What do you think about an unwanted enclosure?

kmnorton

Normally, folks post about people throwing in free cards and being thankful for the gesture. Today, I received a package that had my items in it and a pamphlet from the Bill Graham Evangelistic Association thrown in. I know this may upset some folks, but I really resent having it included in my shipment.

What if I were to include something about whatever everytime I sent something out? I don't have a problem at all with people's religion, but this sort of thing just kind of rubs me the wrong way. I certainly won't put anything in the feedback because it's none of my business what he does (and the CARDS came to me quickly and in fine shape), but was unsure if I should send a personal note.

Kurt

gosteelers

I really don't think it's a big deal, but others may think differently...

Alfonz24

Don't buy from him/them anymore.

AlanAllen

I've gotten those with cards before. I view it just as I would a sales pamphlet. I glance at it for half a second to determine what it is, and throw it away. There are bigger things to worry about.

Joe

ebayaddict

You may not want to answer this, Are you a Christian? Im not trying to offend you, just curious, you brought up the subject.

CDsNuts

Send him something back with a devil worshipper's pamphlet and see how he reacts.

I actually think it's pretty funny that someone would do this. What are they expecting to happen? "Oh look, my Ripken PSA 10 came...... Wait, what's this? Oh wow, I never thought about god in that way. I think I'll convert immediately!"

As a side note, I received a package a few months ago that had a card I ordered plus some Iraqi money with Saddam's face on them. I thought it was pretty quirky as a throw in, but how pissed would I be if my brother or someone close to me was fighting over there?

Lee

storm888

It happens often on EBAY.

I write the seller off if he she/does it.

They have a right to do it, and I have a right not
to buy from them again, if they do it.

NOTE: I am a very "religious" guy, in my own, private
way. Religion just has nothing to do with biznz or
government.

Graphix

I have received some as well in eBay purchases. I figure they probably have good intentions and are proud and very faithful to their religion. Why should I discriminate against them for a belief they have. No harm no foul and if I am getting a good deal put 2 in if you want.

Griffins

I've gotten those before, as well as cards wrapped in porn newspapers. I found them equally offensive.
Neither belong in a business transaction. ditto with political propaganda.

storm888

"I think I'll convert immediately..."

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

The path to ANY "conversion" is cumulative and personal.
The proselytizer is just doing their duty, as they see it.
I just do not want them doing their duty on me.

The Iraq cash is a cool give away.

kmnorton

Lee,

That, honestly, was my first reaction. My religion really doesn't matter and I will toss it as I would any other unsolicited material, but this is the first time something like this has happened and wanted to see if others have also experienced this and what their reactions were.

Kurt

bri2327

I too would cease to purchase from a seller who does that.

On a similar note are the sellers who choose to use the feedback space as their personal religious message board. That will automatically stop me from ever looking at another auction of theirs.

Being religious or not has zero to do with any of this IMO. It has ONLY to do with people pushing their views on others in inapropriate ways.

ajw

I've received them, and I hate them.

I also hate the people that hand out little pamphlets outside Yankees Stadium that have a picture of Mickey Mantle or Don Mattingly on the outside, and some religious message on the inside.

It's one thing if you want to be up front with your proselytizing, but it's something else if you use false advertising to put your message in front of me.

envoy98

Porn newspapers? lol

I don't like the thought of someone sending that stuff with their shipment. I also dont see what the original poster's religion has to do with anything. I don't mind getting a flyer in my shipment if it's related to the product I purchased. ie. an inventory list of other cards, or recent sales, or even a promotion for their website. This however, has no business being in there. (Nor do porn newspapers for that matter, but that one I'm still trying to get my head around)

storm888

...little pamphlets outside Yankees Stadium that have a picture of Mickey Mantle or Don Mattingly on the outside, and some religious message on the inside.

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PSA should really grade those, too.

A neat new paper-collectible.

Graphix

Just curious? So the people who posted saying that they would never buy from the seller again would not buy from them if they could land a card at an outrageous deal. I dunno say a PSA 10 (insert card here) for 30% of the actual market value.

