Shipping fails
 

Been a long time since it happened to me, but there it is.

A few weeks ago I got an email about a sports card auction. I saw a number of cards that I liked and bid on a few and won just this one auction. Centering wasn’t the greatest but I think the 1954 Bowman set is one of the most beautiful of the 50s and I got this Hall of Famer for 15 bucks which I thought was a good deal. Imagine my surprise when the card arrived yesterday between two pieces of foam board but with no penny sleeve or top loader or card saver of any kind.

I emailed my displeasure to the seller who stated that he left shipping to his wife while he was out of town for a family emergency and she apparently didn’t feel that a $15 card warranted any extra protection. I explained to him that it wasn’t the sale price that mattered but it was just good practice to ship a card protected better than this and he agreed and apologized.

It still amazes me that anyone in the hobby would ship a card like this and I know all of you have seen worse too.

shipping
 

Good morning Jim- Wow, not good at all. I've been fortunate in this regard
(knocking on the wood in my head as I type). The thing that I've noticed is
not so much the poor shipping protection practices, but rather the bad
judgment and seemingly limitless number of excuses from sellers once they
get paid. For example, in your case why couldn't the seller have posted a
message that he'd be out of town a couple days due to emergency, then
ship after? If the situation truly was an emergency- if he essentially grabbed
his wallet and keys and ran out the door- could he have not posted that
message while eating, waiting as the emergency resolved itself, etc? Or asked
his wife to do so in his stead? If he had time to collect the money, he had
some time to communicate a delay. THAT is what gets to me. For Heaven's
sake, it'd take one minute to post a message on a site, right? Trent King

PS- I'm hoping this comment doesn't usher in some bad karma.

I agree, Trent. Perhaps I’m being too trusting of the fact that he said he had a family emergency, but I give him credit for responding to my email right away and completely agreeing with me that it should’ve been shipped better. Maybe I’m just in a good mood today where I might’ve blasted him harder otherwise. In the past, I’ve received cards shipped loose in a box, pennants folded up and rolled into a bag, etc. This one just bothered me because this was a sportscard auction, rather than a random, non-hobby person off the internet. My kids when little would have known to use a penny sleeve and top loader.

A delay of a few days would’ve been annoying, but preferred compared to the shipping method.

Jim

Was he/she trying to take advantage of eBay's discounted shipping where there is a fine line between protection and going over the weight limit? Just curious

Did the card get damaged in any way?

No, it wasn’t an eBay auction.

I don’t believe so. The original sale didn’t have high definition scans and the card didn’t arrive with any creases or noticeable issues. One corner is a little softer than the others but I can’t say that wasn’t the original condition. I’m just glad my mailman didn’t fold it in half to put it in the mailbox.

LOL, so you are seriously complaining about a card that arrived undamaged because the shipping wasn't up to your expiations, nice.:o

I have to agree--I would be happy they shipped the card out, and arrived okay--

Yes, I am. Buyers of valuable memorabilia have a right to expect things to be shipped to a certain standard. Sorry, but just being happy that it didnt get crushed isn’t good enough when expecting delivery from a company conducting a sports memorabilia auction. I won’t settle for sub-standard service.

I would get your complaining IF the card was damaged or they charged you an outrageous amount for shipping. Actually naming the seller would be something at least but to start a thread complaining on the main page because your card arrived as expected is weird to me.

Many, many years ago, a major auction company once shipped this 1910 Red Sox panoramic - complete in a glass frame - to me, in a simple cardboard box with no bubble wrap or anything, just those couple of blue soft things to try and cushion it. Needless to say, it was destroyed and torn in multiple places.

Worst packing job I've ever seen. At least they took it back and gave me my money back.

I agree that I wouldn't be happy either about how the card was shipped. Just because I got lucky that nothing happened to it doesn't mean I wouldn't do the same thing and register a complaint with the seller letting them know that better packaging is expected.

The card arrived undamaged. It did not arrive as expected. I expect a company conducting sports memorabilia auctions to do better when shipping a 70-year-old, Hall of Famer card, or any card for that matter. One piece of tape closing a foam board book isn’t good enough. I am grateful that the card didn’t slip around either untaped side and that’s probably due to them closing the foam board so tightly and taping it that it couldn’t move but it is still substandard in this day and age.

OK, so the shipping method enraged you so much you had to share it with us. I get it, sometimes odd stuff to others makes me upset. Can we at least know who the offender is?

shipping
 

Ben North- at no point did Vintage Deputy display "rage"; in fact, you are the
one who seems most amped up at this point. It doesn't matter that his card
was surprisingly undamaged. If someone fails to douse a camp fire in a
wooded area and there's not a fire spread, it was still unwise, risky, and
dangerous move. Vintage's point is still correct and it isn't complicated.

