Transaction sounds "iffy"? Possible Non-performing seller?

[megasdkirby]

So I recently purchased two Xbox games from a seller on Ebay, in which total cost was $13. He clearly states the following:

"I will only ship to US addresses (including Alaska, Hawaii and territories) and APO/FPO addresses."

Perfect, I should be ok, right?

Well, I send payment and I send the usual message through EBay's messaging system:

"Hi! Sorry for not contacting you earlier, as I was working until just recently. Just sent payment! Yay! If you use Paypal or similar service to print a shipping label, you will need to manually add the SANTA JUANITA portion, else the package will get lost in the mail. When it's printed, compare it with the one listed online, and you will notice that the SANTA JUANITA portion has been omitted from the label. This is because for label purposes, the address is too long. You will need to add SANTA JUANITA manually in order for the items to arrive nicely. Also, please ship in box, as item condition is EXTREMELY important to me and I don't want the item to get damaged (due to crush or bends of a bubble mailer, for instance). Thanks and take care! "

Nothing wrong, as I've sent this message to several sellers, here and on Ebay, to let them know about the issue with my address, as well as to let them know about packaging method (not shipping method). To this day, I have not received any complains from sellers, and all have been thankful, mainly about the address issue. In fact, I even purchased a few Colecovision games from another seller, sent the same message, and got a "thank you" message for me letting him know. No problem.

Not until this new seller, that is. This was his response:

"I don't know if I wish to continue this transaction. Its seems iffy to me. I pay for shipping and offer it for free so how the item is shipped is up to me. Something seems weird here. Give me a day to think it over I may just refund your payment."

What the hell? I know and fully understand that sellers have been on the defensive ever since Ebay changed their policies, but the request I sent him was nothing bad, at least from my knowledge. Yet why does he think it's "iffy"? Does he seriously think I am going to scam him or something? I also understand shipping is free and all, but sending inside a box will at most cost him around 25 cents extra as in a bubble mailer (it's via First Class Mail). But then I thought to myself "Hey, it's just two Xbox games, so a box really isn't needed, as those cases are pretty resiliant. So to put him at ease a bit, I sent him the following message:

"It's ok, you can ship them via a bubble mailer if you wish. I usually put that message when it's games with cardboard boxes (like Atari, NES, Coleco, etc) to prevent the games from getting squished. So I simply use the same message on basically all items I purchase (pretty much a copy/paste). Feel free to ship via a bubble mailer. The "Santa Juanita" portion is necessary as Paypal and those programs that print shipping labels usually omit the "SANTA JUANITA" portion of the address due to length. This is important, but writing it manually after the label is completed is perfect. I apologize for the confusion. Thanks and take care! -Josh"

I hope that this message will put away any doubts about the transaction. But if it doesn't, he will pretty much refund me when I pretty much need those games (they are not for me, but for my brother).

Has anyone gone through a similar situation like this? Any ideas on what could be possible outcomes and what steps would be to resolve? I will admit that he does give me a refund, I will be very livid.

Any suggestions?

[JohnnyA]

I've seen this happen before, and you're right that PayPal will cut it off. This seller doesn't understand what you're saying though, and they simply won't.

[ryborg]

You'd think with all the billions of dollars of profits ebay/Paypal has received over the years, they'd be able to fix the address cut-off problem by now. It's annoying and it's actually more common than you think. I've also had certain parts of address repeat themselves on the actual label, even though that's not how the address was formatted in the payment.

Is the seller new? He probably doesn't understand the situation fully. A lot of people are dumb when it comes to mailing stuff to PR. Also, you really should ask if mailing in a box instead of a bubble mailer is possible before you buy. Not even has boxes laying around, and even though it may not cost that much more to ship, it can still be a giant hassle to get a box the right size.

[Kitsune Sniper]

You'd think with all the billions of dollars of profits ebay/Paypal has received over the years, they'd be able to fix the address cut-off problem by now. It's annoying and it's actually more common than you think. I've also had certain parts of address repeat themselves on the actual label, even though that's not how the address was formatted in the payment.

My sister sent a box to us last Monday via UPS. She said the clerk told her that the PMB line in the address got cut off automatically because "they don't ship to PMB / POBoxes".

Bullshit. I told her to make sure they wrote that line in the address label, even if they had to do it by hand.

Companies are lazy and won't fix the programs because it would cost them too damn much to do so.

[tkusina]

Also, you really should ask if mailing in a box instead of a bubble mailer is possible before you buy. Not even has boxes laying around, and even though it may not cost that much more to ship, it can still be a giant hassle to get a box the right size.

The responsibility of the item being packaged safely for shipping is on the seller. In my opinion, if they choose to ship cardboard boxes in a bubbler and it does not arrive in the condition stated they will get neg'd from me, especially if i have asked them to ship it in a box.

There are too many irresponsible sellers out there that just throw their wares in a box, envelope without any thought to it getting there safely.

If they fail to calculate this cost in their shipping costs i think that's tough. I have had sellers come back at me and say it will be an additional $2-3 and i tell them ship how you want but be aware i am expecting it to arrive in the condition stated barring any mishandling at the PO. That usually gets their attention.

[ryborg]

The responsibility of the item being packaged safely for shipping is on the seller. In my opinion, if they choose to ship cardboard boxes in a bubbler and it does not arrive in the condition stated they will get neg'd from me, especially if i have asked them to ship it in a box.

We're not talking about cardboard boxes that are easily crushed. We're talking about XBOX games, which are fine to ship in bubble envelopes. Thanks for the non-sequiturs, though.

[tkusina]

We're not talking about cardboard boxes that are easily crushed. We're talking about XBOX games, which are fine to ship in bubble envelopes. Thanks for the non-sequiturs, though.

Slow down with the big words there chief. I think you need to reread the original post or just stop being abrasive. BTW there is no "-" in non sequitur.

Point being, the seller probably thinks you are going to give him a hard time if the games don't end up in pristine condition or that you might be looking for trouble.

[Mayhem]

I've had a couple of DVD boxed games shipped in bubble mailers damaged in the post so *shrug* nothing is invulnerable.

[ryborg]

I've had a couple of DVD boxed games shipped in bubble mailers damaged in the post so *shrug* nothing is invulnerable.

And yet I've shipped and received ~1000 games/DVDs in that style case with a bubble mailer without incident. There is always a small chance that something could go wrong with shipping, even if you ship in a titanium box. In exchange for the convenience and lower price of online shopping, you are taking a minor risk. All I'm saying is that if you insist on a non-traditional method of shipment, it's only polite and professional to ask the seller first.