I know that this has been discussed before, but I want to vent. The last three sets that I have received from eBay sellers have all come damaged. First, the Echo Base came in a box with no packing material and the box was crushed, so there was damage from being shifted within the box and then the post office itself thought that was not good enough and crushed the shipping box just to make sure it was no good. Second, the Death Star I ordered came in the original LEGO packing box, but with no external packing and it was dented (I really hated that). Last, I received a Malevalence that was not boxed, it just was wrapped in brown shipping paper on the LEGO box itself. The box came with the front and one corner crushed. Now, all three cases are due to the USPS, but some of this could have been avoided with better care in packaging. The first two cases, the seller (TRU) said that they could refund my money, but not give me another item. Their reasoning is that there is no way to avoid the same problem again. Probably true, but frustrating. In the last case the seller insured the package, and after going through the USPS, I will hopefully get my money back. What I really want is my sets to come undamaged. At this point I am seriously reconsidering these discount deals, is it worth it? Has anyone found a better method or a seller that has been doing a good job in packaging? Thanks for letting me vent. :-)

Once again proving my point that TRU is garbage! There IS a way to prevent damage and that is to pack it properly! They are just lazy POS's that only care about making money! Very apparent by the way they mark up items and pack them like garbage! I HATE TRU!!!

That really sucks. I have been very lucky with ebay sellers and packaging. The last set I got came boxed, wrapped in a layer of paper, and within that a layer of bubble wrap, couldn't ask for anything better. I have bought lots in the past where pieces were just thrown in a box and were falling out the corners, but that's a little different than a sealed set you are buying because of the state it's in. I have never purchased from TRU online, and probably won't after hearing everyone's troubles on here, I have never had a problem with LEGO Shop at Home though, every order has been smooth.

All the large sellers do a very poor/inconsistent job at packing (even Lego.com). While it is frustrating, I just consider it to be part of the business & when the time comes to sell, I know there will be greater variables that will affect the pricing. Most people just look at these sets as toys & will not handle the sets with the care that we collectors would. As far as paper wrapping, people will do it - I have even received valuable sets not even wrapped in paper, with the postage labels glued right onto the box (that's fun). If you get a poorly wrapped item from a regular seller on ebay, sometimes you can get a partial refund - when you calculate that into the cost of the item, that will increase your profit later on when you sell.

I've received numerous sets from ebay sellers, Lego Shop and Wal-Mart and there have never been any problems. All were packed very well and arrived undamaged. Carrierers from fedEx, USPS & UPS were utilized.....

Problem is that most sellers don't consider LEGO bricks "breakable," so they treat the boxes poorly. Sellers need to double box LEGO sets, not just wrap them in paper. I just received a CITY set from TRU and the packaging was great, but the box was crushed previous to shipping. I have bought thousands of sets and I would estimate 10-15% of the boxes have shipping, storage or packaging damage. Part of the issue is the poor quality of LEGO boxes. In the late 70's and early 80's, the LEGO boxes were reinforced with plastic and very well made. I see some of these boxes listed on EBAY in excellent condition and they are 30 years old. Today's LEGO boxes are flimsy and weak. That is the main issue, not shipping.

I've received pretty much the range of all of the above, from a mixture of eBay sellers (just wrapped a Hogwarts Castle is brown paper), to TRU and Target (throw the set in a GIANT box so it can rattle around). The box quality of sets can really vary...from paper thin (thinking some of the Creator sets), to rock solid (the Alien Conquest HQ Defense seems to have much thicker cardboard than a normal set). Sometimes I will return the set to a store (crushed Imperial Shuttles from Target), but other times I've gotten lazy...I have an Emerald Night that looks like someone tried to use it for a step-stool and never got around to returning it.

I've received pretty much the range of all of the above, from a mixture of eBay sellers (just wrapped a Hogwarts Castle is brown paper), to TRU and Target (throw the set in a GIANT box so it can rattle around).

The box quality of sets can really vary...from paper thin (thinking some of the Creator sets), to rock solid (the Alien Conquest HQ Defense seems to have much thicker cardboard than a normal set). Sometimes I will return the set to a store (crushed Imperial Shuttles from Target), but other times I've gotten lazy...I have an Emerald Night that looks like someone tried to use it for a step-stool and never got around to returning it.

I'm the same way. To me, it's just lack of time. How much time will I waste to send back an item when there is no guarantee of receiving a better set in return is the major question I ask myself. I have become a lot more forgiving about box quality.

Well, I just received my R2D2 set from amazon. Of course the box is damaged. Anybody have any experience in dealing with this problem from Amazon? I plan to open the set but I still want a box in good condition.

Well, I just received my R2D2 set from amazon. Of course the box is damaged. Anybody have any experience in dealing with this problem from Amazon? I plan to open the set but I still want a box in good condition.

let them know......they will send you another one.

Here is my suggestion from numerous dealings with amazon about this......ask for a new one and pay for next day shipping or just ask for another one at regular shipping shipping and when it comes damaged again cause it probably will call back and ask for another one and demand expedited shipping explain to them since they won't bother the package it correctly the only logical choice is to expedite the shipping (at their cost) so there is less time from warehouse to your house where the box can can be mishandled by the carrier.......generally amazon used fedex for overnight delivery and as a general rule they are better at handling packakages IMO

Ideally, I would just like a 10% off discount or something similar. Really don't want to go through the process of shipping this back and then waiting longer to receive it. Paying for expedited shipping defeats the purpose of getting the set on sale. I think I will shoot them an email and see what they say. Thanks for the suggestions.

Bought 7964 Republic Frigate off of Amazon, "Brand New", and it came today in a grocery bag with just the pieces and no mini-figs. Wonderful. Now to go through the return process.

I have returned many items to Amazon. Very easy. Just say the box is damaged. Amazon will immediately send a replacement and you can return your set at no cost.

I emailed Amazon asking instead of shipping it back, if I could get a discount of some sort. They already responded stating, "they can refund my credit card 10% (so $15) off the price if I want to keep the set. I think that is reasonable since I am going to put the set together. The box is not too bad but definitely a big noticeable crease on the front of the box. I suspect that ups doesn't know how to properly handle packages.

For eBay, I always look at what they are charging for shipping. If it is not much then I assume they are not packaging whatever it is very well. If they do not discuss shipping practices in the narrative, I will often ask...

Bought 7964 Republic Frigate off of Amazon, "Brand New", and it came today in a grocery bag with just the pieces and no mini-figs. Wonderful. Now to go through the return process.

Wow, I'd be pretty ticked. I'm guessing you bought this from a 3rd party seller, and not Amazon themselves. I have discovered that the problem with buying from 3rd party sellers on Amazon is that there just isn't the importance of describing item condition as there is on eBay. When people list on Amazon, they just hit a couple of check boxes and insert a price. That's pretty much all there is to it.