Someone played soccer with it.
My second complaint is that I don't know who to blame this on. Was this a result of the
post office, the seller, or was this part of the rip-off Global Shipping Program that is now done through eBay so that Buyers can now get screwed out of even more money.
I was very worried before I opened and saw the item that I was going to have to go through the hassle of returning this item since I had purchased it MISB with a MINT box. Luckily, aside from the meagre protection afforded on the side of the box since the TF just fit length-wise and that the massive dent was just beside where the item was, there was no damage to my purchase.
That's it for now. Stay tuned for this posting.
wtf, why is eBay checking your parcels?
ReplyDeleteCustoms checked my parcels twice in my collecting life and twice I got screwed cos the ripped the boxes open and threw in all the parts (without plastic baggies) and didn't even bother re-sealing the shipping box with sticky tape. Happen to G1 MIB Scorponok.
Yours looks like G2 Megatron? heh.
Nice to hear from you again HD~ !
DeleteGood question! Why is eBay checking my parcels? To be honest, I don't exactly know, but I think this may have happened due to that Global Shipping Program and Pitney Bowes which is running it.
I'm sure you probably already know about all of this. I don't claim to fully undestand this program, nor do I want to spend anymore of my time trying to figure it out, except that it's a complete rip off for the buyers and is ruining eBay......just my opinion. From what I understand, when the seller ships the item out, they ship it to a US shipping center, where "international shipping experts" manage the international shipping and customs process and send the item to the buyer.
In fairness, as a seller I can see the benefits as they aren't responsible for item loss or damage that occurs after the item is forwarded by the US shipping center. Once an item has been forwarded by the US shipping center, they are not responsible for refunding the buyer if an eBay Buyer Protection or PayPal Purchase Protection case is filed against you for one of the following reasons:
A buyer claims an item isn't received or
A package is damaged in transit
Unfortunately, the buyer has to pay for all this seller protection.
*sigh* Too much time wasted already talking about this.
I think this may be the 2nd or 3rd time this has happened to me, and you're right, Ijust don't think that customs really cares. Honestly, I would prefer to buy from conventions but lately a lot of the shows just seem to have the same things and I don't really know enough people personally that collect to buy from directly.
Thanks again for checking my site out!
Stay in touch,
Joe
hi Joe, I didn't know about the eBay protection silliness. I haven't been on ebay for some time now as i usually buy direct. It sounds logical, the protection and all that, but really, why should the BUYER pay?
DeleteThat's just dumb.
If you want reliable sellers, check out "Specimen-17" from the UK. I have bought from him for years and he is a top notch seller in my books. He is the only seller i have linked on my blog.
Other sites like TFSource is also incredibly good, but they dont always stock the vintage stuff.
You're going about it the right way HD. If I could, I would much rather be buying direct as well. Unfortunately, I'm only really close with one person who is into TF's, being my friend "M", and I have bought a few things from him. Everyone else I know are mainly dealers, so understandably they need to make some profit to keep things going as opposed to selling friend-to-friend.
DeleteThe Canadian market isn't as prolific in terms of stores and such as compared to where you live.
My new items do tend to come from either TFSource because of their "bullet-proof" packaging, or from one of my dealer friends who can direct order from Japan.
Thanks for the referral of Specimen-17. I will look him up and let you know if I purchase anything from him.
Cheers,
Joe