I got a message today asking me if I’ll take a lesser amount (50 percent less) than what it was listed for. They said it’s the best they could do considering they still have to pay tax and shipping. Here’s the kicker... I offer free shipping on all of my listings. I kindly told them better luck next time on their copy-paste plead for a bargain.
I guess they thought I was a newbie seller with 3k+ feedback "Please put the card in a protective sleeve and secure on BOTH SIDES with VERY STURDY CARDBOARD. The cardboard will help to keep the card from getting broken during shipping. These cards don't bend; they break. The sleeve will protect the image surface from tape used to secure the cardboard. Please DO NOT USE STAPLES. Please notify me when you have more of these type cards. Thank you,"
@LarkinCollector said:
I guess they thought I was a newbie seller with 3k+ feedback "Please put the card in a protective sleeve and secure on BOTH SIDES with VERY STURDY CARDBOARD. The cardboard will help to keep the card from getting broken during shipping. These cards don't bend; they break. The sleeve will protect the image surface from tape used to secure the cardboard. Please DO NOT USE STAPLES. Please notify me when you have more of these type cards. Thank you,"
i think the instructional how-to ship messages bother me more than the low ball offers. esp, as stated, the feedback level and comments praising fast & secure shipping already speak volumes.
I just wish I didn't suck so bad at things being delivered successfully
The real kicker, it was from one of the last three people to pay from yesterday afternoon's auction wins and on a $20 item, so it was already packaged better than they described before I even had payment, as a Buyers Note and not even a message. I guess the appropriately sized toploader for a postcard sized item was overkill on my part.
@LarkinCollector said:
I just wish I didn't suck so bad at things being delivered successfully
The real kicker, it was from one of the last three people to pay from yesterday afternoon's auction wins and on a $20 item, so it was already packaged better than they described before I even had payment, as a Buyers Note and not even a message. I guess the appropriately sized toploader for a postcard sized item was overkill on my part.
And you know that they absolutely believe that their note made all the difference, and stopped you from tossing it raw into the bubble mailer.
@LarkinCollector said:
I just wish I didn't suck so bad at things being delivered successfully
The real kicker, it was from one of the last three people to pay from yesterday afternoon's auction wins and on a $20 item, so it was already packaged better than they described before I even had payment, as a Buyers Note and not even a message. I guess the appropriately sized toploader for a postcard sized item was overkill on my part.
And you know that they absolutely believe that their note made all the difference, and stopped you from tossing it raw into the bubble mailer.
i seriously have to contain myself from packaging it up like a russian nesting doll.
next time i'll prolly start off w placing that 1991 pro set lee trevino in a yellow toploader w clear tape across the top, placed into a team bag. more heavy clear tape, placed between 2 cardboard slats w more ample tape straight into a 4x6 bubble mailer and securely taped. safely place that into a banged-up, used 10x12 bubble mailer. more tape naturally. secure those contents in either that lucky charms cereal box or the keystone light 15 pack box i just hadn't gotten around to discarding just yet. because, hey. it's all about recycling these days, right?
once secured, safely place into false floor of a shrink-wrapped 12x12x12 topped w ample amounts of cheap styrofoam peanuts. that false floor pretty much means all of those broken up peanuts will be on his floor. anyways, place that box into a 14x14x14. padded w all that extra broken styrofoam support from that 70' tv that i got last christmas which was taking up valuable space but i just knew would come in handy one day. finally place that secure nest egg into a 16x16x16 side padded w the days newspaper. shrink-wrap it one more solid time just in case it rains. write "open here" on the wrong side and then ship it friday for saturday am priority w signature confirmation.
I have a bit of a different view on this. I've had too many experiences in the past where highly rated sellers did a poor job of packaging the item (I only buy unopened). I've had, on 2 occasions, someone use the actual case as the shipping carton and just slapped a label on the outside of the case....unreal. I had a major auction house send me a 1982 Topps Vending Case, so poorly packaged that the bottom split open. Just a couple of weeks ago, an eBay seller with 12K plus 100% positive feedback sent me an early 80's FB wax box wrapped essentially in craft paper. I usually just politely ask them take special care in packaging it, prefacing that I hate to even bring it up, but I've had too many bad experiences. I'll even offer to pay more for shipping if necessary.
