Bummer! Look at what I just got in the mail!

rbdjr1

Won this quite large PSA slabbed (PSA slab is approx. 10" x 7") 1988 Perez-Steele Great Moments Autographed Luis Aparicio. Paid five bucks for shipping. Granted it was shipped in a bubble mailer, but there is just too much plastic surface area and should have had some type better shipping protection, like maybe a rigid box?

Well, let the "before and after scans" speak for itself"!

rd

qmayer

Is the card damaged at all? It doesn't look too bad in the scan

mikeschmidt

<< <i>Is the card damaged at all? It doesn't look too bad in the scan >>



Even if not, I think it costs $35- or so to slab those.


Sorry to hear about this, rbdjr1! It is definitely a nice looking Aparicio.

BobaFett72

i love Perez Steele stuff

ouch! by the way. that stinks. was the package shredded or did it get bent?

rbdjr1

<< <i>Is the card damaged at all? It doesn't look too bad in the scan >>



I card looks ok, but I can't be 100% certain, unless I totally crack it out of the damaged PSA slab.

Before I do that, I'd like to see if the seller (who is a pretty good guy!), will "make me whole". Otherwise I'll try a Paypal claim.

rd

baseballfan

that sucks, but the cards doesn't look damaged seems the psa holder did it's job to protect it, looks like the postal rollers got a hold of it

rbdjr1

<< <i>i love Perez Steele stuff

ouch! by the way. that stinks. was the package shredded or did it get bent? >>



Shredded!

(I think?)

rd

carew4me

Did you purchase insurance?

If properly packaged then why is this the sellers fault?

sagard

<< <i>Did you purchase insurance?

If properly packaged then why is this the sellers fault? >>



Based on the condition upon arrival it wasn't packaged properly. USPS would never even consider paying out a claim on something like this. Not in a hundred years.

Carew29

So what you are saying is that we are all responsible for how the USPS ships/handles our products, if i understand you correctly.

This is why i personally write on ALL of my packages--- DO NOT BEND. I know people from this board will verify this from packages they have received from me.

Also on my ebay auctions i tell everyone Insurance is optional but reccomended. In my book this seller did nothing wrong.

rbdjr1

<< <i>Did you purchase insurance?

If properly packaged then why is this the sellers fault? >>



A PSA plastic Slab almost 10 inches by 7 inches, needs to be packaged in more than a bubble mailer!

Seller may get away shipping dozens without damage, but I could easily "feel the plastic holder" thru the mailer!

So it WAS the Seller's fault, in my opinion! Shipping was $2, I paid $5, so he had "some room" to package it a little better!

rd

edit: Insurance on a $20 item? Nah!

originalisbest

Sorry, if the seller had half a peanut for a brain, they should've known a bubble mailer would've been insufficient protection for a large plastic item like this.

sagard

USPS does not like paying claims. If the item was lost/stolen, you will probably get paid. If the item was damaged your claim will get denied with "insufficient packaging". If your card was in a bubble mailer, they say it should have been in a box. If it was in a box, they say it should have been double boxed. You will have to battle to get paid on a damaged shipment.

storm888

As we all know, under the PayPal scheme, the seller
is obligated to assure that items are delivered as
advertised and sold.

If a seller cannot con the buyer into paying extra
for insurance, it is wise for that seller to pay for
the insurance himself. Under the PayPal scheme,
insurance is for the protection of the seller, NOT
the buyer.

I have sold dozens of Perez-Steele slabs, and
never lost one to the smashers. They MUST be
placed in at least one-layer of heavy cardboard
BEFORE they are stuffed into the bubble, to
assure safety. The largest ones need to be boxed.

This seller, who may well be a "pretty good guy,"
is obviously using his S+H fees as a profit center.

Carew29

Per my conversation with an official "supervisor", as i just left the Post Office a few minutes ago, By writing or stamping "do not bend" on it, the Post Office is mandated to handle the packages differently. They also base this on size and if the item has ( and these are his words) HARD PLASTIC in it (such as PSA cards). In his opinion the Post Office botched this and it is not the fault of the seller. If it was insured, then the Post Office would pay for it.

storm888

"In his opinion the Post Office botched this and it is not the fault of the seller.
If it was insured, then the Post Office would pay for it. "

////////////////////////////////////////////////

I agree.

"Do Not Bend" and "Fragile" - as claimed by the USPS -
are handled more carefully/differently.

