posted on May 6, 2001 07:00:04 PM
ARRRRGH! Pure vent here. I sell old sheet music. I'm aware of how to pack it for safe shipment. I send it via 'media mail' because it's the most cost effective way to ship (within the US). I put it in a poly bag, I sandwich it in paperboard, I mark the envelope "Do Not Fold or Bend!". For this, I charge $2.00. $1.30 of this is postage, and 70¢ is my cost for (non-free) poly bags, mailing supplies and paperboard. I am not an idiot having an online garage sale. This is what I do.
So, I've got a buyer (who is paying something like $5.00 for a piece of sheet music). And his email comes with instructions: ship it priority, insured, sandwiched in paperboard, marked "Do Not Fold or Bend" and be sure it's in a poly bag. Oh, and do that for $2.00.
posted on May 6, 2001 08:20:41 PM
I had the first one this week send short funds to get an item. I dropped it in a manila envelope with no protection and sent it first class. Put a little note in that he only paid enough for first class so that's all he got and P.S. Don't bid on anymore of my auctions cheapo.
posted on May 6, 2001 08:37:27 PM
LOL at Gravid. You are cool. I think you were being generous with the envelope. You could have just slapped the label and postage on the item itself and sent it on. That's what my evil side would have done.
Ferncreek: your buyer may have received other items that were badly packaged (like the first edition book I just got that was only wrapped in brown paper), and was trying to avoid that situation again. BUT expecting Priority Mail insured for the same price as Media Rate takes a bit of nerve.
How did you respond? Probably in a calm, professional manner. LOL
posted on May 6, 2001 09:10:49 PM
Misscandle, I sputtered and railed at my computer and my cat (who seemed most sympathetic). But to the buyer, my response was a heartfelt (oh yeah!) thanks for his suggestions for packing, and a new and itemized total for the special handling and shipping services which were requested above and beyond my own TOS description of services provided and cost.
I agree that he is probably responding to past experience with poor shipping process. I am not unsympathetic, as I've been there myself...just chose to respond to it differently, I guess. Truly, I understand it, but maybe my cat wasn't overtly responsive enough. I just needed a vent, and I appreciated the opportunity to blow steam here.
posted on May 7, 2001 06:18:51 AM
No, a poly bag is a heavy gauge clear plastic "bag" made in different sizes, designed to fit certain items. They are usually either 2 or 3 mils thick, which is much thicker than the plastic in say, a sandwich bag. It lays flat and is ideal protection for sheet music, comic books, records, magazines, etc.
They aren't exactly cheap but if you buy them in lots of 500 you can get them at a reasonable cost.
posted on May 7, 2001 03:41:53 PM
I have purchased a fair number of breakable items for my family, and I always check the seller's feedback to see how they pack.
On several occasions I have e-mailed a seller with some packing hints or requests, but they were all newbies. I was very careful to state that I had no wish to offend them, but they appeared to be new sellers and I didn't know how much experience they had in packing breakables. I haven't had anyone jacking up the price on me yet!
posted on May 7, 2001 04:09:14 PM
Ferncreek, I can understand your frustration. But speaking for the other side... I have had to start sending shipping instructions, as a defensive measure, when I buy fragile items, because so many sellers don't know how to pack them.
Unless they've done business with you in the past, there really is no way for your buyer to know that you are one of the "good packers."
And the final bid is no measure of the value of the item to the one who purchased it. You have no way of knowing now much they actually bid -- the $5 high bidder may have actually bid $100, but it never went any higher due to other bidders lack of interest. Some sellers, sad to say, are careless when packing items that didn't bring high bids. (Sometimes, it seems, even maliciously so, because they were disappointed in the ending bid -- but that wasn't the HIGH bidder's fault -- so why take it out on them?!)
So even though it can be annoying to receive packing instructions, I think it's best to not take it personally. Remember that the bidder has probably experienced negligent packing more than once, which has increased their concern and anxiety about the safe recipt of the item they just bought from you.
Violetta
(Not known by this nickname anywhere but here.)
posted on May 7, 2001 06:34:51 PM
I agree, Violetta! I've received items which were broken because the seller was a careless, or inexperienced packer. Actually, it was not the specifics of the request to which I objected; rather, it was the presumption (without asking) that my packing might not be up to standard, and it was the request for a shipping method (priority (flat rate $3.95) vs. media mail ($1.30)) for my $2.00 shipping cost which momentarily aggravated. A simple question (how do you pack/ship your sheet music?) would have been welcomed (although it is included in my auction description). A request for priority vs. media mail (and an acknowledgement that there would be additional cost, which the buyer would pay) would have been welcomed. Perhaps it was the approach that struck me wrong and caused my vent. It doesn't change my appreciation for the buyer, nor my determination to make the transaction a satisfactory one for both of us.
I guess, sometimes, it bothers me that folks (bidders, mostly) seem to think that this is something I do for play. It isn't. I ordered shipping supplies today...and put $350 out the door for poly bags, and cardboard envelopes and bubble mailers. It's one of my costs of doing business, and it is reflected (70¢ at a time) in my shipping/handling costs. I take the same care in packing and handling whether the item goes for $1 or $100. I will admit to whistling while I pack up the one that goes for $100.
But speaking for the other side... I have had to start sending shipping instructions, as a defensive measure, when I buy fragile items, because so many sellers don't know how to pack them.