Is this ebay feedback appropriate?
 

I received a T202 I purchased on ebay and it came in a plain white envelope in a soft sleeve, no backing. The envelope and card both arrived with no damage. I left positive feedback with this comment:

"Quick shipping, packaging kind of flimsy though"

The seller sent me an ebay e-mail saying I was "class-less" among other things.

Was my feedback comment inappropriate?

It was accurate but not necessary as long as the item arrived unharmed. Also depends on how much you paid for shipping.

It was free shipping, but I'm not sure how that is relevant other than relating to how fast I received the item.

I disagree with some of this response.

So what you are saying is that as long as the package arrives with no harm, it doesn't matter how the seller ships the item? That seems far from what I hope to be reality. So you would be ok with someone sending you a T206 Ty Cobb in a PWE as long as it arrives safely?...Ugh

Alanu, I think you did everyone a service by stating that in the feedback section. Otherwise, no one would know that this seller ships cards out in a very risky way. Feedback, in my opinion, is for this very reason.

You left positive feedback, which was deserved, but the seller's mistake was noted by you (as you should have).

Unless the card cost ~$2 w/ free shipping, I would expect something more than a stamped envelope also. If this happened to me, I would give similar feedback and probably ding some of their stars.

By your description, it WAS flimsy shipping. That being the case, you were merely being accurate. If he sticks to this type of packing, eventually he will have a problem that could have been avoided if he had been more conscientious in his packing. If the seller is smart and cares about retaining customers, he'll fix it. I'd rather he charge a couple of bucks for shipping and do it right.

The old saying of you get what you pay for comes to mind. The main thing is the card arrived safely. Now if you had paid something for the shipping and handling, a whole different senario. Personally, I charge to ship something and I try to do things the right way. Does sound like the email was a little over the top however.

Also no need to worry about a T206 Cobb coming to my home in a plain white envelope as I do not collect T206 cards and only a fool would ship one that way.

Your feedback was fine, especially considering you gave him positive feedback.

If you gave him a negative, then there would be valid debate.

I suppose his point was you should have told him of your complaint, rather than publicized it. Which is a fair point.

I totally agree with these comments:

What I do in this situation is (before giving feedback) to contact the seller & tell him that another buyer might not be as nice as I am & may give him a poor feedback. Depending on how he responds back is how I determine what feedback I would give him.

What bothers the hell out of me is when the seller charges $4 for shipping and ships the card wrapped up in a piece of paper in a regular envelope with a stamp.

Feedback was accurate, could have possibly contacted seller first though. How much anyone pays for shipping seems irrelevant b/c you have an obligation via ebay to pack item appropriately as a seller, and buyer was not given option for better shipping.

This happened to me once over a year ago when I was selling some things for the first time. I sold some militaria and I sent something to a buyer in a an envelope with no padding. The item was unharmed but the buyer left positive feedback but said he did not approve of the way I shipped it. I responded with an apology and I owned up to my mistake. This seller's response is really crappy, he should own up to his mistake.

I once received three cards, no penny sleeve, in a PWE. One of the cards was an Old Judge which probably protected the two other tobacco cards. I ripped open the side of the envelope and all three cards slipped out of the envelope and dropped onto the floor. There was nothing else in the envelope.

I completely disapprove of charging no shipping, then packing this way. I'm sure the seller does this to attract higher bids and to avoid low shipping star ratings. You left the right feedback.

you did the right thing. in my opinion, you have no obligation to inform the seller before you leave your feedback. the feedback system is in place principally for other buyers, so i think that the warning to others that might bid/buy from this person is appropriate.

also, his writing you back with an insult should reinforce to you that you did the right thing.

Exactly

Free shipping shouldn't mean awful shipping. To me, the feedback was appropriate.

After reading these comments, in retrospect, I probably should have contacted the seller first, but I don't think my comment would have changed much.

Free shipping really ISN'T free shipping in the ultimate scheme of things. Total price is still total price. Whether the shipping is calculated separately, or built in to the item's price is irrelevant. You paid for that item, and should reasonably expect it to be shipped appropriately..

I see nothing wrong with the feedback you left. All though I will admit, you probably should've contacted him first. He may have responded differently.. Ultimately though, you did the seller a favor by calling him out on it, before something bad happens with a higher priced item.

I've had two similar instances in the past, both on something like $10 cards. One was damaged in the mail Wrote the seller first and he refunded my money due to the damage without me even asking. So I left him a positive without mentioning the incident. The other time there was no damage, wrote him first as well but the seller replied with a typical "so what, no harm, no foul" type response. So I left the exact same type of feedback as you did..

A couple years ago I once got a feedback complaint from a buyer for my poor shipping practices.

Guy won a boxing ticket in an auction. When I shipped I put the ticket in a photo sleeve, put that sleeve in a semi-rigid envelope, placed two pieces of cardboard around the envelope and put that in another larger envelope and shipped 1st Class Package with Delivery Confirmation.

Apparently the Post Office just went totally mental on the package and the ticket somehow ended up with a small crease.

Guy e-mailed be back fishing for a partial refund, I told him I don't do partials..........send the ticket back and I'll give him a full refund. Guy went nuts, told me I was a slip-shod shipper, this ticket (a 1940's Billy Conn fight) was a present for his father, and there's no way he can give the ticket to his dad with this small crease now present, what am I crazy to ship this so carelessly, etc., etc...

