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boxingcardmanis a normal part of commercial life. I do not understand why applying the same model to bsaeball cards is problematic, but since it raises such hackles, let's assume it out and see what happens. Let's assume that the card gods decree that sellers must accept all risks of transit, as many here suggest is the golden rule. I think it is only fair to then require the buyer who insists on that rule to pay the real cost of compliance. The seller will have to demand a trackable, sturdy package with full value insurance for all items sold, yielding a system where shipping a $50 card costs you eight bucks for an insured, sturdy boxed shipment. If that is not an attractive prospect and you would prefer to have the opportunity to allocate the risk and reduce your costs of acquisition for the 99%+ of times that the USPS does a good job and gets the card to you intact in the bubble holder for three bucks or less, that's great too, but that requires the buyer to accept the risk of loss and bear it when something happens, especially if the seller leaves the decision to the buyer. Again, I come back to freedom of choice: if you choose and lose, you should bear the loss. I had this recently happen when I won an auction at the dead minimum $5 bid and the seller tried to charge me $8+ to ship the card boxed, insured, tracked, etc. I emailed the seller and told him no way, accepted the risk of loss, and was charged a reasonable cost for packing and mailing. Had the card been lost or damaged I'd not have been here whining about the unfairness because I decided not to pay for a boxed, insured shipment.
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