[elway4king]

Q: What’s the biggest problem with e-Bay? A: That everyone seems to have a problem with e-Bay. I buy and sell on e-Bay but am not a card shop owner. I work a 9-5 job (well more than that, but you get the point) and sell some cards on the side on e-Bay. I always use bubble mailers and always use DC on cards over $10.00 (got burned on a $250 patch card one time). I believe I package cards appropriately and try to get them mailed as soon as possible (but every now and then my job gets in the way). It costs me around $3.00 to mail each card this way so that’s what I charge. Despite no negative feed back I sometimes get someone giving 3 stars on shipping time or shipping charges even when it mailed within five days for $3.00. For what reason, sometimes I have no idea. This is why as a buyer if I get the card in good condition, in a reasonable time (even if over 5 days) I leave full five star positive feedback. IMHO I don’t feel the need to gripe or leave worse feedback because of what MIGHT HAVE BEEN. I got my card. It’s nice. I’m happy. And trust me I get my fair share of PWE mail. However, the majority of them appear to come from kids or mom and pop stores that probably sell everything. Should I hold them to some superior delivery standard because I am a collector and they aren’t? Not if I get my card and am happy with THE CARD!

Next time we all are heated over some extra tape on a top loader or having to cut through tape-wrapped cardboard around a card, stop and think of what collecting was like before e-Bay. I remember in the mid-90's when I would get my new Beckett and notice a new, rare Elway that hit the market. I knew that the odds of ever finding that card were slim to none. If I did find it, the price was always book or more. e-Bay and other sites have changed this. So have many of the sellers who honor their sells even though they are way below book.

Just a little perspective with no finger-pointing intended.

[all day baby]

I understand what you are saying, but I'm not sure I completely agree with it. If I get a PWE, no matter what the condition, I automatically drop the number of stars down. SOMEONE is gonna get a damaged card. You have to correct bad behavior. Additionally, I give a week to receive a card I've bought. Anything longer, loses stars depending on how much over a week. It is his responsibility to get it to me in a timely fashion.

If you do nothing, then the seller will think he is doing the right things. If you pop him a negative, then perhaps he will try to fix the problem.

[mkufta]

I understand what you are saying, but I'm not sure I completely agree with it. If I get a PWE, no matter what the condition, I automatically drop the number of stars down. SOMEONE is gonna get a damaged card. You have to correct bad behavior. Additionally, I give a week to receive a card I've bought. Anything longer, loses stars depending on how much over a week. It is his responsibility to get it to me in a timely fashion.

If you do nothing, then the seller will think he is doing the right things. If you pop him a negative, then perhaps he will try to fix the problem.

He got you your card in the condition you purchased it. That is the right thing. Dinging stars may end a seller's opportunity to sell on eBay. Is that worth doing because you got your card safely in a different color envelope than you wanted?

As for your last sentence. If you pop him a negative, he may not have the chance to fix the problem because eBay might not allow him to sell anymore.

[all day baby]

Sending a card between two toploaders is never acceptable. Ship it the right way and no one will question you as a seller or trader.

Honestly, if you believe it is acceptable to ship like that, I don't want your cards. Someone will get damaged cards from you, and I don't want to be that person.

And as to your last sentence... if eBay ever banned someone for poor shipping, that would be the first time it happened.

[jessemerson]

Good post. IMHO, mailing within 5 days is unacceptable. Especially if you're charging top-dollar for shipping ($3 for a single). In this day in age, when most e-commerce is set-up to process orders within one business day, people have come to expect faster service. A suggestion to help speed things up is to package the item and have it ready BEFORE it sells, while you're waiting. I think a lot of sellers make the mistake of waiting until their items sell, before scrambling around looking for shipping supplies and whatnot (or whatever their doing that takes 3,4 days...). When they could be getting a leg-up by having it ready and waiting by the door.

[mkufta]

You're the kind of buyer that ends up on a bunch of blocked bidder lists. I used to ship cards between top loaders. I used to sell lots. Lots of between 20 to 30 cards.

2 of the cards would go into 2 top loaders. The remaining 18 cards went into 9 soft sleeves, 2 cards per soft sleeve. Soft sleeves fit 2 cards perfectly. Those 9 soft sleeves (with 2 cards each) would go in between the 2 top loaders. Each side would be taped tight. Then that would get wrapped tightly in a piece of paper and taped. Then on that was written what it was with the item number and date etc. If it was anything over 20 cards, I would be split it into 2 of those packages.

Never once did any of the cards arrive damaged and never once did I receive a complaint.