"Sorry buddy, ship back and I'll give a full refund", I reply.

After much hand-wringing the guy decides to send it back.........but with a caveat........he was going to ship it back to me, the way he would have shipped it, had he sold it to someone else.

"Great!" I think to myself, "Ok, ship it back", I reply as calmly as I can muster.

I get the ticket back a week later. It's in a Priority Box. Inside the box are two thick blocks of wood and a screwdriver. This nut had hid the ticket between two blocks of wood in a literal custom made screw-down holder.

I couldn't really do anything but laugh, and imagine this guy as a regular Ebay seller. Sitting at his shipping table with a skill saw, drill, box of screws and case of screwdrivers sitting by his side, ready to ship out his next batch of widgets.

Funny thing is, I gave the guy the choice to have the item shipped Boxed Priority Mail.........and he chose the cheaper 1st Class option instead.

IMHO, your feedback was completely appropriate. I also don't think you were under any obligation to contact the seller. Suppose you DID contact him and he says "Gee, you're right, I won't do it again" - and then he DOES do it again. Now future buyers are getting poorly shipped items without any warning from you. On the other hand, he could see your feedback, post a reply to it saying "you're right, lesson learned!" and future buyers will know both sides of the story.

Again, I think you did things 100% correctly.

Tabe

That's a very good point.

Can't stop laughing... crazy but too darn funny!

About a year ago, I won 4 raw t210's from a none collector. They came wrapped in a paper towel, no penny sleeves, top loaders, cardboard, nothing, paper towel and a piece of scotch tape in a bubble mailer. I almost lost it when I saw packing job. Cards weren't damaged the least bit, I emailed the seller and told them how to pack better in the future and left postive feedback, after all cards were ok and shipping price was fair for package job. Hopefully they learnt how to ship better the next time.

I agree. But I feel it is NOT appropriate to address your concerns of the future in feedback. A simple email to the seller would suffice. Below is an email exchange I had yesterday with a seller:

Dear (seller),
Although item is described as New (other), button was missing one tip, and rubber grommet was torn at one of the interior holes. It is usable, but I figured you should know.
- Me

Dear Me,
These did come to us new - but I don't always look at them closely prior to shipping. I'll get you a replacement out with todays mail.
Cheers
Seller

Dear Seller,
I just reused my old button and the grommet you sent was better than the one I had so don't worry about it. I just figured I'd let you know to avoid future problems.
- Me

Dear Me,
You are getting another one. lol But you are correct in thinking that I needed to know. It'll help me in making sure that no one else gets a damaged part and I thank you for the clues in what I need to look for.

Thanks!
Seller

That's an awesome exchange between buyer and seller, but the scenario is a little different therefore calling for a different reaction IMO. In the OP situation, the seller packaged the product the way they did on purpose...which was very risky and never should happen. In your situation, it was something where the seller could fix the issue with you and could make it right. I believe the OP could contact the seller, but has no proof that the seller is going to fix the issue. Therefore I think feedback is also there to tell the truth and warn future bidders about the shipping (seller's) practices.

For some reason people are very shy about leaving feedback that reflects the way the transaction actually went. By holding the seller's hand through the feedback, you do nothing but scar the purpose for leaving feedback. There is nothing wrong with leaving honest feedback!

I once got three cards from someone many years ago that were taped together, in a white envelope with a thank you note. Shipping was 50 cents so I couldn't complain about that part. Luckily they weren't valuable cards(Seaver,Stargell, Reggie, late 70's and the price was $2 total), but needless to say, two of the cards did not make it out without being injured. I informed the seller, who did not sell cards normally, that there were better ways to ship cards

I had to leave negative feedback for a seller recently. When I purchased my Plowboy Orval Overall, which was quite a pricy card for myself, I paid $7.50 for shipping. The seller assumed that placing the card in a plastic bag and taping two pieces of cardboard thinner and smaller than the card itself in a FedEx box and shipping USPS media mail was appropriate.

Needless to say, the box which suffered quite a few beatings at the hands of unhappy postal workers led me to spend an entire night comparing the card to scans to confirm that the card suffered no damage in shipment. I even wrote to the seller, who said that was the best way to ship cards as nothing else was ever damaged and I had no expectation of better shipping for that cost.

Negative feedback was a given after that reply and shipping theory.

My point was, as others have said, no harm no foul. However, letting the seller know about a deficiency is the right thing to do. If it had been damaged by the lack of packaging, I would contact the seller and resolve the issue (or not) and leave appropriate feedback. Feedback should be based on the transaction in whole. NOT for airing gripes about 'possibilities'.
I once had a Neutral for packaging. It was a case of Topps wax boxes that was unopened, merely re-labled. No damage by the way. His reasoning was "It could have been damaged", and I should have double boxed it! :mad:

Did the seller specify how the card would be shipped in the listing? That makes a big difference in the appropriateness of your response. If he specified how it would ship, and then shipped that way, it's on you and the feedback you left was inappropriate. If he said it would ship packaged better than that, you should have left a negative. If he didn't specify, you probably should have asked, but your feedback is appropriate.

I agree, though when I get an item that is undamaged but badly packed I email the seller first with my critique before I post any feedback.

As a seller I'd want to know if there is an issue with my packaging. The classless thing is attacking the buyer for posting the opinion.