posted on August 10, 2009 03:54:01 PM
I bought two lamps this past week. First time I have bought lamps on ebay in a very long time. They both arrived today.
One box was too small and the plastic shade was dented in. The seller misrepresented the item. I had emailed her b/c there was no condition description. She said there was nothing wrong with it. There is an old crack in the leg. Seller used newspaper to pack it, but it didn't matter b/c the box was too small and bulged where the shade touched the box.
Second box was big enough, but the box was crushed on the top, and smashed like an accordian on the side. Why??? The seller used a few pages of newspaper to ship it. The lamp was rolling around. When I pulled it out, the shade had a huge dent in it.
I plan to keep both, as I was able to push the dents out of the shades and I don't really want to waste time in shipping it back in hopes of receiving a refund with little effort. I contacted both sellers, took photographs of everything, including the second box before I opened it.
These sellers are really give us a bad rap on ebay. I will be leaving negative feedback and hitting them hard on their DSR's for the appropriate categories. Grrrrr.... I am so ticked off about this. How hard is it to buy some packing peanuts and fill a box???
posted on August 10, 2009 04:22:13 PM
Same here Shagi. Out of my last 10 eBay purchases, 2 never arrived and one was damaged due to insufficient packaging. Trying to resolve the problems only resulted in the sellers ignoring my emails until claims were filed.
One of the real winners was a seller who did not even have the item in stock (listing showed 10 available). I was never notified that the item was on back-order even though I had paid for a Priority Mail upgrade. After it not arriving in 7 days, I contacted him and he took about 5 days to respond and tell me it was on backorder and I could expect it in 30 days! When I requested a refund he told me his accountant was on vacation and I would receive my refund in a week. I gave him a neg and 1's as soon as my refund cleared.
I cringe to think other buyers are experiencing such poor service from ebay sellers but it certainly explains why I get so much praise in my feedback.
posted on August 10, 2009 04:32:56 PM
This is one good reason why eBay sales are sinking into the toilet. Horrible sellers that are absolutely clueless about things.
It is frustrating to think that other buyers are experiencing this too. I told each of them that I am a seller and would be embarrassed to ship it like they did. What good is insurance coverage when USPS will decline it for insufficient packing.
The other thing that bothers me is that ebay is no longer going to offer an insurance option. If I was a buyer I would be really miffed at this. I request it specifically for this reason, and I am more likely to forget if it isn't offered. I know it falls back on the seller, but so what!!! What if it isn't their fault that the item was lost or damaged?
posted on August 10, 2009 06:40:45 PM
The whole idea of removing 'insurance optional' is to remove seller's excuse-You did not buy insurance,so too bad!
*
Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
posted on August 10, 2009 06:47:35 PM
You should know better to buy large fragile items on Ebay,Ebay is dominated by amateur,weekend warrior type sellers,and it is getting worse,the field is getting so crowded and prices keep dropping,forcing sellers to squeeze out a profit from shipping fee.
Why buy 'real packing material' when you can dumpster dive,or use worn torn Walmart plastic bag,paper towel,pizza box,sanitary napkin box or just plain newspaper in your case!
Common sense tells us Ebay sellers AKA weekend warriors sell a coffee pot here,a doll there and once in a while may be a big ticket item like a lamp or a stool or a piano, or a dinosaur ! Do you think they have boxes they ordered ahead of time to accomodate all size,all shapes and fragility?
*
Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
[ edited by hwahwa on Aug 10, 2009 06:51 PM ]
[ edited by hwahwa on Aug 10, 2009 06:53 PM ]
posted on August 10, 2009 07:39:35 PM
I sell mainly pottery and glass antiques and collectibles. I'm getting pinched tighter and tighter by eBay, the buyers and packaging suppliers.
A simple 12x12x8 box is free if you use Priority Mail. However, the box alone and packaging material weigh almost 1 lb. If I sell a small pitcher for $20.00, I have to charge the 2 lb rate to ship it. I also have to purchase that packaging material. Peanuts are over $2.00 a cubic foot. Bubble wrap is close to $.50 a square foot. Now I have to figure a way to include $1.70 for insurance coverage hidden in my shipping fee. I used to charge $1.00 over and above the actual postage and insurance cost. Now just to break even, I'd have to charge $4.20 plus actual postage cost. Since the bidder now knows how much shipping and handling will be, he is hesitant to bid anywhere near what the item should bring.
posted on August 10, 2009 08:15:25 PM
If you can get hold of shredded newspaper or shredded woodpulp.Indians use shredded newspaper and Europeans use shredded woodpulp?
I have been buying bubble wraps on Ebay,these must be wholesalers,the price is much cheaper,I dont recall how much I pay,but it is not 50 cents per sq feet.and it is delivered by UPS.
*
Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
posted on August 11, 2009 01:02:40 AM
I will state this just incase we have someone new here reading the board, USPS will NOT pay a claim if the item has not been properly packaged.
In the case of my damaged package, I paid for Priority shipping. Instead of using a PM box, the seller used some god-awful paper tape to totally cover the outside of the factory sealed product box. There was no padding and the manufacters box was not made to withstand individual shipping. It took a lot of time to peel off that mess of tape only to find the product inside was ruined. The label was destroyed while removing the tape.
