Dumb*]#* eBay sellers

[elbaroni]

Ugh. Snared a working LaserWriter 4/600 with a spare cartridge and the brain genius seller posted it without any padding. At all. Loose in a box. Predictable results. I’ll get a refund through eBay, presumably, but what a goddamned waste. 

 

[EvilCapitalist]

Ouch.  Sadly, I think most of us have been right there with you.  It's even more a shame since it doesn't seem like too many folks hung on to vintage printers. 

xx(

 

[elbaroni]

It’s a real shame. He just responded:

I m sorry to hear that it s damaged; it didn t mean to be damaged. But since it s damaged, can I offer you a partial refund of 60 dollars while you keep the item and the cartridge, which, when I bought it, was worth 170+.

Oh good! A cartridge for a non-functional printer. Lucky me! *reject partial refund*

 

[dzog]

Ugh. Yes, been there, felt that pain. One less in the world...

That is just egregious, and referencing the "when I bought it" price is such an eyeroll-inducing move. 

I've become a "super high maintenance buyer" who asks sellers how they are going to be packaging whenever I think there's a chance this will happen. I offer to pay for extra costs if needed for it to arrive safely, and tell them not to worry about the shipping time - "better safe than fast". It annoys a few of them ("of course I will ship it well") but does seem to help avoid catastrophes. Some people are clueless tools, but some just don't have the knowledge or experience. 

I snagged an awesome ImageWriter II in box and asked the lady about shipping. She was just going to ship it directly in the aged original packaging. She was more than happy to double-box it once I explained how that wouldn't be safe and sent this link. She asked why people cared so much about the condition of vintage Mac stuff and I gave her an abbreviated spiel; she was very gracious, told me the items belonged to her late father and she was happy that they would be going to someone who would enjoy them. ("Selling my grandparent/parent/spouse's old stuff" is something I've encountered quite a bit.)

 

[elbaroni]

Yes, lesson learned. I’ll try the high maintenance approach from now on. I guess it’s worth spelling out the value as a collector’s item, but I just can’t understand anyone sending something of value this negligently. 

 

[joshc]

Can't believe he had the nerve to say "It didn't mean to be damaged".

Sad to see this, although I am impressed by the build quality of it - it doesn't look like it sustained too much damage? Does it power on still?

 

[maceffects]

This makes me say.  I had a Personal LW 300 and loved that little printer.  I don't know why people think this is ok anymore. 

 

[Concorde1993]

A similar problem happened to me years ago. I snagged a working ImageWriter LQ on the cheap through eBay. It came with the owner's manual, software, spare ribbons, and an aftermarket dust cover. The unit itself was in great shape minus some yellowing and sticker residue. Needless to say, the seller skimped on the packaging and the printer arrived with a big crack on the top housing of the paper feeder cover. Naturally I was furious but fortunately the seller was kind enough to issue a full refund as the package was insured through UPS. I still have the LQ and I'm still on the lookout for a replacement cover. 

 

[Byrd]

Once you find the missing chunks though, you could neatly slot them back in with good glue with the damage fairly imperceptible (Loctite Gel Control has been a favourite of mine for the past few months)

 

[DarthNvader]

Is "revenge shipping" a thing?

I've had this happen to me a few times over the years with Ebay sellers, when I score a great deal on something. They are so pissed that they didn't get fair market value out of their item, that they just toss it into a box hoping it will get destroyed.

I once scored a Mac Pro3,1 for $25, and the seller shipped it completely disassembled with all the screws lodged in the power supply.

 

[LaPorta]

The lack of padding is atrocious, but I still want to know about the other side of the equation...the shipping company. I've seen well-packaged items (not just computer paraphernalia) broken in their boxes. What do these people do to cause such damage? Do they simply not care? I remember as a kid, I never saw damaged stuff in packages, and now it happens all the time. I think some of it is the "Amazon effect," where there are so many more packages now that they struggle to keep up and simply don't care.

 

[elbaroni]

It shouldn’t be revenge shipping - I paid the buy it now price. I think it’s just stupidity. Not sure if it powers on or prints. I’ll try it out tonight. The latches for the top cover are broken so it might not trigger the relevant sensors. Even if it works flawlessly, I’m not inclined to do anything but insist on a full refund regardless. I didn’t buy a broken but working printer, I bought a good condition working printer. He can pay for and arrange the return shipping if he wants it back. 

 

[PotatoFi]

Very sorry to see this. Another printer permanently taken out of circulation. I hope you can find another one.

Does anyone ever save the little Apple badges off of these? I have a few that are pretty faded and would like to get some replacements.

 

[elbaroni]

Oh, I should also say that there was no sign of the package being mishandled. They’ve obviously not been as gentle as they might’ve been, but I don’t think I can hold a shipping company to the standard necessary to protect something so badly packed. Didn’t even have “delicate” written on it. 

 

[IlikeTech]

As far as I’ve heard it’s better to not write delicate on things.  They tend to get handled worse

 

[EvilCapitalist]

Yeah, you really don't want to write "fragile" or "handle with care" on packages.  The study is nearly a decade old, but I would assume things have gotten markedly worse since then with the increase in shipping volume thanks to Amazon and the like.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/reviews/a6284/which-shipping-company-is-kindest-to-your-packages/

I didn’t buy a broken but working printer, I bought a good condition working printer. He can pay for and arrange the return shipping if he wants it back. 

Since it was eBay, the seller doesn't have a choice, he has to pay for return shipping whether he wants to or not.  If you filed a "significantly not as described" return against him eBay will take the funds from his account to pay for return shipping if he doesn't offer the option.

 

[demik]

Since it was eBay, the seller doesn't have a choice, he has to pay for return shipping whether he wants to or not.  If you filed a "significantly not as described" return against him eBay will take the funds from his account to pay for return shipping if he doesn't offer the option.

As a seller there is another possibility: you can proceed to a full refund and the buyer can keep the item. That way as a seller you don't have to pay the return shipping fees and the buyer has a free spare printer.

Did this a couple of times with the seller, when items were broken during shipping.

 

[Unknown_K]

Sellers tend to pack well if the item has some monetary value to them (as in they paid some money recently for it and its not a $.50 garage sale find they want to flip). 

Sure full time sellers mostly just give a full refund because they don't want any bad feedback and are mostly just out of the shipping charges if the item didn't cost them anything. Some people will pay for a return just to make sure the buyer isn't trying to scam them or the item is worth much more then just shipping.

 

[elbaroni]

Right, a brief update: I asked for a full refund (in response to the seller’s offer of half back), he didn’t respond. I asked eBay to step in, they gave him five days and...boom, full refund. Now I feel morally able to turn the thing on. So far so good - it boots and a steady green light. No startup page, but of course it’ probably turned off.  Mechanism sounds a bit ropey, but see how we go when I get it plugged into a machine.