I have also received cards that way and never cared as long as the card was in the condition it was supposed to be in. I don't play the what if game. My card arrived safely, period.

Sending a card between two toploaders is never acceptable. Ship it the right way and no one will question you as a seller or trader.

Honestly, if you believe it is acceptable to ship like that, I don't want your cards. Someone will get damaged cards from you, and I don't want to be that person.

And as to your last sentence... if eBay ever banned someone for poor shipping, that would be the first time it happened.

[elway4king]

Good post. IMHO, mailing within 5 days is unacceptable. Especially if you're charging top-dollar for shipping ($3 for a single). In this day in age, when most e-commerce is set-up to process orders within one business day, people have come to expect faster service. A suggestion to help speed things up is to package the item and have it ready BEFORE it sells, while you're waiting. I think a lot of sellers make the mistake of waiting until their items sell, before scrambling around looking for shipping supplies and whatnot (or whatever their doing that takes 3,4 days...). When they could be getting a leg-up by having it ready and waiting by the door.

Again, it's all about perspective. I typically ship within 5 days. But there are rare exceptions. I can think of one time my items ended on Sunday but I had to leave that day to cover depositions in another state for another attorney in my office (last minute deal). I got back and mailed the cards the following Monday. Having the cards ready would have made no difference. I e-mailed all the buyers and they were cool with everything. But sometimes, not everything is at it appears and, therefore, shipping late can be excused.

[all day baby]

You're the kind of buyer that ends up on a bunch of blocked bidder lists. I used to ship cards between top loaders. I used to sell lots. Lots of between 20 to 30 cards.

2 of the cards would go into 2 top loaders. The remaining 18 cards went into 9 soft sleeves, 2 cards per soft sleeve. Soft sleeves fit 2 cards perfectly. Those 9 soft sleeves (with 2 cards each) would go in between the 2 top loaders. Each side would be taped tight. Then that would get wrapped tightly in a piece of paper and taped. Then on that was written what it was with the item number and date etc. If it was anything over 20 cards, I would be split it into 2 of those packages.

Never once did any of the cards arrive damaged and never once did I receive a complaint.

I have also received cards that way and never cared as long as the card was in the condition it was supposed to be in. I don't play the what if game. My card arrived safely, period.

You got lucky. Cards shipped like you describe slide out of their penny sleeves and stick to the tape. That many cards taped between 2 toploaders can get pinched if the tape is too close. Buy large toploaders and put the sleeved cards in them, and don't tape them shut. Use a team bag.

As far as your comment about being blacklisted on eBay... I have bought plenty from previous sellers, even after giving them a ding on shipping.

I guess I value my cards more than you do.

[joe callahan13]

I agree AND disagree with your post.

I agree because as long as the card gets to me without damage and in an acceptable amount of time (2 weeks or less), I will leave positive feedback. I paid for a card in a certain condition, it arrived in that condition, I don't care how you went about it. If you packaged it between the blades of scissors and it arrives to me untouched, I don't care. I will most likely not buy from you again, but I will leave positive feedback because you fulfilled what I had paid you to do. (The bare minimum, but still)

HOWEVER, I can also see people getting upset over it. You are a SELLER. That is part of customer service. What do you think would happen to Samsung's sales if they stopped putting styrofoam around their TVs when they were being packaged? Even if no TV was ever damaged, people would rage! It shows YOUR customer that you don't care enough to take every precaution to make sure it gets there unharmed. You're basically saying "I got your money, I no longer care."

Whether or not I get my card in satisfactory condition within a satisfactory amount of time is what will determine your feedback. How it's packaged, communication, and anything else that could be considered customer service will determine whether or not I ever buy from you again.

[djohn]

Additionally, I give a week to receive a card I've bought. Anything longer, loses stars depending on how much over a week. It is his responsibility to get it to me in a timely fashion.

I sure hope you realize that there are some places that take more than a week to ship between within the US. My local post office doesn't do sorting, they literally take the mail dropped off there and send it all to another city for sorting (which wastes at least one full day). If I end an auction at 9pm EST on Sunday and the buyer doesn't pay until after I have gone to bed (say 1am EST which is 10pm in California). Then I won't get the item shipped until Tuesday, which means that depending on where in California the buyer is located could take until the following Wednesday to get there. That would be 10 days after the auction ended and technically 10 days since the buyer paid. I could charge more for priority mail, but then I don't think I would sell as many items and even when I did I wouldn't make as much money, as more of the money would be going toward shipping.
I understand dinging stars for shipping when you get a card in a PWE and the seller charged $3 for shipping. However dinging stars because the item arrived in just over a week is pretty crappy.