I am sure that I've mentioned purchasing a gorgeous Emile Henry crown bread baker; it arrived broken. Both the base and the lid were destroyed. It had been repackaged by the forwarding company - and I hasten to add that it wasn't PB, and this wasn't through the GSP.
I repurchased, choosing the "don't repackage" option.
This second one also arrived broken. (However, this time it was the lid only; the base itself was undamaged.)
I'm about to purchase the lid itself separately. This time I'll be asking the company to package with extreme care, and I'll ask the fowarding company to add extra bubblewrap and to double-box it.
Fortunately the goods were insured, and I suppose I'm fortunate that this is a new item rather than an antique. If I purchased an antique that arrived in similar broken condition, I would be so upset that I'd catch a flight to Oregon, head to the forwarding company's address, and proceed to beat up the repackaging staff with a violent carrot.
Poor repackaging is not specific to PB.
High freight costs are not specific to the GSP.
Buyers and sellers both have their own array of options, and that's just part and parcel of international buying.
@*tippy*toes* wrote:Hell no! Never found another copy of that tape. I was shattered, and so was the seller. That's how super, ultra rare it was. It was such a damned waste. No second copies or anything. The seller was going to try and get compensation from USPS, but I never heard back whether they were successful or not. I sent pretty damning photos, so hopefully they got something back from them (I got a full refund, even though it wasn't the seller's fault).
Gosh, sorry to hear that. Some stuff on video has never and will never make it to DVD. Also the original film stocks of many films up to the 1970s and even 1980s have been dumped or destroyed. One film company, or rather whoever brought the rights to a defunct film company that pumped out a lot of B grade films in the 1960s and 1970s destroyed much of the film stock so that they could re-use the reels. So sad that it's been lost forever.
You probably already know this too *tippy*toes*, there are some collectors that will pay through the nose for rare video tapes. Some even for rare slicks. That makes it harder to get hold of some stuff. Some time back I picked up a rare actioner from the early 1990s. Seller had 2 new but unsealed copies. I got one and then later thought that I should have got them both as this was the first time I ever saw it on tape and even PAL. Heck, the laser disc in the US is ultra rare. But then again, it was snapped up by someone else and hopefully someone that will preserve it.
Anyway, keep your eyes peeled. Sometimes a rarity comes around a second time. Just when you least expect it.
Spoiler
There are a couple of things I haven't given up on finding.