@Webb63 said:
I have a bit of a different view on this. I've had too many experiences in the past where highly rated sellers did a poor job of packaging the item (I only buy unopened). I've had, on 2 occasions, someone use the actual case as the shipping carton and just slapped a label on the outside of the case....unreal. I had a major auction house send me a 1982 Topps Vending Case, so poorly packaged that the bottom split open. Just a couple of weeks ago, an eBay seller with 12K plus 100% positive feedback sent me an early 80's FB wax box wrapped essentially in craft paper. I usually just politely ask them take special care in packaging it, prefacing that I hate to even bring it up, but I've had too many bad experiences. I'll even offer to pay more for shipping if necessary.
what type of feedback notes did you leave in the description?
eta: and anything over a certain monetary naturally gets an auto-pass. so don't blame you there one bit.
Poor packaging is endemic. However, from my perspective, the people who need the message aren’t listening and the people who are listening don’t need the message.
@Webb63 said:
I have a bit of a different view on this. I've had too many experiences in the past where highly rated sellers did a poor job of packaging the item (I only buy unopened). I've had, on 2 occasions, someone use the actual case as the shipping carton and just slapped a label on the outside of the case....unreal. I had a major auction house send me a 1982 Topps Vending Case, so poorly packaged that the bottom split open. Just a couple of weeks ago, an eBay seller with 12K plus 100% positive feedback sent me an early 80's FB wax box wrapped essentially in craft paper. I usually just politely ask them take special care in packaging it, prefacing that I hate to even bring it up, but I've had too many bad experiences. I'll even offer to pay more for shipping if necessary.
A few years ago, I was in the market for a recent case and I would ask each seller if they were shipping it in a separate box or just slapping a label on the case. It was surprising how many couldn't grasp the concept and just thought it was automatic to slap a label on the case.
Heck, I'd be willing to pack to blurry's specifications if you reach out to me before paying so I can accurately adjust shipping costs. The buyer does not get to decide what my $3.50 (that's already a money loser) includes after paying. It's my responsibility if it doesn't get there safely, period, given eBay's policies. Cases and boxes are a different story, but this is one raw card.
FWIW, every case I've ordered has been at least double boxed, some technically triple. Boxes on the other hand, I've had tossed loose into Priority Bubble mail envelopes and amazing made it to me safely with no damage. Not a method I would ever attempt, but must be worth the gamble to some out there. Heck, one vending box I've got going out is wrapped with enough bubble to fill the rest of the space in a Regional Rate A box. Short of it being driven over, I'm thinking it will be OK.
@LarkinCollector said:
Heck, I'd be willing to pack to blurry's specifications if you reach out to me before paying so I can accurately adjust shipping costs. The buyer does not get to decide what my $3.50 (that's already a money loser) includes after paying. It's my responsibility if it doesn't get there safely, period, given eBay's policies. Cases and boxes are a different story, but this is one raw card.
FWIW, every case I've ordered has been at least double boxed, some technically triple. Boxes on the other hand, I've had tossed loose into Priority Bubble mail envelopes and amazing made it to me safely with no damage. Not a method I would ever attempt, but must be worth the gamble to some out there. Heck, one vending box I've got going out is wrapped with enough bubble to fill the rest of the space in a Regional Rate A box. Short of it being driven over, I'm thinking it will be OK.
yes, i am very fortunate to have the fedex rates that i do! 😂
I had a buyer go back and forth a number of times (15 + times over 4 hours) trying to convince me that the item I had for sale would fit in a small flat rate box. (This wasn’t a card) They even wet as far as to pull up the product manual and send me a snip of the dimensions. Obviously they don’t know how dimensions work, the smallest dimension was 3 inches!! That won’t fit in a small flat rate box!!!
Then they stated they were no longer interested because they bought one on Mercari for a great price. I was glad and hoped they would leave me alone. He gets the one from Mercari and it doesn’t have the charging cable so he has to return it. Now he is back with me.
After more back and forth to complain about my pricing he buys it. Then he follows up with the request that the outside box should arrive in perfect condition. No dents in the corner. I proceeded to wrap the whole box in scraps of bubble wrap and tons of packaging tape.. partly to make it a bear to open.. he gets it and sends me a pic that the one corner of the box is dented a bit. I replied back, what do you want from me?? He said he wanted nothing, just letting me know. Sure....
Some of these buyers, I tell ya! Don’t tell me how to package an item! @LarkinCollector the post above on packaging brought out this bad memory.. !
@NGS428 said:
I had a buyer go back and forth a number of times (15 + times over 4 hours) trying to convince me that the item I had for sale would fit in a small flat rate box. (This wasn’t a card) They even wet as far as to pull up the product manual and send me a snip of the dimensions. Obviously they don’t know how dimensions work, the smallest dimension was 3 inches!! That won’t fit in a small flat rate box!!!