RipublicaninMass

<< <i>Just curious? So the people who posted saying that they would never buy from the seller again would not buy from them if they could land a card at an outrageous deal. I dunno say a PSA 10 (insert card here) for 30% of the actual market value. >>



EVERYONE has their price

CDsNuts

Ted DiBiase said it, so it must be true.

Lee

nam812

Lee, I just bought 1,000,000 new Iraqi Dinar for $900 If Bush turns their economy around like he says he will (thats a big if), and 1 Dinar ends up eqaling just 1 US penny, that's $10,000 US in my pocket. If not, then I have a lot of gag Christmas presents to give away for years to come.

PS - The old Iraqi Dinar with Saddam on it before they went to war was worth like $3.20 to 1 US dollar, so if it ever got back to that, that's 3.2 million for me. Ah, to dream.

wolfbear

Sign the seller up on a Scientology mailing list ...

storm888

"..I just bought 1,000,000 new Iraqi Dinar for $900..."

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

Sadly, the only folks who will ever make money on these deals
are the ones who are selling the notes to "dreamers."

BUT, it is fun to dream. And, the notes are pretty.

The high-denom notes are still bringing pretty good prices on
EBAY, though.

MooseDog

I agree with AlanAllen on this subject. Personally, I would find this no more annoying than getting that junk the credit card companies put in your bill or AOL CDs in my magazines. OK, maybe I get get a little psycho about those AOL CDs... I don't want to get recruited by the Christians, the Pagans, the Republicans, the Democrats, the Gays, or the Army. As the man said, I wouldn't join any group that would have me as a member.

Assuming the flyer was printed on paper, do like I would and toss that sucker right into the recycling bin along with 5000 1991 Topps cards and used porno mags.

If that kind of stuff bothers you, then what do you do with stuff like this...give/send it back to the player? I would still buy from the guy if he had something I wanted - and without comment about his "inserts".

Tedw9

I don't pay any attention to things like that sent with my packages, I just toss it in the round file. I am not religious at all and if I decided to be, I don't need anyone else's help deciding what is right for me.

But on that same idea....a few years back I purchased a sports video from a guy on Ebay. I sent a check and the day he received it, he called my house looking for me to try to sell me more videos. That didn't bother me either. What DID burn my butt was the fact my ex girlfriend answered the phone and when she told him I was not home, he asked if she was my wife. She replied, no, that she was my girlfriend. And in the background he could hear my baby daughter crying. He asked if he heard a child in the background, and when she replied that we had a daughter, he lit into my ex about how we were sinners and were gonna burn in hell. Had he been anywhere near me that night, he might have found himself there a little bit quicker than me.

I could very easily go on a long rant about this whole subject, but I won't.

nam812

<< <i>Sadly, the only folks who will ever make money on these deals
are the ones who are selling the notes to "dreamers." >>



Thank goodness that $900 wont break me.

stevek

If I found my order to wrapped in obscene pictures of Maria Sharapova, it would be quite shocking!




















Then I'd immediately place another order.

Graphix

<< <i>She replied, no, that she was my girlfriend. >>



Actually I think once you have a kid together her status would have officially changed to: Your Baby Momma.

digicat

This isn't worth getting bent out of shape about. Treat it as packing material and discard it. Besides, if you send a personal note, he might take that as an invitation to talk more about it.

pandrews

i think only a wussy would get their panties in a wad or even think twice about it..

larryallen73

Throw it away and move on. So many more important things in life to get upset about in my opinion.

storm888

"...i think only a wussy would get their panties in a wad or even think twice about it.. "

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

There is some merit in that conclusion.

I think my bias against the practice stems, in part, from having
dealt with "religious" folks on EBAY in the past.

As a buyer, of the dozen or so deals I did with folks who advertised
in their listings that they were "Christians," only one or two of the
deals were satisfactory.

When I see the fish or any other religious symbol in a listing,
I swim away really rapidly.