If the seller did not want to risk eating the loss via a PayPal
chargeback, he should have insured it.

gosteelers

How can you, as a responsible seller, not place two pieces of rigid cardboard 'sandwiching' this slab? If the seller just placed this item in a bubble mailer with no protection, shame on them. By writing 'Do Not Bend' on the package, this should not alleviate responsibility. That's lame. Heck, for $5 they could have shipped this item in a Priority Mail BOX with proper protection...

originalisbest

Hmmm. Guess I have a complaint with a package shipped to me from FL once - had "DO NOT BEND" writ large on both sides of an oversized, flat cardboard mailer - nicely folded in HALF and jammed into my mailbox.

Bottom line, "Do Not Bend" and "Fragile" written notations are a joke. If it is fragile and shouldn't be bent, package it so that it won't be.

envoy98

<< <i>Hmmm. Guess I have a complaint with a package shipped to me from FL once - had "DO NOT BEND" writ large on both sides of an oversized, flat cardboard mailer - nicely folded in HALF and jammed into my mailbox.

Bottom line, "Do Not Bend" and "Fragile" written notations are a joke. If it is fragile and shouldn't be bent, package it so that it won't be. >>





Seller should have pacakged this better, the amount of damage that was incurred is pretty extensive and if the mailer was indeed shredded, the mail carrier should have left you a note on it. I've gotten envelopes a couple of times that were shredded, then placed in another envelope saying "we're sorry our machine jacked up your letter". I mail up to two regular sized psa graded cards in a bubble mailer, anything more than that and I put them in a priority mail box. This should have been no different in my opinion.

TNTonPMS

That is horrible .
I just don't see what could have caused that much damage .
It looks like it was fed between two gears , Or run over with the forklift .
To have cracked "That Case" , what did the machine do to everything else that went through it .
Something just don't jive .
And I know many of you have seen similar before , Still , you could run it over with your car and nothing would happen to it , I've tried , nothing happened to it , not a scratch .

jimq112

Was that card slipped into a large bubble mailer with no cardboard backing? If so it was either treated as a parcel and something heavy was dropped off the conveyor belt onto it or the clerk sorting parcels missed the container and it went flying. If it hit the wall on a 20' flight I think that damage could happen.





<< <i>Per my conversation with an official "supervisor", as i just left the Post Office a few minutes ago, By writing or stamping "do not bend" on it, the Post Office is mandated to handle the packages differently. They also base this on size and if the item has ( and these are his words) HARD PLASTIC in it (such as PSA cards). In his opinion the Post Office botched this and it is not the fault of the seller. If it was insured, then the Post Office would pay for it. >>



The supervisor told you the official postal service version of the truth. It depends completely on the clerk who sorts the mail and the carrier who cases it and the carrier who delivers it.

We get our raw flats in plastic tubs about 1'x1'x1.5'. All of our "flat" items that don't come in delivery order come in those tubs. I sort usually 6-7 of those tubs daily, with usually about 50 flats per tub. A flat can be a large envelope, an uncommon magazine or newspaper, or an uncommon advertisement. Last week it was billions of political mail.

We get 7 seconds to find your address out of 650 addresses, and put the piece of mail into the case where it belongs. If we put it in the wrong one your neighbor gets your envelope and you both get mad. In that 7 seconds we also have to move the larger envelopes to the bottom of the pile of your mail. If you get a lot of mail your cell may be 2" wide, if not it can be as thin as 3/4". Fitting 2 large magazines into a 3/4" cell 5" high is tight and things can get banged up.

A fast carrier can find it and get it in there in plenty of time, and have the time to look for a marking like fragile or do not bend. A new carrier or a slow carrier has a hard enough time finding the right address and getting it in there, let alone checking it to see if it's marked.

Your best option from a real world carrier, not a supervisor, is to use cardboard backing and pack it securely. If you're going to put "do not bend" put it in red or yellow in large letters close to the address. If it's not close it has a good chance of getting missed.

If it is something you can't replace spend the extra to pack it well and insure it.

Also if you send something in a box, and it's a normal sized box, what the post office calls "machinable", pack it well! USPS, UPS, and FedEx all use basically the same system, and your 5# box with a hartland statue goes down the same conveyor belt and drops over the same edge into the same container as a 40# car part. If your box isn't packed well there's a chance that 40# box might crush it.

Tabe

<< <i>If a seller cannot con the buyer into paying extra
for insurance, it is wise for that seller to pay for
the insurance himself. Under the PayPal scheme,
insurance is for the protection of the seller, NOT
the buyer. >>


It's not a "scheme" or a "con" - the USPS says the same thing. When a claim is paid out, who do you think gets the $$$? The shipper (seller). Why? Because insurance is there to reimburse the seller for refunding a purchase.

