Ebay & Me

[wa6mhz]

I was very pleased that the seller of the SB-200 I just got double boxed it with plenty of protection. He did a great job of packing, and what could have been a disastorous shipment turned out great!

[n2ize]

The best deals that I've had on Ebay were when a seller listed an item, with a buy-it-now price, without really knowing its worth. You have to be lucky to see the item and read through its description before anyone else gets a chance to grab it. I once won a item worth about $2,000 for only $50.

The worst deals I've had were when the seller didn't now how to pack an item for shipment. One clueless seller put a moderately fragile item in a box without any padding or packing material whatsoever. Needless to say, it arrived smashed to bits.

I also like the opposite scenario, where a seller asks for a lot more than the item is worth in his "buy it now" price. I was looking at a vintage timepiece. The seller wanted $70.00 for the "buy it now" price, yet the auction starting price was $5.00 and nobody was bidding. The auction ended and nobody bought. guess the seller will have to re-list. I was thinking of bidding and buying it for parts but I found a pocket watch that interests me more, and still runs (according to the seller) so I threw down a small bid. . We'll see how that one goes.

[N8YX]

The worst deals I've had were when the seller didn't now how to pack an item for shipment. One clueless seller put a moderately fragile item in a box without any padding or packing material whatsoever. Needless to say, it arrived smashed to bits.

This right here is why I'm very hesitant to bid on anything in the way of complete gear from north of the border, particularly when it's being listed by a non-ham. There are some dumbassescheapskates on that there venue. Anything to save a buck on shipping.

[NY3V]

I was very pleased that the seller of the SB-200 I just got double boxed it with plenty of protection. He did a great job of packing, and what could have been a disastorous shipment turned out great!

SEL10187.jpg

Always ask them to ship the tubes in a separate bubble pouch to prevent scratching. ;)

[KG4CGC]

The best deals that I've had on Ebay were when a seller listed an item, with a buy-it-now price, without really knowing its worth. You have to be lucky to see the item and read through its description before anyone else gets a chance to grab it. I once won a item worth about $2,000 for only $50.

The worst deals I've had were when the seller didn't now how to pack an item for shipment. One clueless seller put a moderately fragile item in a box without any padding or packing material whatsoever. Needless to say, it arrived smashed to bits.

If it fits, it ships!

[n2ize]

I don;t sell on ebay but on a few occasions I have sent electronic parts to hams, i.e. tubes, vacuum variable condensers, vacuum thermal delay relays, etc. If anything I over pack my shipments. I make sure the item is centred in the container and well cushioned from external shock. If it costs me more for packaging or shipping then so be it. I want my customers to get the parts they need in one piece. Nothing is more upsetting to a customer than broken merchandise.

[XE1/N5AL]

One mistake a lot of sellers make is to place a heavy item in the center of a box full of Styrofoam peanuts. During shipping, the box deforms, the item shifts through the peanuts and arrives hanging out one side of the torn box.

[n2ize]

One mistake a lot of sellers make is to place a heavy item in the center of a box full of Styrofoam peanuts. During shipping, the box deforms, the item shifts through the peanuts and arrives hanging out one side of the torn box.

Yes, shipping small light items is easy. Just center it in the middle of the popcorn or newspaper and it stays put. Heavy items require a much more careful strategy.

On of the funniest shipping mishaps of my life occurred when I ordered a dozen 5 foot lengths of glass tubing from a scientific supply company. The item arrived in a mailing tube and as the deliveryman approached the house I could see the tube was bent in the middle at a 45 degree angle and I said to myself "this is certainly not good". As he passed me the package I could hear the broken glass jingling inside. Of course every tube was broken. I informed the company and they reshipped. This time they used a heavy, thick walled mailing tube that was not to be believed. You could bat home runs out of Yankee stadium with it and nothing would happen to it. Guess they didn't want to risk having to make a third replacement shipment.

[W3WN]

Many, many, many moons ago, I bought a copy of an AV product called "Flu Shot Plus". It was mailed on a 5 1/4" floppy, simply placed in a manilla envelope. (I was still married to the 1st YF at the time... we hadn't even bought the house yet, so you KNOW this goes back a long time...)

Postal carrier either didn't notice or ignored the "do not bend" notations on the envelope. It was tucked in with misc. advertising circulars, all conveniently held together with rubber bands. Yes, the disc was bent quite severely, and yes, it didn't work. A complaint to the local Postmaster about this went nowhere; he thought it was funny that someone would actually expect the USPS to pay attention to such things.

So I contacted the company. They grudgingly sent me another copy. A week later, I get a huge box (something like 10 x 10 x 12) that has another floppy, sleeve taped to a piece of cardboard, inside of it. And a sarcastic note asking if this was sufficient packing to get through the USPS's hands.

Needless to say, I didn't renew my subscription with this firm...

[n2ize]

Many, many, many moons ago, I bought a copy of an AV product called "Flu Shot Plus". It was mailed on a 5 1/4" floppy, simply placed in a manilla envelope. (I was still married to the 1st YF at the time... we hadn't even bought the house yet, so you KNOW this goes back a long time...)

Postal carrier either didn't notice or ignored the "do not bend" notations on the envelope. It was tucked in with misc. advertising circulars, all conveniently held together with rubber bands. Yes, the disc was bent quite severely, and yes, it didn't work. A complaint to the local Postmaster about this went nowhere; he thought it was funny that someone would actually expect the USPS to pay attention to such things.

So I contacted the company. They grudgingly sent me another copy. A week later, I get a huge box (something like 10 x 10 x 12) that has another floppy, sleeve taped to a piece of cardboard, inside of it. And a sarcastic note asking if this was sufficient packing to get through the USPS's hands.

Needless to say, I didn't renew my subscription with this firm...

I like that story. It's right up there with my "glass tubing" story. I noticed of late that USPS, and UPS, seem to be handling things with greater care...knock on wood. In the old days I used to get packages that were crushed, battered and beaten to hell. Looked like they were used as a football.

Sounds like your floppy disks may have gotten jammed in a sorting machine. The company should have used a rigid media mailer to begin with.