Just wanted to you know that the unimog that I originally thought might be from a scamming illegal drop shipper arrived yesterday. It indeed was NOT a drop shipped item, the seller however fabricated his shipping box out of a few much smaller boxes and taped up the seams as best he could, but a few were wide open when the item arrived. I want to be clear here, this is not one of those shipping nightmares where the lego box has been punctured or crushed, however, due to some of the edges being exposed, it did arrived pretty frayed and was not something I would have bought in a store.

The seller in this case has over 1000 feedback and 100% positive, so he must do something right, however, I felt he could have done a better job of packing it. I just sent him this message...

Hi, I am leaving your feedback here shortly, I just wanted to give you a heads up because the item arrived very heavily frayed and crushed around the edges where it was likely in perfect shape when you sent it out.

I have never had a more expeditious seller, my item arrived in two days and that is superb service, so thank you for that! I just would have appreciated a bit more care with the packing method you chose. One reason I am mentioning this is because you said on your seller page to contact you if the item arrived damaged from shipping because all items were insured.

I am not going to be filing a claim or leaving negative or even neutral feedback or anything like that, I think you have worked hard to get the ranking you have and I don't want to tarnish that when something was damaged just from shipping. However, just out of professional courtesy, I would have really appreciated a proper box with closed seams for shipping something I just spent nearly $200 on.

Blessings,

I am really just trying to gauge his response before I leave feedback, if he responds with a very haughty attitude, I may reflect that in his feedback. I would appreciate it if he gave me a 10% refund as I very easily could buy this item from a store in flawless condition for a similar price. However, I didn't want to beg for that right away or it may seem that I was trying to get a payout.

Just wanted to you know that the unimog that I originally thought might be from a scamming illegal drop shipper arrived yesterday. It indeed was NOT a drop shipped item, the seller however fabricated his shipping box out of a few much smaller boxes and taped up the seams as best he could, but a few were wide open when the item arrived. I want to be clear here, this is not one of those shipping nightmares where the lego box has been punctured or crushed, however, due to some of the edges being exposed, it did arrived pretty frayed and was not something I would have bought in a store.

The seller in this case has over 1000 feedback and 100% positive, so he must do something right, however, I felt he could have done a better job of packing it. I just sent him this message...

I am really just trying to gauge his response before I leave feedback, if he responds with a very haughty attitude, I may reflect that in his feedback. I would appreciate it if he gave me a 10% refund as I very easily could buy this item from a store in flawless condition for a similar price. However, I didn't want to beg for that right away or it may seem that I was trying to get a payout.

I have bought hundreds of LEGO sets from eBay members over the years and it never ceases to amaze me how some Top Rated sellers will ship items.

Now will all those who called this seller an illegal shipper issue apologies? I have only bought one item on Ebay, a 10230. But it was sold as a water damaged box - and it was falling apart - but the seller basically 'built' a box to fit around the Lego box and sellotaped it all together. As the box was already damaged I do not really know if that caused further damage. Everything I have bought from S"**** & Amazon has arrived in big well pack boxes. But I have never tried buying anything small from them yet.

I bought a Bi Ben from Amazon and it was packed in a padded envelope. And that was as a Prime member. However, that was the only time it happened - of course, that was the only small item I bought alone. All larger and multiple items have been well packed.

I bought a Bi Ben from Amazon and it was packed in a padded envelope. And that was as a Prime member. However, that was the only time it happened - of course, that was the only small item I bought alone. All larger and multiple items have been well packed.

"Big Ben" not "Bi Ben" - hahaha - sorry bad typing

"Big Ben" not "Bi Ben" - hahaha - sorry bad typing

LOL...We are a politically correct website and welcome all types of people. ;-)

The seller responded right away

We have shipped out hundreds with same process with no issues...Im sorry it got frayed....I will be glad to file a claim if needed...

Should we file a shipping claim? Personally I think this is a little unfair to UPS since the item wasn't packaged well but I don't feel happy overall with the service, how should I proceed?

Thing is, was the damage to the packaging caused by UPS or by the design of the package? When my seller did something similar it was well done, so well done in fact, I had a problem getting it apart.

I think it was a bit of both, he had a lot of tape on the box, it was huge pain to open but that doesn't mean that there were two long sections that were totally exposed when it arrived.

The seller responded right away

Should we file a shipping claim? Personally I think this is a little unfair to UPS since the item wasn't packaged well but I don't feel happy overall with the service, how should I proceed?

Not to get on a high horse here but the USPS, FEDEX, and UPS can beat up packages pretty good. I'm not saying that the seller didn't do a good job of packaging. I've actually seen with my own eyes the Postal Carrier pick up the packages I'm sending and THROW them into the back of the truck. My UPS guy likes to DROP packages on my porch if they are a weeee bit too heavy. Wimp. Anyways, if this is what they do in front of me, I would hate to see the sorting warehouses.

