Ebay - snes games - argh?!

[chaoticjelly]

Why is it that so many people send boxed SNES games in bubble wrap bags, when it's so obvious that the boxes will get squashed, AND you've specifically asked them to package the game "so that the fragile box will not get squashed" ??

I really don't understand how people can be so wasteful and cruel! ALWAYS, I would rather pay an extra measly $2 to have the game boxed, but they just send it in a bubble wrap bag and it gets squashed!

I bought this Shadowrun for SNES, complete:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3065448293

It arrived today, in a bubble wrap bag, from USA to UK, it's squashed to hell, and so is the inner tray, the instruction manual is extremely tatty and has its front cover and back cover missing, and the game is filthy, and the label's coming off at the bottom, (it's been lifted up)

It was described as being in "good condition", but what I've recieved is poor condition..

I've emailed the seller today, but I'm guessing I won't get any joy - if he slings the game in a bubble wrap bag, he's hardly going to give me a refund, not even a partial refund..

:(

[Sylentwulf]

I will always put items in a bubble envelope, even if people say make sure it doesn't get crushed.
BUT, if anyone ever SAYS, I'll pay the extra shipping costs to send priority in a box, I'm glad to do so.

Moral of the story?

TELL the seller you're willing to pay extra to have it sent in a box.

[chaoticjelly]

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGG

I told him to make sure

it didnt get squashed!!!!!

then it is up to the seller to say, well I'll do that for you, or It will cost a little extra because I have to pay more for a box

:angry:

[Gunstarhero]

As a collector myself, I only offer Priority USPS service when shipping games, that way I know the game gets recieved in the condition I described. I expect the same from other collectors, but I still ask and make sure they send it that way.

[Sylentwulf]

Don't get me wrong, by no means am I saying it's your fault.
But out of all the games I've sold, only 2 people in the past 3-4 years have WANTED to pay extra to have it shipped in a box. Yes, you and me, and half of the other people on this board keep the boxes etc... but most people REALLY don't...

[FF6]

I have a question about ebay and the "paypal" system. I just barely getting on thiis whole ebay thing. I just purchased my first item today using paypal. Now, does that guarantee me that if he doesn't send me anything he will not get the money? Or does Paypal send him the money first then he send me the item? (that would suck).
I a little nervous caues you have to use credit card. And why does Ebay want my Credit card number just to open an account if there not goign to charge me????
thanks ..

[Sylentwulf]

I have a question about ebay and the "paypal" system. I just barely getting on thiis whole ebay thing. I just purchased my first item today using paypal. Now, does that guarantee me that if he doesn't send me anything he will not get the money? Or does Paypal send him the money first then he send me the item? (that would suck).
I a little nervous caues you have to use credit card. And why does Ebay want my Credit card number just to open an account if there not goign to charge me????
thanks ..

No, he gets the money the second you send it, then he sends you the item. Always check feedback. There's a 50/50 chance paypal will get your money back if you get screwed. If you used a credit card through paypal, there's a 95% chance you'll get your money back from your credit card company.

Ebay wants your credit card so you can keep creating multiple accounts and screwing people over. They want to know who you REALLY are in case you screw people over. Trust me, this is a good thing.

[jonjandran]

As a collector myself, I only offer Priority USPS service when shipping games, that way I know the game gets recieved in the condition I described. I expect the same from other collectors, but I still ask and make sure they send it that way.

Yea for SNES boxed games, genesis soft boxed games, GameBoy boxed games, etc I only offer priority . The free video cassette Priority shipping boxes are perfect. :D

For all else it's off in a bubble mailer they go.......

[FF6]

I have a question about ebay and the "paypal" system. I just barely getting on thiis whole ebay thing. I just purchased my first item today using paypal. Now, does that guarantee me that if he doesn't send me anything he will not get the money? Or does Paypal send him the money first then he send me the item? (that would suck).
I a little nervous caues you have to use credit card. And why does Ebay want my Credit card number just to open an account if there not goign to charge me????
thanks ..

