More Package Troubles

Last week, I had to pick up a package at the post office because it arrived postage due of $7.31.

The seller had taken one of the medium priority mail flat rate boxes and wrapped it in brown paper. The package was then sent media mail, which is why the package arrived postage due for the balance of what priority mail would have cost for the package.

The postal service forbids the use of priority mail supplies for any service other than priority mail. USPS workers try to catch as many as they can, although most of them slip through.

I requested that the seller reimburse me for the $7.31, which he did without comment. I am always relieved when these situations work out without any melodrama. I have had sellers get upset in the past, as though I did something wrong.

This week, I had what I consider to be an epic damaged package, or perhaps the real situation is that the books were tossed in the box and then shaken around by USPS. I don't know what happened exactly, but the view of the inside of the box was horrific, and a number of the books were damaged.

This is how the package looked before I opened it.

I smudged out the addresses but left enough so that you can get an idea of how difficult it was to read the addresses. The seller used green marker on a product box that had dark colors on it. Part of my address was nearly indecipherable, so it is amazing that I received the package.

I took a photo of the bottom of the box, which looked a bit rough.

I took the above photos just so that I could combine them with the mention of the postage due package and come up with a blog post. I little realized what kind of mess was inside the box. I lifted the flaps to see this.

Uh-oh. One of the side box flaps was inside Tapping Heels. I pulled the flap away and lifted the remaining flap.

Not good. I gradually removed a few books at a time and snapped the following photos as I removed books.

Notice that a piece of the front panel of the dust jacket for Witch Tree Symbol is in the center of the below photo.

Several of the books were damaged with folds to either the front free or rear free endpaper. Some of the jackets were damaged.

The following photo shows the packing materials, some of which appear to be trash.

The seller's communication was professional and courteous, and I would not have expected this kind of mess inside the package. I am undecided on whether the books were placed inside the package neatly or as a giant mess. Two of the dust jackets were completely separated from the books, which is why I wonder whether the books were tossed inside the box haphazardly. The box did have empty space, so possibly the books were stacked, and the package was violently thrown around during shipment. In fact, if the box were in a vehicle that rolled over in an accident, that would account for how the books were arranged when I opened the package.

Either way, this was an interesting package to receive. While I am not pleased about the treatment the books received, I am also not upset about it. These were not books for my collection. I had spotted a decent Buy It Now right after it was listed, and I purchased the books, figuring that I would be reselling most or all of them. If the books had been ones that I knew I was keeping, I would have been very upset.

Here is a picture of what the package contained, once I had the jackets in mylar.

I hope you find these package situations to be interesting.