Tabe

Carew29

I guess you all need to start asking your sellers SPECIFICLY as to how they are going to mail/ship/package your winning auction to you. That way there is no one to blame but yourself.

calaban7

Sorry about your experience. Wow thats such a nice card too.

This has never happened on an Ebay purchase for me, but I have received damaged holders from PSA, but only a few. I sent them back, and they reholdered them, even though I thought I was supposed to get some vouchers in return for my postage spent.

One day it will be my turn, to get the card that was removed from the dogs mouth or something like that. I hope not though.

storm888

There is no reason that every seller should not
already know everything that jimq spelled out
in the above post.

It is simple common sense that you have to protect
the stuff you ship. It has to be packed right; and, if you
do not want to eat the loss, pay for the insurance EVEN
if your buyer declines it.

EBAY buyers suffer from these damages each day, and
it hurts every good seller.

S+H money is for S+H; sellers need to spend it on that.
That money is not "extra profit" for the lazy/greedy seller.

rbdjr1

<< <i>I guess you all need to start asking your sellers SPECIFICLY as to how they are going to mail/ship/package your winning auction to you. That way there is no one to blame but yourself. >>



How can u say that? I was just a seller mistake, period! These are unique PSA slabs, because they are so large. With all that surface area, it simply needs a little more "rigid shipping protection". And I'm pretty sure this seller will understand, and protect these large PSA slabs a little better in the future!

All one has to do is "to feel the all the plastic" through the bubble mailer that is too thin for this large PSA slab. Just an error from an otherwise good seller.


Carew29, don't blame me for the seller's error, I paid $20 plus 20% extra for shipping. This cool autographed item deserved better packaging.

Enough said!

rd

goose3

<< <i>

<< <i>Did you purchase insurance?

If properly packaged then why is this the sellers fault? >>



Based on the condition upon arrival it wasn't packaged properly. USPS would never even consider paying out a claim on something like this. Not in a hundred years. >>




they most certainly will. they do the same with coins in slabs.

TNTonPMS

<< <i>Sorry about your experience. Wow thats such a nice card too.

This has never happened on an Ebay purchase for me, but I have received damaged holders from PSA, but only a few. I sent them back, and they reholdered them, even though I thought I was supposed to get some vouchers in return for my postage spent.

One day it will be my turn, to get the card that was removed from the dogs mouth or something like that. I hope not though. >>




OMG, I had a dream like that a few nights ago, only the dog was laying on the ground with the baseball display case all chewed up and opened and he had one of the baseballs in his mouth and I was trying to pry his mouth open , I think I was screaming in my sleep , when I woke up, I had to go inside and just check to make sure it was really a dream . . . .Ummmm I mean NIGHTMARE !

WinPitcher

lol how can anyone blame the buyer here is beyond me.

the seller, shipper or whatever you want to call him is at fault here.

he can take it up with his shipper of choice.


the buyer did not do anything wrong here.

lol,

Steve

schr1st

Knowing the seller, you probably won't have a problem getting your $ back.

Stone193

rd - that's a shame.

It's a really nice card - I hope you get that resolved with ease.

The T3s have to be handled well or anything can happen.

I think I showed how I averted a near disaster recently?

This is exactly how the package came to me - the guy put it in cardboard but didn't seal the end of the sandwich - so the card was propelled thru the thin envelope and could easily have been removed or broken.



This is the second time this has happened - there was no damage to this one - the other one had scratches on the edge - like someone had dragged it along the concrete or something.

Good luck
mike

diamondman

First off: (jimq112) True words of wisdom.
I know even when I am shipping even a single Psa slab (regular size) it goes between 2 pieces of cardboard before going into the bubble mailer, 3 or more slabs go into a box.
The larger slabs definitely needs to be protected better.
Personally I have recieved 2 slabs over the last 6 or 7 months sent in bubble mailers no protectiion that have been damaged lucky for me 10 & 15 dollar cards and will end up sending them back in to psa for reslabbing, figured to much hassle to contact the seller and complain due to the value and I didnot take insurance. Most (good) sellers I believe will make it Right.Contact the seller in a professional manner and explain your problem and see what happens (before filing any paypal complaint). Just MOO

originalisbest

Am I seeing things? Who in their right mind would blame the BUYER in this situation? Water that brain stem of yours if you do - the vital nutrition required for normal synapse function has gone lacking.

rbdjr1

Just a heads-up!

received this email today!

Hi Bob,
Don't worry about it. I'll see if I have another one to send to you. If so it will go out tomorrow.
Thanks,
Michael

In the end, its all about dealing with quality Sellers!

storm888

"In the end, its all about dealing with quality Sellers!"