No, he gets the money the second you send it, then he sends you the item. Always check feedback. There's a 50/50 chance paypal will get your money back if you get screwed. If you used a credit card through paypal, there's a 95% chance you'll get your money back from your credit card company.

Ebay wants your credit card so you can keep creating multiple accounts and screwing people over. They want to know who you REALLY are in case you screw people over. Trust me, this is a good thing.

Thanks Sylentwulf....that makes me feel allot better. I didn't know about the feedback option and just saw that a couple of seconds ago. Lets hope everything goes well. Nothing 100% no more.

[kai123]

I will collapse the box and ship it if I use a bubble envelope.

[Griking]

I will always put items in a bubble envelope, even if people say make sure it doesn't get crushed.
BUT, if anyone ever SAYS, I'll pay the extra shipping costs to send priority in a box, I'm glad to do so.

Moral of the story?

TELL the seller you're willing to pay extra to have it sent in a box.

Doesn't the buyer deserve to receive the product that you sell in the condition that it's advertised in? I mean, I know that from time to time things CAN be damaged in shipping, but to ship a boxed game only in bubblewrap you're just asking for problems

Everything I ship is shipped in a box and doesn't cost me an extra cent since the post office provides priority mail boxes free of charge.

Oh but thanks for the warning btw.

[Sylentwulf]

Doesn't the buyer deserve to receive the product that you sell in the condition that it's advertised in? I mean, I know that from time to time things CAN be damaged in shipping, but to ship a boxed game only in bubblewrap you're just asking for problems

Everything I ship is shipped in a box and doesn't cost me an extra cent since the post office provides priority mail boxes free of charge.

Oh but thanks for the warning btw.

Priority mail shipping is a minimum of $3.85. I can ship a boxed intellivision game for $1.36 including packing. Believe it or not, but most people prefer to save the $2.50 than salvage the box.

[jonjandran]

Priority mail shipping is a minimum of $3.85. I can ship a boxed intellivision game for $1.36 including packing. Believe it or not, but most people prefer to save the $2.50 than salvage the box.

Itotally agree. I offer $3.00 normal or $5.00 priority in a box on most items and 99.9% of the time they only want the $3.00 shipping in a bubble mailer.
Most people are gamers and not collectors and could care less for the box.

[Griking]

Priority mail shipping is a minimum of $3.85. I can ship a boxed intellivision game for $1.36 including packing. Believe it or not, but most people prefer to save the $2.50 than salvage the box.

I can't say that I necessarily believe that. If people were penny pinching as badly as you make them out to be and the box really didn't matter so much I'm sure that they'd just assume buy a loose copy of the game and pay a bit less for it. The fact that they're bidding on a boxed game tells me that the box is probably important to them.

The majority of the people that I've sold to seem to know how much shipping actually costs and don't mind paying the $4.00 for it. It's when they know that shipping is only $3.85 and the seller wants to charge $7.00 that they understandably get pissed.

[jonjandran]

I can't say that I necessarily believe that. If people were penny pinching as badly as you make them out to be and the box really didn't matter so much I'm sure that they'd just assume buy a loose copy of the game and pay a bit less for it. The fact that they're bidding on a boxed game tells me that the box is probably important to them.

Well I can believe it. I have over 1800 game sales on Ebay and like I said earlier 99.9% opt for the cheaper shipping even when I mention it's going to be in a bubble mailer at their own risk.
Cheap Ass Gamers is what they are. LOL

[Classicgamesdepot]

I have to agree on this one, I used to only ship Nes Games/ Genny soft box games priority because of the small great protective boxes they offer, now I give the buyer an option otherwise it gets mailed in a buble mailer, I generally put extra bubble wrap around the game and when I'm done the box is pretty well protected, even though its not boxed

[Tritoch]

As a collector myself, I only offer Priority USPS service when shipping games, that way I know the game gets recieved in the condition I described. I expect the same from other collectors, but I still ask and make sure they send it that way.

