[78-L] eBay Packing Standards

[Malcolm Rockwell]

David -

Read your post with interest. In the time I've dealt with eBay sellers I 
have given just about everyone the benefit of the doubt. When dealing 
with a new dealer (to me) I always include simple packing instructions. 
Some follow them; some do not. Some get all bristly; others do not.

If an item arrives where the carton/box/paperbag the item arrived in is 
smashed/squashed/ripped to shreds, I take a picture of it and send it to 
the seller, even if the record(s) survived. If they use my packing 
method the item invariably gets here in one piece. If the item is broken 
a picture usually gets me an immediate refund.

In my experience the newbies are usually the best at following packing 
instructions. Pros are not because THEY KNOW BETTER (or think they do)!

But, looked at objectively, I'd estimate that 97% of the items sent to 
me get here intact regardless of how well or how badly they are packed. 
All I can do is help skew the odds of safe arrival in my direction.

With really rare items, such as your Emerson,  you can always send the 
dealer an empty box along with the packing enclosed and written 
instructions and have it shipped to you Priority, insured. For single 
records you can request the dealer use a couple of junkers for extra 
support, or send 2 junk records of your own with the box for him/her to 
use. Everything else can go Media mail, uninsured, if it's packed 
carefully. And this comes from a guy who lives in Hawaii and has to 
suffer up to a 2 month wait and ocean shipping for Media parcels from 
the mainland (Priority takes a week and gets here by air)!

I agree with a change in the eBay rating policy concerning packing, but 
I really doubt it will do much good other than making the buyer feel a 
little better when a busted item arrives. I recently suggested to my 
supermarket that they install a shredder right next to the suggestions 
counter to make it easier for them to ignore any shopper requests. My 
satiric sally went right by them, but you get the idea, I think. The 
eBay ratings system is meaningless.

Sorry your item arrived busted; here's hoping another copy will come 
your way soon. Hell, you've already sacrificed one copy to the Gods of 
Shellac. Maybe they'll give you a break... er... no... next time! Sorry...

Malcolm

*******


On 3/3/2012 4:52 AM, marimbamoods at comcast.net wrote:
> undoubtably, members of this list are familiar with eBay's 5-Star rating system. eBay feedback includes a specific rating for how fast an item is shipped, but no such rating is included for how well an item, such as a fragile 78 record, is packed.
>
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> perhaps this encourages sellers to pack items hastily, and without regard for safe packaging, in order to get them in the mail quickly, thus protecting the criterium for which they know they will be rated. it seems to me that eBay should be persuaded to ammend the 5-Star rating criteria to include not only how QUICKLY, but also how WELL, items are packed.
>
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> i mention this because i received once again yesterday several pieces of shattered shellac that formally constituted Emerson 10182, ca. 1920. by way of preparing this disc for the rigors of the USPS, this eBay seller simply placed the Emerson disc in-between 2 pieces of cardboard that were then taped together. that's it - no box, no padding, just a single layer of cardboard on each side of the disc; slap on the shipping labels, and leave the heavy lifting to Uncle Sam.
>
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> this seller has 100% positive feedback for more than 100 transactions, however when i made this purchase i noticed that he has little history with 78's. therefore, when i paid for the item i immediately sent the seller a friendly and detailed email explaining the importance of thorough packing of 78's for shipment. i included in that email the following link, detailing precisely how to properly package a 78 for shipment:
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> http://claxtonola.com/shipping78s/index.html
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> in reply, i received an email the next day from the seller that the "album" was now in the mail. i shuttered at the term "album," as this seemed to indicate that this guy simply didn't get anything i had tried to convey in an attempt to stave off exactly what ended up happening anyway.
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> typically, i am cordial and polite in my business dealings, but last night after receiving yet another destroyed record from an "eBay-genius" i dispatched the following message to the seller:
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> "the fragile 78 record made of shellac that you sent has arrived. it is shattered into many pieces from shipping due to a packing job that was totally inadequate. when i paid for this item, i sent you an email wherein i explained the importance of packing for shellac 78's, and i included in that email a link to detailed info regarding proper packing. instead of packing this record properly, you chose to ignore both my email and the info provided. this recording was made in 1920 and is now gone forever. a refund will not replace a piece of history that you have stolen."
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> i really do not know what to do at this point as far as making future purchases from eBay sellers. it is fine "hypothetically" to only deal with 78 specialists and to avoid those sellers without 78 experience. in reality though, the specific records i am after turn up where and when they turn up, and that is out of my control. i have been searching for Emerson 10182 for more than 30 years, so do i just ignore an eBay listing for that item if that seller looks inexperienced in terms of shipping / handling of 78's?
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> surely, there are other types of products sold on eBay beyond 78's / cylinders (such as glass, porcelain, etc.) that require extreme packing measures to avoid shipping damage. could we members of 78-L as a community bring some influence to bear with eBay in order to do something about the rating system to include a new 5-Star criterion regarding packing quality? i reiterate that the current eBay 5-Star rating categories, by including promptness of shipping without mention of packing quality, may be negatively influencing safety outcomes.
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> david harvey
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