Ebayers posting items in carrier bags & other mad waysetc !

DaveAshton

notlongnow wrote: »

This is a big bug bear of mine I am paying for postage and packaging. NOT for someones queuing time/car park fees/shoe leather etc etc. 9 times out of ten there is a post office nearby to *most* people. And it is unlikely they are travellng the 20miles into town to the nearest post office and having to pay parking fee's and having to queue for an hour in the post office just to post one solitary parcel to me..

Maybe they think they'll post roughly 10 items at a time. Assume the bus-fare's £5.00 to the nearest post office and back, they add 50p onto each item's P+P cost (the £5.00 divided by the 10 items).

mandragora_2

As a buyer, I really don't care how it looks when it comes through the door - pretty tissue paper, ribbons, glorious folding - all lovely, but at the end of the day, they don't end up being worn/listened to/displayed as an ornament - what I'm most interested in is what's inside the package!! Nicely wrapped stuff, even if it's recycled is always a nice gesture, and I will admit to being put out the first time I got stuff that was wrapped in sh*tey old newspaper and just sort of thrown together, but what was inside was ok, and I soon rationalised myself out of the annoyance!

As sellers, we sell big, hefty items that need to be carefully wrapped, with occasional fragile parts to them, so a lot of time and energy goes into getting decent boxes and packaging materials (and yes, it is a twenty mile round trip to the post office!) - storing the materials to do that, keeping the poly chips/bubble wrap/inflated baggy things to hand etc etc is a thorough pain, but it's sort of what you bargain for, and we do make a good return on what we sell. Again, as long as it gets through unbroken, and I've been able to get most of the materials I use from the recycle section at work for no charge, then that's fine by me.

Occasionally, I've sold smaller things and then I've tried to make an effort to make them nice to receive (sort of a woman to woman gesture, if you know what I mean - sisters brightening each others' day...). It has generated good feedback and nice responses, so I've always been glad I've done it, but it's only ever been done if I've happened to have had a bit of nice tissue paper to hand - though I too have sent things out with a little sweetie or similar in at times, just to make the buyer smile.

The very nicest thing that happened was when I bought some perfume as a surprise for my mum - it was a scent that my great aunt used to wear, and hasn't been made in decades, and she had told me how that perfume always reminded her of the aunt, whom she loved. After the end of the auction, I contacted the seller and asked her to send it straight to my mum, if that was ok, and explained why I'd bought it. When the package arrived, it was beautifully presented, with gift wrap, ribbon and a little card - so very sweet - I've never forgotten it, and it brought a bit of joy into my mum's life at a time when she was struggling. That's when ebay works, and that's when wrapping makes all the difference.:A

Jenna_Appleseed

I recentlly bought a rare cd with a card envelope sleeve, from a seller (on amazon marketplace rather than ebay) who claimed everything was sent out well packaged with padded envelopes. When it arrived it was wrapped in a plastic bag, taped to the middler of a piece of cardboard and inside one of those mailers meant for vinyl albums or photos & no bubblewrap in site. The suposedly mint item arrived creased/bent.

JesaRose

I buy rubble sacks from Poundland and use those for mailing sacks. Usually one sack will do two items of clothing or if its something bigger a whole sack instead. They are very tuff & hard wearing and I always get comments about how well my items are packaged. I always bubble wrap the item first too.

I definately support recycling packaging as long as its clean and not scruffy

notlongnow_2

DaveAshton wrote: »

Maybe they think they'll post roughly 10 items at a time. Assume the bus-fare's £5.00 to the nearest post office and back, they add 50p onto each item's P+P cost (the £5.00 divided by the 10 items).

I dont have a problem with an extra 50p at all. I just hate it when they say it includes parking fee's etc. This, imo does not come under P&P and seller should say so if they intend to chargev me the parking fee's as they go to town to do their shopping and also happen to pass a post office to post me my parcel.

I can get a day saver bus ticket for £3.60 for unlimited travel..lol.

I also dont care how a parcel is wrapped, as long as it is secure and gets to me.