Trent King

Shipping fails
 

Never underestimate the idiot factor when it comes to shipping. I once got a ‘55 Bowman Ernie Banks thrown into a PWE - just the card. No sleeve, no toploader, no anything - and it had a sticky note affixed to the card itself. Incredibly, after I carefully removed the sticky - it seemed no worse for the wear.

If not using eBay, just make sure you are going through a 3rd party who will stand behind you if you run across a seller like that. There are way more of them out there than you would guess…


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I chalk it up to the fact of so many new sellers in this hobby. They have no idea on how to package and ship cards or memorabilia. They are just in it to make a buck. Just send it out like it’s an Amazon package. No cares in the world . I rarely seen true hobbyists send like this. I don’t buy his excuse either. Glad it got to you in one piece!


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Trent, I find my posts as silly as the OPs to be honest. He is complaining about an item that arrived without damage. I am posting because I honestly can't imagine complaining about a card that arrived undamaged. Neither make sense.:D

Still makes zero sense the OP has not mentioned who this horrible seller is after taking the time and energy to tell us all about it.

I don't think it's entirely fair to say someone shouldn't complain about packaging just because it arrived safely. We all know the level of care (or lack thereof) exercised by USPS; a poorly packaged card magically arriving safely shouldn't mean that you're not allowed to take issue with it.

Case in point, I purchased a Walt Frazier rookie several years ago that arrived in a bubble mailer wrapped loosely in a single tissue. Somehow it had no additional damage, but I absolutely let the seller know that his packaging was opening him up to liability when a card is inevitably creased, dinged, or wrecked thanks to his carelessness.

I agree on the last point. Having that information would help determine if I want to deal with the seller or not in the future.

For those of us who take the time to "overpackage", double-box, and meticulously protect the collectibles we sell... yes it is infuriating that many sellers put no effort into protecting your purchases. I can't even count the number of pieces I've purchased that have survived beautifully for over a century, only to become compromised by a lazy, lousy or clueless seller.

I've had to resort to giving step-by-step packing instructions to the seller in the comments section on eBay's checkout page. Yet many of these people completely disregard the instructions... I guess they can't foresee the time, hassle and expense of taking returns. Funny how they complain, ignore you and/or get pissy when the damaged item comes back to them because of their own negligence.

And it's a lose-lose situation of their own creation. Nobody ends up happy.

Especially with small flats such as a small order of cards, the cost is measured more in time than money for packaging. Cardboard is free if you keep some on hand, and it's literally two cents' worth of tape to seal up the sandwich. OK, a bubble mailer might cost you into the double digit cents, lol. If you're a real cheapskate, you can just open the ones you receive from Amazon really carefully and recycle them. Wow, free bubble mailer! This is all said simply to stress that there is zero excuse for shipping improperly. None.

About a couple decades ago I had dozens of shipments of Zeenut cards from an Ebay seller whose consistent shipping practice was to wrap the cards up in, not a full sheet of paper towel, but a portion, and mailed them within a plain white envelope. They all arrived in decent shape (these were cards that had been taped on front to secure to a scrapbook and then subsequently had the section of tape cut off that attached them to the scrapbook. So in reality, even with the section of tape that remained on the card, they were in fairly decent Zeenut condition, even if they had gotten some shipping damage, which they didn't.

A bonus was the real strong cigarette odor, which I am proud to report only took about 15 years to dissipate. But if I were to pick up the habit, I would make sure these Zeenut cards would be nearby, because I believe they miss the second-hand smoke.

Brian

About 20 years ago, a lifelong autograph collector decided to part with his extensive index card collection. He was a chain smoker. He kept his index cards in albums mounted with photo corners. The collection stunk (and I am a smoker, just not one who smokes either inside or around anything of value). If your habit can manage to even churn the stomachs of fellow smokers, there may be a problem.

When the collection was disassembled from the scrapbooks, you could see the entire surface of each card had browned from nicotine, and the unexposed corners where they had been mounted were fine. Again, even as a smoker, it just made no sense. How did the nicotine invade closed albums? I could unerstand if the index cards were laying out on a table for 20 years, but... It was remarkable.

There are still pieces of this guy's collection being offered for sale on eBay to this day.

