely the responsibility of the seller to make sure they arrive intact. However, sometimes damage occurs in the mail to original never removed from the box figures, which tells me, as I've argued elsewhere, that the toy soldier industry as a whole needs to come up with better factory packaging as well.

 

[maddadicus]

Bought 3 sets of soldiers on ebay last 2 weeks. All were poorly packed and I was forced to touch up and repair all ,to as new status. As long as I can fix them and the price was cheap, I will politely point out ,to the seller, where he went wrong and how to securely pack for his next auction. He gets positive, if reserved comments ,on the feedback, as long as he does not respond to my advice , in an insolent manner........Michael

 

[Beaufighter]

Marc

Has a good point - I just bought something recently from a very reliable source and payed good money for the item and it came with a bunch of chips on them - becuase it the figures bounced off each other during the shipping.

This was really a bad situation beacuse the figures are very hard to find - so I cant send them back - but, the seller really did take me a little because they were not MINT as described - when you pay top dollar - you expect what you pay for. So you grin and bear it.

Ron

Ron:

Sounds like Operation "BOHICA" once again to me-sorry for the battlefield damage. I too sucked it up so to speak as I really wanted the set whilst also knowing it may be a long time passing before I had them in my sights again. What pains me is when you ask to have an item insured to protect yourself and it arrives uninsured. Why? How does the phrase go..."A lack of planning (proper & secure packaging) on your (seller's) part does not constitute an emergency (the buyer in the BOHICA position) on my (buyer's) part. Good luck fellow afficiandos & collectors!

Hang Tough,
Beaufighter

 

[OzDigger]

My theory is that when a buyer gets a bargain the seller feels less inclined to put in the extra time and expense for good packaging, even if the figures (or whatever) are hard to get.

Which usually results in a very annoyed buyer and an additional loss for the seller if they get negative feedback - which they would certainly get from me in that situation. I'm just a buyer so tit for tat negative feedback from sellers doesn't worry me at all

 

[jazzeum]

Well, as both a buyer and a seller, I sometimes get less than I want when I sell something. However, that doesn't lessen for me the need to package it right. It's the same in my professional life. If I am reviewing an agreement, I will give it no less than my all, regardless of whether the value is in the millions or less than $100,000.