I have received two damaged packages in the last week. The first one was a smashed box that did not result in damage to the books. This box was smashed to the point that the corner had popped open. It would not have smashed had the seller actually placed some packaging material inside the box with the books.
The second damaged package arrived today. It consisted of a small priority box (the video size) and was smashed flat to the thickness of the book. This one also had no packaging material inside the box with the book. The end was not popped open to the extent of the previous package, but the inside was partially exposed to the elements. The end that was partially popped open was also, unfortunately, wet. The book was also wet. I should say that the book is still wet as I type this.
Wet books are never the same. Water damage cannot be undone. The pages are now wavy at the end of the book that was exposed to the water. The cover is still wet, but there is a chance it might dry okay. I won't know until later. I have contacted the seller but have not heard back. Since I did not pay for insurance, the seller is likely to state that it is my fault (this is what many sellers think, sad to say). The lack of proper packaging has nothing to do with insurance, and insurance does not prevent damage. Most buyers want undamaged merchandise (wait—I bet all buyers want undamaged merchandise), and it is the seller's responsibility to package the books so that damage is unlikely.
Always wrap books in plastic before mailing. Had the book been wrapped in plastic, the water would not have reached the book. All that is necessary is plastic wrap, which most people have in their kitchens and can be purchased inexpensively at many stores. Ziploc storage bags can also be used. While I dislike receiving books that are wrapped in Wal-Mart and other bags (I never know where the bag has been), even Wal-Mart bags are far better than nothing. I use stretch wrap, as I find it much easier to wrap around the books, and it sticks better. It costs $6.00 to $10.00 per roll, so it is more expensive. It serves my purpose quite well.
The book would also have been less likely to have been damaged had the seller placed tape on the seams of the box. With a little tape, the end would not have popped open. The tape would also have been a barrier for the water. Additionally, if just a little packaging material had been placed inside the box, the box would not have smashed as flat as it did. The packaging material would also have served as a barrier for the water. Either of these steps would have made it harder for the water to reach as far inside the package.
I have mailed out thousands of packages. I have had no packages go missing, and only one book reported as damaged. For the one damaged book, the buyer told me that the box had been folded almost in half. The buyer stated that I could not have prevented what happened as it was catastrophic. The box probably got run over or something.
I have had one instance in which a buyer profusely thanked me for wrapping the book in plastic. The buyer stated that the package had arrived in a downpour and that the postal carrier had left the package on the step in the rain. The box was soaked, but the book was fine because of the plastic.
Fortunately, my other three packages were not wet today, especially since one of the dry packages was a $300.00 transaction containing first printing Nancy Drew books. The damaged book was a $15.00 purchase, so at least I can be thankful for that. By the way, the books of the $300.00 transaction were also not wrapped in plastic, although the packaging job was marginally better than the damaged package. If the $300.00 books had been damaged, I would be throwing a screaming fit right now and cussing!
Also, of the other two dry packages, only one of them had plastic. Therefore, if all four of today's packages had gotten wet, three of the four packages would have had damaged books. It was not raining, so probably something was spilled on the one wet package. Accidents do happen, so wrap your books in plastic!
7:25 PM update: The book is still wet! I now have it propped open in front of a fan.
4 comments:
Hello! Good advice, which I will heed when selling books in the future. On a completely different note, I was curious if you would have any problem with me using some of your dust jacket cover scans from your main page, for wikipedia pages on the appropriate authors/series'. I have been trying to add some pages for authors and series' not currently on wikipedia, and have found your site to be a wonderful resource, but don't want to use your pictures without your permission.
I do not want the images from the main page, which also show up in the upper left corner of the individual sections, to be used on other sites. Those particular images are ones that I cropped and edited the way I wanted for use on my site. They are more likely than other images to be associated with me, since I created them, so I want them to stay exclusively on my site.
However, it would be okay for you to take a sample dust jacket image from each of the individual cover art galleries, as those were not changed from their original form. For example, you could use the scan of the dust jacket for the first book in the Blythe Girls series, or whichever of the twelve dust jackets you prefer. I would also appreciate a link on the page pointing back to my page.
Thank you! I appreciate it. I've added some to the Pelagie Doane and the Judy Bolton page on wikipedia, along with links at the bottom. Unfortunately I'm having problems with someone on wiki trying to say the Judy Bolton is not "notable" enough to deserve a wikipedia page. I made a separate page for The Talking Snowman and the unpublished The Strange Likeness, with references, but the same person has a problem with all of them. Trying to fill in some more information to justify them so they won't be deleted.
I love your main webpage. I've spent a lot of time looking through all the pages, gaining a lot of information. If you're interested, I have another foreign version of The Dana Girls Mountain Peak Mystery (from Australia/GB). Very nice dust jacket image. I can e-mail you a scan of the cover if you'd like.
If you have John Axe's book on girls' series books, it would have some good quotes you could cite. You could also quote some of Applewood's promotional information. There is a quote from Phil Zuckerman in this Amazon listing.
You might mention that there is a Judy Bolton fan group on Yahoo, state how many members it has, and provide a link to it. You could mention that they have detailed discussions about the books.
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