My worst was a seller who literally taped the card to a piece of cardboard and shipped it in a PWE. I love PWE's and I don't need tons of protection, but there was no sleeve - the tape was applied direct to the card, from an issue known for weak stock. Unfortunately the card could not be freed without some paper loss. It was a rare but not expensive card, and I would have paid what I bid for a copy with paper loss anyways so I kept it and let it go, but wow. Haven't had that happen again

+1

I see everyone's point of view, so I will post mine.

Could it have been better - absolutely.

However, consider the following please:

- The card arrived undamaged.

- It is in the same condition, as best as can be determined, as advertised.

- The seller listened to your advise, stated it would be better moving forward, and provided a very reasonable reason why it wasn't packaged better.

I really don't know what else you, or anyone else, expects from the seller.

Those without sin, please cast the first stone!

I would let the seller know that I received the card in fine condition but not happy with the packaging and would have filed for a return if damaged.

I always ship single cards in a penny sleeve, in a top loader, use a post it at top to prevent the card from sliding out, then wrapped in the packing slip and then between two pieces of cardboard (cut down cereal boxes), and place in a PWE if under $20.00 or a bubble mailer if over $20.00.

I have never had packaging complaint in around 23 years of ebay.

Bob

Well on the bright side at least the envelope was sealed when it was shipped to you. I had someone send me 2 cards just tossed in an envelope with nothing to protect them not even a piece of paper and he didn't even bother to seal the envelope. I am still amazed that both cards arrived at all and undamaged.

I had a loose card in an envelope once, but at least my envelope was sealed!

Brian

shipping
 

gonefishin- yours is a very, very strange response. I can answer your
question about what to expect from a seller in one word- "competence". The
fact that Vintage's card basically Mr. Magoo'd it's way to him without damage,
does not excuse the poor job. I don't get the idea that Vintage is the
collecting equivalent of King Kong when he was on the Empire State Building,
he is merely exasperated that such a simple thing wasn't even close to being
done properly. As for the biblical quote, it's wise notion that you have taken
out of context. Sin isn't the issue here; instead, it's common courtesy and
some sense of propriety. This is not difficult, yet some folks are working
overtime to make it seem so. Trent King

As long as we're having fun with stories about poor shipping, I'll add my own.

If memory serves, this was right around 2017. I purchased a PSA 6 Mays 51 Bowman on eBay. Nice card. Pretty good money, at least at the time. Today you couldn't get much for that price, but back then it was a valuable piece.

Seller was even a dealer that did a pretty good volume of sales on eBay, so I figured he would know how to package it up. Apparently I was so wrong that it would usually take 2-3 people to be as wrong as I was, and yet I managed it all on my own.

Seller shipped it in a fedex express thin "cardboard" envelope. Not padded, just one of those really thin envelopes. Inside of the envelope, the slab was also in a full-size floppy plastic page protector. Nothing more. When I opened it up, I was flabbergasted that he would tempt the fates to ship such a card with nothing more to protect it. I suppose if this was a $10 card, then maybe? But for high 4 figures, it seemed like the height of folly.

And as luck would happen, the slab didn't emerge unscathed. Apparently at some point during shipping, it had been bent. I'm guessing that it was probably wedged between a couple of stacks of heavy boxes, and got bent. The top edge of the slab was basically cracked off. Luckily, the card inside wasn't damaged at all.

I contacted the seller and expressed my disappointment with his shipping methods, and sent him pics of the damage.

He promptly accused me of deliberately trying to crack it open, and then having second thoughts after I cracked it that far.

After some doing, I managed to convince him that his shipping methods were in fact the culprit. He agreed to pay for me to get it reslabbed on an express basis, which at the time cost about $200, including shipping it back and forth. Luckily for him, there was no damage to the card, and a few weeks later it came back in a new slab with the same grade.

Every time I think of that purchase, I can't help but shake my head. I have no idea what he was thinking, except I can only assume he wasn't thinking.

As long as we're having fun with stories about poor shipping, I'll add my own.

If memory serves, this was right around 2017. I purchased a PSA 6 Mays 51 Bowman on eBay. Nice card. Pretty good money, at least at the time. Today you couldn't get much for that price, but back then it was a valuable piece.

Seller was even a dealer that did a pretty good volume of sales on eBay, so I figured he would know how to package it up. Apparently I was so wrong that it would usually take 2-3 people to be as wrong as I was, and yet I managed it all on my own.

Seller shipped it in a fedex express thin "cardboard" envelope. Not padded, just one of those really thin envelopes. Inside of the envelope, the slab was also in a full-size floppy plastic page protector. Nothing more. When I opened it up, I was flabbergasted that he would tempt the fates to ship such a card with nothing more to protect it. I suppose if this was a $10 card, then maybe? But for high 4 figures, it seemed like the height of folly.