Yea for SNES boxed games, genesis soft boxed games, GameBoy boxed games, etc I only offer priority . The free video cassette Priority shipping boxes are perfect. :D

For all else it's off in a bubble mailer they go.......

Same here. I don't even give buyers an option to have cardboard boxed games shipped in bubble envelopes...I make them pay for Priority shipping whether they really want it or not. I just can't standing thinkinga bout anything I send getting crushed before it gets there. LOL

For DVD/CD/Genesis/etc., I offer either first-class bubble envelopes or Priority mail.

[geelw]

sorry, folks-in almost 10 years of buying/trading/selling stuff i can say this: padded or bubble envelopes are the WORST things for shipping boxed games. if a buyer doesn't want to pay for priority mail, i offer to ship regular 1st class or media mail with non-negotiable delivery confirmation. in a BOX. if it's under a pound, it's not gonna cost that much. EVERY single game i've received in a bubble envelope from ebay, yahoo, and even some game companies (when i get reviewables) shows up with some sort of damage to the box or case. after a while, you can't blame the post office for being sloppy, lol.

my philosophy on shipping: if you don't give the bidder an opportunity to be cheap, they'll not only PAY the extra shipping, they'll come back to you again and again because you know how to take care of them... :D

[chaoticjelly]

geelw you hit the nail on the head ;)

Here in the UK there is similar mail to your mail system I believe, first class and second class..

Second class isn't much cheaper, and I never used second class unless someone requests it.

Our postal system is one of the cheapest in the world, so I ALWAYS use a box for cardboard-boxed games, I use bubble wrap bags for non fragile items such as Megadrive games, for Megadrive games I wrap them in extra bubble wrap, and then put them in a bubble wrap bag, same for playstation games, so the cases dont get cracked.

For cardboard boxed games, I make another cardboard box out of cardboard boxes I get for free from local wholesalers, and I cut them down and make boxes out of them :)

I wrap them in bubble wrap too, and I put newspaper inside N64 and SNES boxes just in case, so there are no gaps.

I always get complimented on my packaging, and I have never had anything damaged or broken, except for ONCE, when it was a monitor and it has been obviously absolutely thrown around in the back of a van for a week O_O

I think that jonjandran is right to a certain small extent.. I note that most of the common games I sell, for example Sonic, and Sonic 2 etc for the Megadrive, people couldnt care less about the condition etc, instructions are just to tell them what to do etc, and they are part gamers you see, but say for example when I sell something like Probotector 2 : Return of the Evil forces for NES, the end price is extremely dependant upon the condition of the game, I saw this game sell for £2 cart only, but boxed with instructions, I snagged £31..

I think the casual gamers etc are not after the rare titles, or really ones with boxes and instructions, I always seem to get better bids though when I specifically state in my auctions that I will post games with fragile boxes very well protected in cardboard boxes ;)

At the end of the day it's extremely disappointing to have something smashed in the mail.. yes it might work.. but if it was all about just playing the game, we could all just play the games on ROM on the pc...

It makes me damn scared when I buy a game from the USA (no offence guys), but more times than over here in UK, the sellers dont protect the games well, and especially when they are going accross the Atlantic Ocean, the packaging is really important!

If I've paid $50 or $60 for a game that's descibed as mint etc, and looks mint, I want it to arrive mint, I've specifically paid MORE to have that game in mint condition, do you know what I mean? If I wanted it cart only, I could get it loaddss cheaper ;)

Also, something that happened once which I just didnt understand, I bought about 5 games cart only off a seller, for around $0.05 cents each, all SNES games. I asked for surface mail shipping, which was about $4 to me in the UK, I asked for low customs value.

The games arrived after about a week and a half which I thought was strange. The total cost was cents, plus the cheap shipping, and I had to pay the postman approx £32 at my door to recieve the parcel, because the seller had written a customs value of $100 on the package, which is way in excess of customs allowance in my countr (approx £19 for merchandise and £27 for a gift), also, he had shipped the games Airmail, thereby effectively PAYING to give them away.

