Hi all,

Just now I received the following message from someone in Italy. I send everything bubblewrapped, in bubblewrap envelopes. Another package I sent him previously arrived perfectly. This time, I'd sent a complete copy each of the Encyclopedia Magica and the Complete Wizards Spellbooks.

The package arrived today, but as I feared the books of Encyclopedias
are all ruined, bent edges and I also found a tear on the cover.
The books were already so damaged before shipment?

What do I do? Before I sent them, the books were perfect!

bbarsh wrote:Such is the world of international shipping, ebay and paypal.

You need to figure out how bad the guy can hurt you, first.

If you do nothing, expect negative feedback.  That's what I would expect anyway....if he is being truthful.

And just my 2 cents worth of advice.  Dont use bubblewrap envelopes for shipping.  Use a box.

I've sent stuff to Italy before, and never had problems.

I send everything out as described, and the books in question were perfect or near perfect.

The guy has mentioned before that he's received stuff from other people that's arrived damaged, but the books I sent to him previously arrived in perfect condition.

His name is Balance85, and I think he's genuine.

It sucks, but you are probably going to be out some money. I'd find out what the buyer wants to use the books for (collecting, or just use), and negotiate a partial refund.  It's not worth your time to have them shipped back and give a full refund, even if he pays the freight.  I'd also assure the buyer that the items were perfect when youmailed them, and the damage must have been done in transit.

For future reference, both Italy and Greece have horrible, horrible postage systems. Basically consider them as third world as shipping something to Central America, Africa, etc.  It's well worth your while to only use global priority boxes when mailing there, it will both protect the items and allow you to do some sort of tracking.  I just had two packages arrive in Italy last week after being mailed December 2nd....over six weeks!  Most of the delays are the terrible customs service that steals or mangles most of the items.  One of the few countries I "tweak" the declared value of the items, since anything over $100 will be opened and evaluated for possible theft by the crooked postal agents there.

Mike B.

Thanks for the advice so far, guys.

Lawrenson, I sent them in three packages (airmail, so each was 2 KG or less) and all three were sent International Signed For. Each package was worth £39 or less.

I plan to head down to the post office tomorrow to see what they suggest as well.

bclarkie wrote:In circumstances where you fell the buyer is genuine, I'd try to work out an amicable solution.

If you suspect the buyer is not being honest or you can't come to an agreement on some sort of partial reimbursement, I've always just told the buyer to ship the item(s) back to me for a full reimbursement including their own shipping costs back.  

I know it sucks, but:

 A) It's the best way to protect yourself and

 B) It's the cost of doing business sometimes.  

Additionally, in my experience you'll be able to get a pretty fair gauge on how honest the buyer is being, since typically if they are lying, they'll start to resist wanting to send the items back for a full refund including their own shipping costs.

That's not a bad plan.  I've always just let them keep the item, but then again in very, very few cases I feel a guy has tried to screw me.  As BC said sometimes it's just the cost of doing business.  If the complaint is legit you might even get more business from them as they'll respect your way of doing business (refunding the full amount).

Mike B.

RaisedFromTheDead wrote:Why did he say "as I feared"?

Harder to say when there's a language barrier (although his English is better than my Italian . Maybe he means when he saw the state of the package before opening it, he feared there'd be damage to the books.

Kingofpain89 wrote:
If you do nothing, expect negative feedback.  That's what I would expect anyway....if he is being truthful.

And just my 2 cents worth of advice.  Dont use bubblewrap envelopes for shipping.  Use a box.

I agree with kop - use a box for international shipping.  I use a box for domestic shipping as well, for that matter.  I had one package to Italy arrive not as expected - so I refunded the guy his money and paid for him to ship it back to me.  Sold it again for almost the same amount, so was only out the shipping fee.  Just quietly blocked the bidder, and moved on.  Stuff happens, don't let it get you down.

astenon wrote:Thanks for the advice so far, guys.

Lawrenson, I sent them in three packages (airmail, so each was 2 KG or less) and all three were sent International Signed For. Each package was worth £39 or less.

I plan to head down to the post office tomorrow to see what they suggest as well.

Three seperate packages all damaged?
His note only said "The Package..."
So,  was it one package or all three that were damaged?

If it was all three, I would call that HIGHLY Suspect...   and I would be hesitant to reimberse anything.
Ask for photos, or scans of the damaged books.

If only one package, then simply reimberse the buyer for a portion of the value of that package.

Never send stuff packaged in anything less than a box if going overseas.
And unless the buyer asks for it, never use media mail even for books and NEVER wrap books only in simple brown paper.... with no other protection.
A cardboard box with packing materials is too cheap (How expensive is a ripped up wadded up dragon magazine issue one after all?) and the buyer pays the shipping....