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Absolutely !!!!!

bhl2359

<< <i>So what you are saying is that we are all responsible for how the USPS ships/handles our products, if i understand you correctly.

This is why i personally write on ALL of my packages--- DO NOT BEND. I know people from this board will verify this from packages they have received from me.

Also on my ebay auctions i tell everyone Insurance is optional but reccomended. In my book this seller did nothing wrong. >>


I will assume that you don't take Paypal if that is your attitude. If you pay with Paypal, there is no point in purchasing "optional" insurance, since insurance protects the shipper. Also, as someone else pointed out, improper shipping and packaging methods would invalidate an insurance claim here.

sonoranmonsoon

I used to ship my cards in a bubble wrapper inside a priority mail envelope. I had a poor customer receive a card looking like the one you have pictured. Of course I returned his money plus shipping both ways. I learned my lesson. I now ship all PSA cards inside of a small box.

jhpfunk

I'm glad that the seller did right by you. I've voiced my opinion on this subject before. The laziness of some sellers always seems to amaze me. I bubble wrap $5 cards. How someone can't take the time to cut a couple pieces of an old box or wrap a card in recycled bubble wrap/mailer is beyond me. The laziest of the lot get the most defensive when they get challenged. For every card I buy via Paypal, I send a reminder:

Please make sure you wrap this card in something protective (like cardboard or bubble wrap) inside of a padded/bubble mailer. I've had a few cracked slabs show up lately due to insufficient packaging.

Unfortunately, only about 50% heed my request. Occasionally, I'll get overcharged for shipping an expensive card which gets sent in a plain bubble mailer and I immediately express my displeasure to the seller. 100% of the time I get the same lazy response: "What's the big deal? I used a bubble mailer. The S/H fee covers my time to go to the post office and materials." I guess there's just no convincing the slakers of the world.

Carew29

rd--i am not blaming you. I have sent out some 150 auctions that were at least 95% or more PSA cards in a bubble mailer without cardboard or any other type of wrapping and have yet to have a buyer show it arriving the way yours did. I know you have received packages from me as well as few others on this this thread and have never had any problems that i am aware of. If it is more than 3 or 4 PSA cards, usually i will send it out in a PSA box. Again, if you as a seller write "Do Not Bend", the Post Office is supposed to handle those packages differently. Apparently somebody decided to play soccer with that card. As cracked as that is, i doubt cardboard would have prevented that. Looks like somebody took a knee to it. I am glad the seller is willing to work it out with you. The main issue here is, what are you getting for your shipping dollar? I just had a schmuck from Florida send me a T206 card with a .41 stamp in a plain envelope on ebay two weeks ago. My shipping was $2. I should have asked 1) how was he going to ship it? 2) I should have asked for a shot of the back of the card which had writing on it. Luckly i just received my refund for the auction. So whether it cost $2 or $5 for shipping, apparently we need to ask these sellers how do you plan on shipping my product??

rbdjr1

<< <i>rd--i am not blaming you. I have sent out some 150 auctions that were at least 95% or more PSA cards in a bubble mailer without cardboard or any other type of wrapping and have yet to have a buyer show it arriving the way yours did. I know you have received packages from me as well as few others on this this thread and have never had any problems that i am aware of. If it is more than 3 or 4 PSA cards, usually i will send it out in a PSA box. Again, if you as a seller write "Do Not Bend", the Post Office is supposed to handle those packages differently. Apparently somebody decided to play soccer with that card. As cracked as that is, i doubt cardboard would have prevented that. Looks like somebody took a knee to it. I am glad the seller is willing to work it out with you. The main issue here is, what are you getting for your shipping dollar? I just had a schmuck from Florida send me a T206 card with a .41 stamp in a plain envelope on ebay two weeks ago. My shipping was $2. I should have asked 1) how was he going to ship it? 2) I should have asked for a shot of the back of the card which had writing on it. Luckly i just received my refund for the auction. So whether it cost $2 or $5 for shipping, apparently we need to ask these sellers how do you plan on shipping my product?? >>



Listen, the only thing about "Great Moments Perez-Steele cards" is they need a very large PSA slab. And these 10 1/8 x 6 11/16 slabs simply have a bigger surface area, and in my opinion, are subject to cracking under stress, so they need "more protection" than smaller PSA holders.

But beyond all that, the other issue, I was dealing with a "first class seller", which I've done business with many times in the past. He happily replaced the busted-up item, with another!

So to end all this:

#1 -- pack those larger plastic slabs "with more protection"!
#2 -- deal with good sellers!

Here's a scan of the replacement card I received today! I'm very satisfied with the outcome here! (Thanks again, Michael!)...

rd