And as luck would happen, the slab didn't emerge unscathed. Apparently at some point during shipping, it had been bent. I'm guessing that it was probably wedged between a couple of stacks of heavy boxes, and got bent. The top edge of the slab was basically cracked off. Luckily, the card inside wasn't damaged at all.

I contacted the seller and expressed my disappointment with his shipping methods, and sent him pics of the damage.

He promptly accused me of deliberately trying to crack it open, and then having second thoughts after I cracked it that far.

After some doing, I managed to convince him that his shipping methods were in fact the culprit. He agreed to pay for me to get it reslabbed on an express basis, which at the time cost about $200, including shipping it back and forth. Luckily for him, there was no damage to the card, and a few weeks later it came back in a new slab with the same grade.

Every time I think of that purchase, I can't help but shake my head. I have no idea what he was thinking, and why he would have such a poor grasp on basic physics, except I can only assume he wasn't thinking.

That’s just it. I don’t expect anything else from the seller. He responded to my email complaint very quickly, gave me a reasonable explanation as to why he himself didn’t ship it due to a family emergency and promised me that future orders would be taken care of better. That’s all I expected. That’s why I haven’t blasted his name out across the board, because he did everything correctly for someone in his situation, upon being notified.

As for posting here, I just wanted to share my experience.

JimStinson
 

Well, since it was this week and fresh. Thought I'd share. I ship likely over 100 items per week , always priority mail. This was an 8x10 photo (Total cost $35.00) four days later the buyer told me it arrived damaged. To be clear it was housed in a rigid plastic holder with double card board and stamped DO NOT BEND at least four times. Photos accompanied his compliant and it was clear his postman had bent it over his knee to fold to fit in box. To keep it simple I gave a full refund and apologized. His reply? and I quote "I have a small mailbox, be more careful next time" , No "Thank you" or my mailman was an ass , nada. It's happened before but still mystifies me.
___________________________
Always BUYING Vintage Autographs
jim@stinsonsports.com

That’s a ridiculous response by the buyer considering that you didn’t have to refund it the way you did.

-
I bought a rare Rose Postcard from an antique store back East, took him forever to ship (multiple emails), package arrived, the guy had just thrown the card in a Tyvek Fedex envelope and shipped it, no padding, no bubble. There was an actual tire track on the corner of the envelope when it arrived and it was torn about 2-3 inches.

Miraculously, the card wasn't damaged, I have no idea how it was not smashed to bits. The card is now in Kevins collection safe and sound.
-

How dare you send a carefully packaged and appropriately stamped 8" X 10" photo to a small mailbox? I personally know the mailbox size of all my customers, and have even been known to suggest the customer obtain a larger one when the item I am sending would obviously need to be bent to fit into the existing mailbox.

Make sure to only send 4" X 6" or smaller photos in the future to this valued customer.

Brian

That's when you block them from bidding. Life's too short. You know what's funny? It's always the guys with the two bit spending budgets who have the million dollar mouths.

The only way I could have done better is hop on a plane and hand deliver maybe I'll make that an option in the future :) but if I do they have to FEED me
___________________
Always BUYING Vintage autographs
jim@stinsonsports.com

Absolutely 100% true , He's blocked
_____________
Always BUYING Vintage autographs
jim@stinsonsports.com

I clearly bought from the same guy. A raw Mordecai Brown Rose PC. Just tossed into the FedEx soft envelope. It graded a 1.5 at SGC.

When I received my large 1903 Horner League composite, it was shipped in a large glass frame. There were pieces of broken glass everywhere in the box. It was one of those OMG moments. Fortunately, the photo wasn't harmed. It was the worst shipping I have ever seen on a quite valuable item.
.

I bought a Goudey Ruth a few years back, the guy wrapped it up together with a dog bone and sent it to me in a Fedex box. It arrived safe and sound and I gave the dog bone to the pooch next door, so it was a win-win.

Glad you blocked. He sounds like a loser.

Al, was that how he avoided having to send it for eBay authentication? He listed it as a lot with a dog bone?

I don't know, Al. You buy a high value Ruth card and the seller thinks you are a dog.

Since I just mentioned this card over on the Autograph page, I thought I would show how my signed 1963 Fleer Koufax arrived back to me. Card was fine.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MIYroWafT...0/envelope.JPG

Haha, now somebody will be trying that next week. Just watch.

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