Needless to say it took about 3 months to get the money back from UK customs... O_O and the seller was a complete idiot... anyway

Why is it that our customs allowance here in UK is so low.. man you yanks have it good with the games, games released over your side of the pond before our side, and like if one of our games is £29.99 RRP your RRP is $29.99 which is a lot cheaper?

Oh well, just shows how much we get shafted here.

Anyway, the moral of the story is.. erm, use boxes?

[Sylentwulf]

heh, you don't HAVE to believe it. I have around 17,000 transactions that should say I know what the hell I'm talking about :)

[ianoid]

Priority mail shipping is a minimum of $3.85. I can ship a boxed intellivision game for $1.36 including packing. Believe it or not, but most people prefer to save the $2.50 than salvage the box.

Wulf, you're on crack. Just mail it all priority (in the free boxes, yes) to preserve the boxes and address the whiners with bubble mailers! That's what I do. I almost never get complaints about shipping costs, but I would do whatever they wanted gladly to decrease their costs.

I send all loose carts (Except the really pricey ones) in bubble mailers, since that's reasonably safe.

-box whore

[maxlords]

chaotic....that sucks. Are you going to hunt down a nicer copy and have it sent in a box? Cause...I'd buy the trashed one off ya.. :P

[FF6]

Of course I have to say that you can't go wrong with fedex since they are the best but unfortunately they are the most expensive. They automatically have a 100 dollar insurance on everything including envelopes. But unless you work for them, like me :) , it can be pricey.
Oh, and all those "FRAGILE" stickers you all like to put on the box's.......everyone ignores them. That's why we guarantee there 100 dollars cause things to get damage and you get those idiots that just don't care about our packages. Of course I treat them as they were mine but if I was getting paid allot less money to unload trucks i would probably toss them too. just an F Y I.

[suppafly]

[quote=Griking]
Cheap Ass Gamers is what they are. LOL
HEy that hurt me! LOL
Also, most people outside the US ask for the cheapest method...international rates from USPS are MUCH higher than domestic rates :eek 2:

[Ed Oscuro]

This is why I prefer paying a bit more to get the game from friends or from my comrades in the B&S forum (hehe) here at the Roundtable. That said, I realize our selection is a bit limited and you HAVE to go to eBay sometimes.

I'm lucky that I usually deal with Japanese folks. The ones on eBay I've bought stuff from usually have good descriptions up and lots of pictures, and they always package stuff well.

The only help I can offer is that you must try to find the bigger sellers (with good feedback, of course) or sellers that have their items pictured. Ironically, it seems that sellers who've got odd, picky rules might be better than those who just throw up an item with a maximum of three lines of description. Try to find people who seem to know the importance of being careful and deal with them.

[Ed Oscuro]

No time for a post edit, but here's a thought:

If you have something that has glass in it, why not write (or do they make stickers like this?) a "Fragile: GLASS" on the side (not just those silly stickers that show a champagne glass with a break in the stem...but rather a big warning). I'd think the truck offloaders would be much less likely to throw something like THAT, really.

Here's to hoping the Sharp x68K's monitor ain't broke when it gets here :D

[Sylentwulf]

I don't think you guys understand yet here.... My average boxed intellivision game sale is around $4.74 INCLUDING shipping. Priority mail would bring it up to around $7.50. That's just NOT worth it. Over a pound, multiple games, yes, priority mail is great, but for one boxed NFL Football intellivision game, it's NOT worth it.

[Griking]

One intellivision game shipped via priority mail will weiigh under a pound. Shipping will be $4.00 tops and the box is free.

[jonjandran]

One intellivision game shipped via priority mail will weiigh under a pound. Shipping will be $4.00 tops and the box is free.

Are you even reading SylentWulf posts ?
A game that is around $2.50 with $1.50 postage is what he's talking about.
The customer does not want to spend $4.00 shipping a $2.50 game. :roll:

[Sylentwulf]

Are you even reading SylentWulf posts ?
A game that is around $2.50 with $1.50 postage is what he's talking about.
The customer does not want to spend $4.00 shipping a $2.50 game. :roll:

Took the words out of my mouth.