The irony is that the seller paid regular Priority rate and insurance. If she had gone to the trouble of using a Flat Rate Priority Mail box, it would have saved her on postage cost, I would have the product and she would have better DSRs. This was a seller with over 200 feedback so you would think she would have learned how to pack by now.
I am a seller too. I know the expenses involved in shipping. I consider packaging a part of doing business. I have had very few insurance claims in the last 12 years because I package items very carefully. I even recycle alot of material but it has to be clean, sturdy and odor free. I use priority boxes whenever possible. There is just not enough of a cost savings anymore to deal with hassle of shipping items parcel post.
For items small enough to mail first class, I purchase my bubble mailers in bulk from
[url]http://www.esupplystore.com
[/url] and most of my bubblewrap from a local furniture store. I am not much of a fan of popcorn but friends who know I do ebay supply me with more than I can possibly use.
posted on August 11, 2009 05:34:39 AM
I have had a buyer tell me that since the Post Office is running a 'sale' (those Priority Flat Rate Box commercials of 'if it fits, it ships' for one rate all across the country) that I must surely be overcharging for her 4 pound package to California. The item would not fit in a flat rate box and I explained that carefully and also dropped my 50 cent handling charge but she was not happy. I had a feeling that those ads would not be good for us, they never mention how much it costs!
posted on August 11, 2009 05:55:44 AM
Yes,I saw the ad yesterday,it is called offer 13?I wonder what kind of deal is being offered?
*
Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
posted on August 11, 2009 08:13:13 AM
There are 3 different sizes for flat rate (small-large). If you use Paypal to print shipping labels, you get the rate at the medium flat rate.
What is difficult is that my items vary in size from the smallest 8 x 8 x 8 cube to giant 40 cubed. I ship using USPS, Fed Ex and Greyhound. I refuse to ship brown. UPS is Satan in disguise.
Anyone know why ebay isn't integrated with Fed Ex calculator options in checkout? That is the major issue I have when invoicing customers. I can't even type in options other than use "other-see description".
posted on August 11, 2009 08:38:07 AM
ebay and Big Brown must have some type of agreement. I do wish they would include a FedEx calculator because I refuse to ship anything UPS.
I also want to know why PayPal has not added the new Flat Rate sizes for our online shipping labels. I have to go to my USPS account to print the Large Flat Rate labels and I am waiting for some new employee at the PO to kick back a small Flat Rate box because it has Flat Rate Envelope printed on the label.
posted on August 11, 2009 10:15:55 AM
The only way I would use the small flat rate box again is to line the inside with another cut small flat rate box. They are so flimsy that I had one arrive with all four corner smashed.
Anyone that ships a lamp with the lampshade in the same box is a fool. The shade won't make it 95% of the time without dents.
posted on August 11, 2009 11:33:23 AM
The new small flat rate box is a joke. As long as we were paying shipping, the old 1096-s was a decent box. The new box is half as sturdy as the old box. I guess the PO thought they would save money on the weight but it is not working since I now have to
add an inner box or a few extra layers of cardboard inside.
posted on August 11, 2009 10:44:48 PM
"Anyone that ships a lamp with the lampshade in the same box is a fool. The shade won't make it 95% of the time without dents."
I have done it once, but only with the shades in an inner box to protect them...
These two lamps I purchased would have been just fine b/c the shades were plastic, and the overall dimensions of the box didn't need to be much more than 1 cubic foot.
The first lamp could have fit perfectly with 2 inches of room on all sides if the box was about 14 x 12 x 12 instead of 12 x 10 x 10.
The second lamp would have been fine if the box had appropriate packing to keep the box from being crushed so easily. There really was no padding inside the box other than a few sheets of loose newspaper and a layer of bubble around the shade. All it took was less than a sq foot of peanuts to do the job. How can a box keep its form and protect the contents if it isn't filled snug with peanuts or other similar materals that would prevent it from being crushed so easily? It's not rocket science here... it's basic packing 101.
posted on August 12, 2009 06:11:55 AM
The problem is with over a cubic foot the shipping costs can go up dramatically (that balloon rate for oversize). Would the extra cost have bothered you? If not, I totally agree they should have up-sized the box.
posted on August 12, 2009 02:56:46 PM
Packing 101?
You should have asked these sellers if they have completed Packing 101 before you bid,now it is too late!
*
Economic Reform act of Chairman Obama of the socialist States of America :
10 ounces of meat per month,half a yard of cotton per year per adult.
Hellilujah!
posted on August 12, 2009 03:59:45 PM
I get at least 3-4 emails per week asking me to pack carefully and use bubble wrap. And here I thought that was a no-brainer. I've been emailing them back letting them know I use commercial 1/2 bubble, packing peanuts and sturdy, new boxes.
These sellers sound like idiots, but I am noticing that I too am using smaller boxes to beat the 12 x 12 x 12 + oversized rate - a 14 square inch box to California from MD can cost as much as $30 - it's ridiculous.
I spend quite a bit of money on professional packaging products. If you have a Uline near you, it's worth ordering from them wholesale - www.uline.com.
posted on August 12, 2009 10:27:37 PM
these lamps were lightweight. no more than 2 pounds and both were shipped Parcel Post. I had no problem paying an extra buck or two if they were packed properly. The in reality, the lamp placed in a box that was too small, probably would have done just fine in a 12 cubed box, it was that the height of the box was too shallow, plus no padding.
i heard back from one, and the other still no response...
Caroline