I am the first to acknowledge that it is not the fault of Jesus -
or his religion - that so many of his salesmen are awful people.

Graphix

<< <i>I am the first to acknowledge that it is not the fault of Jesus -
or his religion - that so many of his salesmen are awful people. >>



I agree, just ask this lady about Jesus Salesmen

Estil

Well, a few years back I ordered a complete set of 1990 Starline Long John Silvers cards still in their original packages, and they all had stickers to "Vote for Douglass" (perhaps these were leftover campaign favors?); I said in my feedback I'd make sure I'd vote for him as a joke.

TNP777

<< <i>I am the first to acknowledge that it is not the fault of Jesus -
or his religion - that so many of his salesmen are awful people. >>

And I'll be the 2nd. I'll go on record as saying that I'm one of His salesmen, and often I do a real lousy job of it. I've been through those stages of claiming to a Christian, and then do things like think I'm doing a good job of following Jesus by talking about him over a few (or more) beers in a bar. Thankfully, I'm past those days, but I still blow it quite a bit. I do my best not to hold myself up as better than others, in fact quite the opposite most of the time - I can be quite hard on myself. At any rate, to follow storm's train of thought, don't judge Jesus by the yardstick of observing those who claim to follow Him but are scumbags away from church. Rather, observe those who humbly follow, and readily admit they're not perfect and make amends for the stupid things they do.

To stay on topic, Kurt - my opinion is that you should just chuck the literature and forget about it. Obviously I think there is something of worth in it, but having said that, I believe you'll see Jesus better in those that don't just hand out tracts, but more importantly display their faith in how they live.


<< <i>“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle." Brennan Manning >>

And guys, I didn't come on here to proselytize, but I did feel the need to speak out a little bit.

Geordie

edited to remove some redundant words in a sentence.

rbdjr1

I looked them up (Bill G.) on the Net, and their 2006 operating expenses were like 160 million, my God! They have more money than Jim Davallilo!

rd

onlyanumber

Look at it this way. The seller may have gotten tired of people turning their hoses on him when he went door to door. Adding a pamphlet to the package helps him to get his word out and gets him that one step closer to heaven.

wolfbear

Pretty much amazing how bright card collectors are.

No wonder I feel so much at home here ...

SidePocket

Geordie, I couldn't have said it better.

Forgive and forget.

Estil

And to the original topic poster, be glad that at least they weren't those Jack Chick pamplets.

dude

I don't think getting something unsolicited in a package is worth making a fuss over.

On a slightly different, but somewhat related topic, has anyone noticed that some eBay sellers write "Jewish" in the titles for Jewish players like Ken Holtzman, Larry Sherry, Norm Miller, Sandy Koufax, etc? Am I correct in that they do it to increase sales? So the question I have is this: why limit it to just Jewish players? Why not also write, "Christian", "Atheist", "Agnostic", "Morman", etc?

CDsNuts

I assume it's done to increase sales, but right off the bat you're eliminating Mel Gibson as a potential customer.

Lee

JTB

I just received a package that contained pink packing peanuts. PINK!!! Can you believe the nerve of this guy pushing his homosexual beliefs on me? I'm not homophobic. One of my best friends is gay. But I'll never bid on his auctions again.

Graphix

I think this thread just took a wrong turn

larryallen73

So the question I have is this: why limit it to just Jewish players?

Speaking as a gross generalization on my people, we are very proud of all our athletes. "All" being the key word. Not a lot. Remember the scene in Airplane when passing out magazines? The very small one is "Famous Jewish Sports Legends" or something like that.

My grandparents, in LA, were avid Buffalo Bills fans in the 80's/90's. Had they ever been to Buffalo? Probably not. Mary Levy was the coach. If the coach is Jewish might as well root for them! However, they did stop rooting as loudly for Corey Pavin when he left the faith and became a born again Christian!

CDsNuts

In Hebrew school, my brother had to write about a famous Jewish person. He wrote about Rod Carew, an African-American converted Jew. Needless to say it wasn't that big of a hit.

Lee