Then they stated they were no longer interested because they bought one on Mercari for a great price. I was glad and hoped they would leave me alone. He gets the one from Mercari and it doesn’t have the charging cable so he has to return it. Now he is back with me.
After more back and forth to complain about my pricing he buys it. Then he follows up with the request that the outside box should arrive in perfect condition. No dents in the corner. I proceeded to wrap the whole box in scraps of bubble wrap and tons of packaging tape.. partly to make it a bear to open.. he gets it and sends me a pic that the one corner of the box is dented a bit. I replied back, what do you want from me?? He said he wanted nothing, just letting me know. Sure....
Some of these buyers, I tell ya! Don’t tell me how to package an item! @LarkinCollector the post above on packaging brought out this bad memory.. !
I hope this taught you that you needed to block him immediately after he told you he got one on Mercari for a great price.
The gold rush has brought out sellers that have no idea how to pack a box. I bought an unopened box of cards. The seller wraps it in a paper bag and mails it. Reminded me of a book cover in elementary school.
@NGS428 said:
I had a buyer go back and forth a number of times (15 + times over 4 hours) trying to convince me that the item I had for sale would fit in a small flat rate box. (This wasn’t a card) They even wet as far as to pull up the product manual and send me a snip of the dimensions. Obviously they don’t know how dimensions work, the smallest dimension was 3 inches!! That won’t fit in a small flat rate box!!!
Then they stated they were no longer interested because they bought one on Mercari for a great price. I was glad and hoped they would leave me alone. He gets the one from Mercari and it doesn’t have the charging cable so he has to return it. Now he is back with me.
After more back and forth to complain about my pricing he buys it. Then he follows up with the request that the outside box should arrive in perfect condition. No dents in the corner. I proceeded to wrap the whole box in scraps of bubble wrap and tons of packaging tape.. partly to make it a bear to open.. he gets it and sends me a pic that the one corner of the box is dented a bit. I replied back, what do you want from me?? He said he wanted nothing, just letting me know. Sure....
Some of these buyers, I tell ya! Don’t tell me how to package an item! @LarkinCollector the post above on packaging brought out this bad memory.. !
I hope this taught you that you needed to block him immediately after he told you he got one on Mercari for a great price.
He has been blocked.. just a day or so too late.. thought he was gone and he came crawling back.
@jayhawke said:
The gold rush has brought out sellers that have no idea how to pack a box. I bought an unopened box of cards. The seller wraps it in a paper bag and mails it. Reminded me of a book cover in elementary school.
glad you brought up the other side and the new sellers.
miiiiiight have you best. tough call.
couple weeks ago, i got a starting line up figure mailed to me in a pizza hut personal deep dish pizza box. yes, it was wrapped in a plastic grocery bag but it still had pizza sauce & grease stains complete w remnants of that extra onion smell. that's it's. no other type packaging material whatsoever.
free shipping ain't all it's cracked up to be. although i take pride in mine.
@jayhawke said:
The gold rush has brought out sellers that have no idea how to pack a box. I bought an unopened box of cards. The seller wraps it in a paper bag and mails it. Reminded me of a book cover in elementary school.
glad you brought up the other side and the new sellers.
miiiiiight have you best. tough call.
couple weeks ago, i got a starting line up figure mailed to me in a pizza hut personal deep dish pizza box. yes, it was wrapped in a plastic grocery bag but it still had pizza sauce & grease stains complete w remnants of that extra onion smell. that's it's. no other type packaging material whatsoever.
free shipping ain't all it's cracked up to be. although i take pride in mine.
@LarkinCollector said:
I guess they thought I was a newbie seller with 3k+ feedback "Please put the card in a protective sleeve and secure on BOTH SIDES with VERY STURDY CARDBOARD. The cardboard will help to keep the card from getting broken during shipping. These cards don't bend; they break. The sleeve will protect the image surface from tape used to secure the cardboard. Please DO NOT USE STAPLES. Please notify me when you have more of these type cards. Thank you,"
I sold to the Exact same guy, he has that statement pre ready to copy & paste to all his Payments to Sellers, what a Clown.
9200+ Transactions on E-bay but I need help to get my packing straight!
@jayhawke said:
The gold rush has brought out sellers that have no idea how to pack a box. I bought an unopened box of cards. The seller wraps it in a paper bag and mails it. Reminded me of a book cover in elementary school.
glad you brought up the other side and the new sellers.
miiiiiight have you best. tough call.
couple weeks ago, i got a starting line up figure mailed to me in a pizza hut personal deep dish pizza box. yes, it was wrapped in a plastic grocery bag but it still had pizza sauce & grease stains complete w remnants of that extra onion smell. that's it's. no other type packaging material whatsoever.
free shipping ain't all it's cracked up to be. although i take pride in mine.
