Two Purchases: One Lucky and One Unlucky

In December, I purchased a bulk lot of Nancy Drew books with dust jackets from the 1940s from an eBay seller.  This was a risky transaction, since the seller had some neutral and negative feedback that indicated poor shipping and inaccurate descriptions.  This was one of those times when I decided to take a calculated risk.  Around a week later, the seller listed a bulk lot of general series books from the 1940s with dust jackets.  I thought long and hard before making that purchase, because I wasn't sure whether the first purchase would turn out okay.

Around a week after the second purchase, the first purchase arrived.  This was a very lucky transaction.

The above picture shows exactly what I saw when I opened the package.  There was no padding inside the package with the books.  Somehow, the package must have stayed upright the entire time it was in transit, and it was never tossed around.  None of the dust jackets were damaged in the slightest.  It's unbelievable.

I concluded that the books from the second purchase would probably get damaged.  After all, I considered it highly unlikely that a second package would receive the same gentle treatment as the first package.  So I waited, and the weeks began to pass.  Since the second package was overdue, I felt certain that those jackets were doomed.  As my wait approached one month, I lost hope that the second purchase would ever arrive and initiated an eBay claim for an item not received.  I did not bother to contact the seller, since recent feedback indicated that the seller never responds to messages that complain about problems.  I knew that I was on my own with this seller.

The package finally arrived today, four weeks and one day after it was mailed, and two days after I initiated the claim.

The package looked rough, so I knew the jackets would be damaged.  I was right.

I pulled the books out of the box.  The next photo shows the jacket pieces in the bottom of the box.

But then what is that dark object?

It's something made from metal that is curved and has holes along one side.  Sellers like this one have a habit of putting trash and assorted objects inside packages.  Don't they realize that a heavy piece of metal adds to their postage cost?  I guess not.

I also received some comic books that were not part of the bulk lot.

Okay.  Well, I don't want them, and I don't want the random piece of metal.

Here are the assorted jacket pieces. 

I put them in a sandwich bag.  I will reunite the larger pieces and some of the smaller ones with the proper dust jackets when I put the jackets in mylar covers.  Some pieces will be too small to save.  Some of the smallest ones are still on the carpet, and sadly, they will get vacuumed up.

Here is the seller's picture of the books.

This is what they look like now.

The Penny Parker jackets were mostly destroyed.  I do have some of the Penny Parker jacket pieces in the sandwich bag, but some pieces appear to be missing.  Those pieces may have fallen out of the package, since the seams of the package had holes in them.

My second purchase from this seller was definitely disappointing, and it makes the first purchase that much luckier.