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What is the worst packing on a shipment you have ever received?

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mouschi

Featured Contributor, Bridging the Gap, Senior Mem
May 18, 2012
3,105
170
What is the worst shipping job you have ever seen when someone was shipping cards to you?

For me, a couple years back I received a box with a $500 card and it was in NO holder at all - I don't even remember how it was secured, but there was no sleeve, no holder, no anything. Miraculously, it was fine but I almost had a heart attack :)

What about you?
 

David K.

Active member
Aug 26, 2008
1,338
12
Fresno, CA
Bubble envelope and card was in Top Loader.........with the words.....Do Not Bend....No Machine on the front of the bubble envelope...But the outside of the bubble envelope looked like it was run over by the truck! Inside was a card that I purchased for $85.00....2008 Upper deck Heroes Ken Griffey Jr. auto/gu black card serial to only 25! I could see the Top Loader was crushed and the card was damaged. After filing claim for insurance from the USPO....a few weeks later got $85.00.....Best regards, David
 

death2redemptions

New member
Feb 4, 2016
12,488
0
The Carolina on the Southern side
I've had some pretty bad ones in the past but most recently I purchased a BC auto from Canada that cost over $6 for S&H.

I received the card in a non padded envelope. Card wasn't in a top loader, just in a sleeve with a few base cards taped around it on each side. It's a miracle that the card wasn't damaged, especially since it came all the way from Canada.

I realize it's more expensive to ship from Canada but for $6 could I at least get a padded envelope & top loader? Is that really asking too much?
 

homerun28aa

Active member
Jun 8, 2011
19,072
8
To be fair it was in a penny sleeve and sandwiched between two top loaders that were taped...and this isn't really a holy grail GU piece like a Ruth prime patch or something but I was really excited when I won this card at the time. I once got a National Treasures Cobb/Shoeless Joe/Eddie Collins triple bat card in a plain white envelope that was paid for with a bunch of stamps. The envelope had nothing in it but the card taped between two top loaders. They weren't even 75pt or 100pt toploaders...they were the regular ones you'd put commons in. I won that card when the product just came out and it was from a seller with a lot of feedback who had a bunch of cards up for sale, albeit mainly not high-end ones but still.

I guess he knew what he was doing because the card was actually in perfect condition at the end of the day...
 

Topnotchsy

Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
Aug 7, 2008
9,446
170
Years ago I won a $400 card from Japan. Card arrived in a PWE, wrapped inside in nothing but a single tissue (no toploader, penny sleeve). Somehow the card was in perfect shape.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,099
Too many to remember. Many people are just dumb when it comes to shipping sports collectibles I guess.

The latest FAIL was an 8x10 card stock item in a priority mailer. Aside from the bare card placed in the mailer, there were two smaller sized cardboard "stiffeners". They were both about 1/2 the size of the card itself and not much sturdier than the mailer itself. On the outside was the magic phrase that most sellers must thing protects them from harm (and Liability)..."Please don't bend". This was after I stated very clearly that I wanted this protected properly, as it was a redemption card that some people may just feel will be tossed once redeemed.

Result was the mailer was munched and the stiffeners helped the card itself to be munched where they were too short to protect the item front and back and the card bent around the end of the stiffeners.

Morons!
 

AUTaxMan

Active member
Nov 25, 2009
2,394
0
Mobile, AL
PWE with penny sleeve and toploader appropriately taped is fine with me.

I can't decide whether the no-toploader option is worse than the so-over-protected-that-you-might-damage-the-card-trying-to-get-to-it option.
 

goobmcnasty

Active member
Apr 4, 2014
1,583
13
I received a card in a penny sleeve/toploader/team bag, between 2 extremely sturdy pieces of cardboard, wrapped in bubbles, then INSIDE a bubble mailer, inside a priority mail small flat rate box.

Someone along the way dropped it in a toilet or something, because everything was drenched, including the card.

I'll take a PWE/tissue that arrives perfectly, over a well-packed destroyed card.
 

rsmath

Active member
Nov 8, 2008
6,086
1
two that come to mind - a $5-10'ish cert auto card mailed in PWE just wrapped by a paper towel (no penny sleeve, no toploader).

In 2001, one of the Donruss sets had the final cards of the checklist as rookies or something numbered to 1500 (or 1999?) . Ordered a lot of those for trying to complete the set and the seller put them in a 25-ct plastic case. The case got smashed in shipping, shards everywhere, every card damaged. That's why I don't like it when I get stuff shipped in plastic cases because it brings up a horrible memory.
 

03supto

New member
Jul 25, 2010
269
0
I received a card in a penny sleeve/toploader/team bag, between 2 extremely sturdy pieces of cardboard, wrapped in bubbles, then INSIDE a bubble mailer, inside a priority mail small flat rate box.

Someone along the way dropped it in a toilet or something, because everything was drenched, including the card.

I'll take a PWE/tissue that arrives perfectly, over a well-packed destroyed card.

Sounds secure and typical shipping job. Not his fault for that sounds like a P.O. problem
 

TxRyan

New member
Jan 21, 2016
15
0
Several good posts here about loose cards with no protection. I've had my share of those with mixed results. But of all the cards that have come to me damaged, the most common cause has been due to the seller/trader's poor attempt at protection. Two examples:

1. Taking a thick jersey/patch card and JAMMING it into an undersized top-loader. This ruined a perfectly good 08 Navy Blue Jersey card of Justin Morneau (#/50) that I really needed for my master Twins 08 Heroes set as well as a few others. The card was fine until they forced it into a holder causing crimps, creases, and wrinkles. Generally, overly tight "protection" actually ruins cards. They shouldn't be sent loose in a PWE, but over zealous protection can be equally bad.

2. I have been burned several times (mostly from trades) on Chrome cards coming to me all scratched up. If you don't sleeve chrome cards, they WILL end up scratched. And if they are placed into a top-loader without first going in a penny sleeve, they will get scratched going in or coming out of the top-loaded almost every time.
 

joey12508

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
38,465
16,123
Winterfell
I am on a roll with PWE one just came, card inside cardboard no penny sleeve in one of those soft loaders. is this the new norm on ebay?
 

death2redemptions

New member
Feb 4, 2016
12,488
0
The Carolina on the Southern side
Yeah, that was my point. Sometimes a PWE with no protection gets their safer than a well-packed card will all sorts of protection.

Sure, sometimes but if given the option of either having my card sent in a PWE without a top loader or in a well-secured (top loader/team bag/cardboard) bubble mailer, I'll go with the bubble mailer every single time, even if it costs a little more.

But I do understand what you are getting at. I recently sold a card (Royce Lewis Bowman Auto) and shipped it securely (penny sleeve/top loader/team bag/two pieces of cardboard) inside a bubble mailer as I always do but the buyer said it was damaged upon arrival. At first I thought it was a scam because he said he'd still keep it if I issued a partial refund but when he sent it back (in the same packages) I could see exactly what happened when I looked at the cardboard pieces I used. Somehow it got stomped on hard enough that it managed to leave a dent in the cardboard and the back of the card. So to sum it up....$hit happens, despite how well protected the card is. Regardless, the odds of receiving a card damaged via a PWE without a top loader will be greater than a well secured card.

Someone else mentioned that having a card *too* well secured can also lead to accidental damage when trying to get the card out. I've had this happen once and almost another time because they used WAYYY too much tape. This is a personal pet peeve of mine. For the love of God, there is no need for that much tape people!
 
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