To answer the question with a question: Is the seller going to refund your money and let you keep the product or want you to send it back? If you send it back, make sure you get reimbursed on your shipping cost.

The seller responded right away

Should we file a shipping claim? Personally I think this is a little unfair to UPS since the item wasn't packaged well but I don't feel happy overall with the service, how should I proceed?

What are your intentions for the set? To build or to resell?

Sounds like he did not use enough vertical, to the seams, tape then. That would have bound the seams together. I agree it does seem a bit hard on the shipper then.

It seems to me many EBay sellers need help/training on packing methods. My daughter has been selling on EBay for over 3 years now and she gets a lot of repeat customers because of how well she packs and ships her items which include a lot of Lego. From my experience a lot of EBay sellers are willing to offer a fair discount/refund for damaged items. I have sent pictures and expressed my displeasure about the condition of item as received and most have offered a discount at which time I usually send a counter offer for a better discount with the promise of giving positive feedback and in all cases except one they agreed to the discount I suggested. The one occasion where the seller would not accept my discount suggestion and insisted on having the set returned they wound up refunding all my money and paid for the return postage too.

"Big Ben" not "Bi Ben" - hahaha - sorry bad typing

I'm just glad you didn't say Ben 10. I may have said that by making a purchase you've already lost money.

The seller responded right away

Should we file a shipping claim? Personally I think this is a little unfair to UPS since the item wasn't packaged well but I don't feel happy overall with the service, how should I proceed?

I would like to say that your message to the seller was very polite and I think you received an appropriate response. As far as taking it any further it depends on whether or not you planned to open the item or were going to resell it. Hopefully a claim won't need to be even filed and things can be mutually solved by you and the seller. It sounds as though they are willing to work with you.

How does everyone typically package their legos when they sell them? Seeing what happened here makes me kinda paranoid when I do start selling my inventory in the future. I'm definitely going to try to make sure I package things the right way so I figured I'd come right to the source since the standards here probably would keep me out of trouble. I've bought a couple sets on eBay and they have all arrived in less than perfect condition. I've never once thought to ask for a discount and figured it was just the "price" of getting a cheaper item on eBay.

The set was to resell down the road, the graphics on the box are in perfect shape and all seals and edges are closed, it is just that there is white fraying on the edges where it was exposed. Would it be appropriate to request a $10-15 refund or should I just send it back? The guy seems very good, and is probably just trying to make an honest living, but at the same time, I would have appreciated just $1 spent on a box to protect my purchase in transit.

It depends on whether you are intending to keep it or open it. If you keeping it, will the damage lower the resale value? If so you could return it. Does this seller have another one you could swap it for? He could arrange for a courier to deliver another one and pick your one up at the same time.

The set was to resell down the road, the graphics on the box are in perfect shape and all seals and edges are closed, it is just that there is white fraying on the edges where it was exposed. Would it be appropriate to request a $10-15 refund or should I just send it back? The guy seems very good, and is probably just trying to make an honest living, but at the same time, I would have appreciated just $1 spent on a box to protect my purchase in transit.

I would ask for a refund of $20. Repackaging and your time to send it back has to be considered. It was a solid deal to start with, so a $20 discount seems fair to me. There is no excuse for a seller with 1000+ feedback to send an item in such a manner. Did they ever see a retailer ship in such a manner? No...so why should they.

The seller responded right away We have shipped out hundreds with same process with no issues...Im sorry it got frayed....I will be glad to file a claim if needed Should we file a shipping claim? Personally I think this is a little unfair to UPS since the item wasn't packaged well but I don't feel happy overall with the service, how should I proceed? I have personally experienced multiple times of receiving poorly-packing lego boxes with damages. It is seller's responsiblity to pack the item right and professionally. If they decide to do home-made packing, they should also do it right. I got one seller who did the home-made packing, it was so sturdy, even more sturdy than regular lego shipping or amazon... Shipping companies also have the responsiblity. However, a well-packed item still will arrive safe no matter how much crush damaged on the packing box, meaning inner protection is also important.

If he files a claim, UPS will want to look at the packaging. From your description, UPS will certainly deny the claim. Just my opinion from past experience...

I agree. If you can, put the item back in the packaging and take photos of where it plonked through and was damaged.

Seller is refunding $18 to me, I asked for 10% so thats what we settled on, the guy is a class act all the way.

Did they ever see a retailer ship in such a manner? No...so why should they.

A retailer does a certain thing; therefore, a mom-and-pop shop must do that thing too.

A retailer must ship things so they don't get damaged, I don't care what method the mom and pop do but they can't let the merchandise I just bought get damaged in transit either.