As long as he held the anchovies it couldn't be that bad!
I slowed down selling after the football season and just started listing new items again. It looks like the newbies are trying to move more transactions off eBay from the messages I now receive.
So they want me to contact them and I have to figure out how to contact them from their message. Then when I do, I have to use my personal phone (not crazy about that), then they want me to offer prices until they accept one that meets their target (without telling me what their target is).
Has everyone gotten that lazy where I have to make the best offer for them? For as much as I want to help a buyer out by going off the grid, I just ignore these requests.
@jayhawke said:
The gold rush has brought out sellers that have no idea how to pack a box. I bought an unopened box of cards. The seller wraps it in a paper bag and mails it. Reminded me of a book cover in elementary school.
glad you brought up the other side and the new sellers.
miiiiiight have you best. tough call.
couple weeks ago, i got a starting line up figure mailed to me in a pizza hut personal deep dish pizza box. yes, it was wrapped in a plastic grocery bag but it still had pizza sauce & grease stains complete w remnants of that extra onion smell. that's it's. no other type packaging material whatsoever.
free shipping ain't all it's cracked up to be. although i take pride in mine.
Did I send you that...j/k. In college, in the early 90's I made a Kings throne/chair out of old pizza boxes and duct tape. Unfortunately we didn't take the time to clean out the old crusts, etc... that people had left in the boxes and one day weeks later a Rat ran out from underneath my throne. Alas it had to be thrown away after that.
Successful coin BST transactions with Gerard and segoja.
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
Comments
I got a message today asking me if I’ll take a lesser amount (50 percent less) than what it was listed for. They said it’s the best they could do considering they still have to pay tax and shipping. Here’s the kicker... I offer free shipping on all of my listings. I kindly told them better luck next time on their copy-paste plead for a bargain.
I guess they thought I was a newbie seller with 3k+ feedback "Please put the card in a protective sleeve and secure on BOTH SIDES with VERY STURDY CARDBOARD. The cardboard will help to keep the card from getting broken during shipping. These cards don't bend; they break. The sleeve will protect the image surface from tape used to secure the cardboard. Please DO NOT USE STAPLES. Please notify me when you have more of these type cards. Thank you,"
i think the instructional how-to ship messages bother me more than the low ball offers. esp, as stated, the feedback level and comments praising fast & secure shipping already speak volumes.
100%
I just wish I didn't suck so bad at things being delivered successfully
The real kicker, it was from one of the last three people to pay from yesterday afternoon's auction wins and on a $20 item, so it was already packaged better than they described before I even had payment, as a Buyers Note and not even a message. I guess the appropriately sized toploader for a postcard sized item was overkill on my part.
And you know that they absolutely believe that their note made all the difference, and stopped you from tossing it raw into the bubble mailer.
i seriously have to contain myself from packaging it up like a russian nesting doll.
next time i'll prolly start off w placing that 1991 pro set lee trevino in a yellow toploader w clear tape across the top, placed into a team bag. more heavy clear tape, placed between 2 cardboard slats w more ample tape straight into a 4x6 bubble mailer and securely taped. safely place that into a banged-up, used 10x12 bubble mailer. more tape naturally. secure those contents in either that lucky charms cereal box or the keystone light 15 pack box i just hadn't gotten around to discarding just yet. because, hey. it's all about recycling these days, right?
once secured, safely place into false floor of a shrink-wrapped 12x12x12 topped w ample amounts of cheap styrofoam peanuts. that false floor pretty much means all of those broken up peanuts will be on his floor. anyways, place that box into a 14x14x14. padded w all that extra broken styrofoam support from that 70' tv that i got last christmas which was taking up valuable space but i just knew would come in handy one day. finally place that secure nest egg into a 16x16x16 side padded w the days newspaper. shrink-wrap it one more solid time just in case it rains. write "open here" on the wrong side and then ship it friday for saturday am priority w signature confirmation.
I have a bit of a different view on this. I've had too many experiences in the past where highly rated sellers did a poor job of packaging the item (I only buy unopened). I've had, on 2 occasions, someone use the actual case as the shipping carton and just slapped a label on the outside of the case....unreal. I had a major auction house send me a 1982 Topps Vending Case, so poorly packaged that the bottom split open. Just a couple of weeks ago, an eBay seller with 12K plus 100% positive feedback sent me an early 80's FB wax box wrapped essentially in craft paper. I usually just politely ask them take special care in packaging it, prefacing that I hate to even bring it up, but I've had too many bad experiences. I'll even offer to pay more for shipping if necessary.
what type of feedback notes did you leave in the description?
eta: and anything over a certain monetary naturally gets an auto-pass. so don't blame you there one bit.