[BoOchan]

I would place boxed games inside Tight Cardboard, and place them in a Bubble Bag. I always NAG a seller for good packing, and sometimes offer maybe a couple of dollars more if they pack it real good. If they don't, I'll leave a Netural. Myself, I don't sell Nintendo Games much, and if so only with systems which go in a box anyway.

[Griking]

Are you even reading SylentWulf posts ?
A game that is around $2.50 with $1.50 postage is what he's talking about.
The customer does not want to spend $4.00 shipping a $2.50 game. :roll:


For a loose game I can understand this logic. But in today's market where boxed classics games are getting harder to come by I can't imagine someone specifically looking for a boxed copy of a game just to say "the box is unimportant to me. Save me a buck and ship it the cheapest way possible. I don't care if it gets mangled."

And as a buyer as well, honestly I'd be pissed if I purchased a boxed game from someone and it was mangled in the shipping process because it was only wrapped in bubblewrap. That's along the same lines as purchasing a boxed Atari console and then having the seller ship it only in the actual Ataroi box, nothing else.

[Bratwurst]

Screw the bubble mailers. Forget about offering Priority Shipping. When given the option to ship cheaper nearly everyone who has bought something from me on ebay chooses it. Even that guy who paid 102 bucks for a Final Fight Guy cart wanted first class!

Here's what I do. I put the game in one of those great Priority boxes, then I stick it in one of those tyvek envelopes the USPS uses for Express and Priority mail. You probably know what I'm talking about but rarely handle them. Nearly indestructable, untearable white 'fabric' paper. You simply invert the envelope before putting the box in, wrap it over a bit and use some tape. You end up with a white, nondescript box that could probably survive a nuke at ground zero, and on average I pay 1.70 shipping first class rate.

No markings, USPS doesn't get on your case about using the 'proper' rate and you're still using the materials for THEIR services, so no laws done been broken. At least that's what one of the clerks has told me, but I don't brag about it openly, either.

There is no expense in buying bubble mailers, all the supplies come free courtesy of the Post Office. One could argue that it takes more time than what it's worth but with enough practice I can make a package under a minute.

[Sylentwulf]

Actually Bratwurst, that IS illegal since it specifically says you MUST use priority or express mail for the packing they supply, and the three post offices around here scream at me anytime I even wrap a USED priority box with brown paper.

But also, as a side note, I've had plenty of people buy boxed games from me and say "you can keep the box if it will save me $1.00 shipping".
I shit you not. Sure, someone who KNOWS better isn't going to say that, like ANYONE on these boards, but repeat after me:

Most Gamers Are Not Collectors.

[Bratwurst]

Though the USPS website has no actual disclaimers in their shipping supplies section and I welcome any sources you pull your specified claim from, here's the text found on a Priority envelope:

This package is the property of the U.S. Postal Service and is provided solely for use in sending Priority Mail. Misuse may be a violation of federal law.

Emphasis on 'may.'

I've discussed with several postal employees at length about this and the gist of the 'prohibited' behavior revolves around using the supplies for services outside of the USPS. IE UPS, FedEX, international mail. Postal employees can throw a hissy fit when they see someone abusing supplies but at worst what happens when they catch you? The recipient or sender ends up getting charged enough to cover what would have been Priority Rate. You do not hear of anyone getting arrested or fined for this. Why is this? Because ultimately the Post Office is glad to have your business one way or another, you're keeping the supplies within their cycle of operation.

[jonjandran]

You're right that all they will do is refuse to send it if they find out.

I use to use the priority boxes and Cover them with brown packing tape. But at all 3 post offices near me , everyone started doing this and now they won't allow it.

If it even resembles a covered priority box they will make you pay priority prices.

I solved the problem though by going to EB. They get PS2, xbox, Gamecube games in little boxes (5 in each). These boxes are perfect for shipping boxed games and they are very light.
The manager saves them for me and he gives me about 50 a week. :D