Sellers inability to package items securely - so frustrating !!!!

[6508.froggy]

Just venting my frustration as I am sure many buyers have the same frustration. . 

Have eight parcels to open today and  have done three this morning and yes all incompetently packaged and in bits. Why is so hard for sellers to realise that a fragile item needs to be packaged well !!!!!

One large fragile figure came in the original box with a bit of bubblewrap around the box and only foam peanuts  inside the box to protect the item,  any movement would cause the item to break. One other which was several items crammed in a small box with a bit of cotton wool - of course again in bits. 

A waste of time totally - Yes I know I can claim but I wanted the items and again have to take photos and lodge through ebay for the sellers total incompetence.

I am a seller myself and sell very fragile items and to this day have not had any item damaged in transit so it can be done.  A little care by some sellers would go a very long way!!!!!

Might leave the other parcels until tomorrow!!!

[brerrabbit585]

Do the other parcels today - you'll only stew about them and it may not be as bad as you expected, which means you'll put yourself through hell for nothing.

I feel your pain - bought heaps of china from overseas several years ago and the amount I threw away was heartbreaking. The worst was a box worth $200+ of pretty rare and extremely beautiful items - all in small pieces.

I've had crystal glasses posted in a box with one layer of bubblewrap and the box half empty so the glasses could move around freely. It was a miracle they arrived intact! Like you, I've sent plenty myself and never had a breakage. I learnt to pack from the good sellers I bought from but some people will never learn - everything is always someone else's fault. If a seller makes mention of the postal workers being elephants I run a mile.

[shoppingbag*]

My only suggestion would be to look at the Seller's feedback and see if there is any mention of packages being insufficiently packed. There are a lot of reports of items sent via Global Shipping that are poorly packed, I have seen photos of these, and they all seem to be packed in very soft lightweight cardboard boxes, that would not withstand anything.

[countessalmirena]

I suppose you could always contact the seller once you've made the purchase saying something like "I hope you don't mind my asking... Could you double-box this [item] to protect it during postage? I would really appreciate it to ensure safe packaging of fragile item."

[chameleon54]

I,ve mentioned this tip a couple of times, but it is works a treat, so worth mentioning again. I buy all of the sweet and biscuit tins, tea canisters etc. that I can find for 50 cents each at garage sales and op shops. I keep a range of sizes and shapes and use them to pack fragile items in. A bit of bubble wrap inside and some sticky tape around the lip of the lid and they are almost indestructable and dont weigh very much either.

[*tippy*toes*]

I feel your frustration. I had some numpty seller send me some vintage collectable plates in a satchel, with a single layer of paper between them. Nothing else. Of course they arrived completely smashed. Even smashed too much to be used to make mosaic! Not only was it a complete waste of beautiful plates, which I really wanted, it was dangerous for the postage workers who had to handle it. 

When I contacted the seller, she immediately refunded me, but couldn't understand why they would have got broken. Really?

Like you, I have been posting fragile items for years. I've never had a breakage. I learned to pack from the Chinese. I have a few regular sellers I buy fragile items from and boy do they know how to pack so they arrive intact! I put my packing skills to the test by buying a $1 china tea cup from the op shop. I wrapped it how I thought would be adequate, packed it in a box and took it out the back and played soccer with it. The neighbour's kids ended up joining in. After kicking it around for nearly an hour, I unpacked it and it was completely intact. It's not that hard!

I'm sorry about your items. Very upsetting.

Edit: I had a buyer a few years ago send me a message asking to pay extra for P&H, so I would use extra packaging. I replied that I always over pack so no need to pay for extra packaging. She sent me a message thanking me after her item arrived, saying she wished all sellers packed that well. She had received a lot of breakages in the post. She went on to buy lots more off me.

[clubesquire]

In the overall scheme of things Tippy, packaging is reasonably inexpensive, and you’re right, a bit of time teaching yourself to package correctly is time well invested. It results in good mail and great feedback and most of all, happy customers = no stress.

Some of the stuff we’ve received over the years has been abominable and all I can put it down to is careless, unsupervised employees, because surely a seller, him or herself, wouldn’t do it. But, then again!!

Melina.

[wide-world-of-stamps]

It's not just breakables that aren't packaged correctly.

We just received some mint stamps from an experienced stamp and banknote seller, who has been selling for far longer than us.

They were packaged in a piece of hagner (not a problem) but didn't have any cardboard stiffening or plastic to protect from rain.

As we live on a property we don't see or hear the postie, so can't rescue an envelope from the letterbox during rain.