Poor packaging is endemic. However, from my perspective, the people who need the message aren’t listening and the people who are listening don’t need the message.
A few years ago, I was in the market for a recent case and I would ask each seller if they were shipping it in a separate box or just slapping a label on the case. It was surprising how many couldn't grasp the concept and just thought it was automatic to slap a label on the case.
>
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Heck, I'd be willing to pack to blurry's specifications if you reach out to me before paying so I can accurately adjust shipping costs. The buyer does not get to decide what my $3.50 (that's already a money loser) includes after paying. It's my responsibility if it doesn't get there safely, period, given eBay's policies. Cases and boxes are a different story, but this is one raw card.
FWIW, every case I've ordered has been at least double boxed, some technically triple. Boxes on the other hand, I've had tossed loose into Priority Bubble mail envelopes and amazing made it to me safely with no damage. Not a method I would ever attempt, but must be worth the gamble to some out there. Heck, one vending box I've got going out is wrapped with enough bubble to fill the rest of the space in a Regional Rate A box. Short of it being driven over, I'm thinking it will be OK.
yes, i am very fortunate to have the fedex rates that i do! 😂
I had a buyer go back and forth a number of times (15 + times over 4 hours) trying to convince me that the item I had for sale would fit in a small flat rate box. (This wasn’t a card) They even wet as far as to pull up the product manual and send me a snip of the dimensions. Obviously they don’t know how dimensions work, the smallest dimension was 3 inches!! That won’t fit in a small flat rate box!!!
Then they stated they were no longer interested because they bought one on Mercari for a great price. I was glad and hoped they would leave me alone. He gets the one from Mercari and it doesn’t have the charging cable so he has to return it. Now he is back with me.
After more back and forth to complain about my pricing he buys it. Then he follows up with the request that the outside box should arrive in perfect condition. No dents in the corner. I proceeded to wrap the whole box in scraps of bubble wrap and tons of packaging tape.. partly to make it a bear to open.. he gets it and sends me a pic that the one corner of the box is dented a bit. I replied back, what do you want from me?? He said he wanted nothing, just letting me know. Sure....
Some of these buyers, I tell ya! Don’t tell me how to package an item! @LarkinCollector the post above on packaging brought out this bad memory.. !
Nic
Guides Authored - Graded Card Scanning Guide PDF | History of the PSA Label PDF
I hope this taught you that you needed to block him immediately after he told you he got one on Mercari for a great price.
The gold rush has brought out sellers that have no idea how to pack a box. I bought an unopened box of cards. The seller wraps it in a paper bag and mails it. Reminded me of a book cover in elementary school.
He has been blocked.. just a day or so too late.. thought he was gone and he came crawling back.
Nic
Guides Authored - Graded Card Scanning Guide PDF | History of the PSA Label PDF
glad you brought up the other side and the new sellers.
miiiiiight have you best. tough call.
couple weeks ago, i got a starting line up figure mailed to me in a pizza hut personal deep dish pizza box. yes, it was wrapped in a plastic grocery bag but it still had pizza sauce & grease stains complete w remnants of that extra onion smell. that's it's. no other type packaging material whatsoever.
free shipping ain't all it's cracked up to be. although i take pride in mine.
Ok that’s just funny.
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
I sold to the Exact same guy, he has that statement pre ready to copy & paste to all his Payments to Sellers, what a Clown.
9200+ Transactions on E-bay but I need help to get my packing straight!
Thanks Guy!
YeeHaw!
Neil
As long as he held the anchovies it couldn't be that bad!
I slowed down selling after the football season and just started listing new items again. It looks like the newbies are trying to move more transactions off eBay from the messages I now receive.
So they want me to contact them and I have to figure out how to contact them from their message. Then when I do, I have to use my personal phone (not crazy about that), then they want me to offer prices until they accept one that meets their target (without telling me what their target is).
Has everyone gotten that lazy where I have to make the best offer for them? For as much as I want to help a buyer out by going off the grid, I just ignore these requests.
Did I send you that...j/k. In college, in the early 90's I made a Kings throne/chair out of old pizza boxes and duct tape. Unfortunately we didn't take the time to clean out the old crusts, etc... that people had left in the boxes and one day weeks later a Rat ran out from underneath my throne. Alas it had to be thrown away after that.
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.