My personal best so far was the pc big box in an unpadded poly mailing bag. It would've been a miracle if it had survived, but being only half crushed was still a feat. At least it wasn't particularly expensive or rare.
I ordered an MVS cart a year or two ago and the casing was shattered in places. I actually had a spare so swapped the board which was in good condition - label went into the recycle though
WHAT DUMDUM SHITASS WOULD SEND IT IN A BOX THAT FLIMSY
That dumb fuck!
Yes, I did recall this but not a bubble mailer. I guess still relevant, lol.
For what it's worth, we made some real NA lemonade out of that crushed Zelda II! First myself and Ferris Beuller battled it out at an auction for this precious 1/1 holy grail, and nearly a year later I was able to gift it to him in a Secret Santa package at Christmas. Though that copy may be utterly destroyed, it still managed to bring great posthumous joy to an NA'er! I even specifically asked to have it shipped to me in an unprotected mailer, in the hopes that it may suffer double the horrible fate before it reached me. That copy of the game is officially the stuff of NA legend!
One time I paid $400 for a Virtual Boy Japanese demo game, and the guy specifically said "Include $6 for shipping and I'll ship it in a secure box with plenty of padding to ensure it shows up in the same perfect condition it was shipped "
Well, a week later the guy the guy still hadn't shipped, apparently due to being very busy with work. His solution was to get his mom to mail it out, who did so by putting the box in an unpadded mailer envelope and shipping it off to me at a shipping cost of under $3. You can imagine how this story ends, I'm still too sad to tell it.
Edit: Oh, I should include that I kept the copy, since in all of my years of scanning the internet nearly to dark-web levels searching for Virtual Boy items, I'd never seen a copy of this demo for sale before (or since). It actually wasn't even for sale, I learned another VB collector had it, and I offered him money until he said yes. Dude offered to take it back and refund me, and I had to decline since I'd probably not see this come up for sale again. To this day, I still haven't lol.
For what it's worth, we made some real NA lemonade out of that crushed Zelda II! First myself and Ferris Beuller battled it out at an auction for this precious 1/1 holy grail, and nearly a year later I was able to gift it to him in a Secret Santa package at Christmas. Though that copy may be utterly destroyed, it still managed to bring great posthumous joy to an NA'er! I even specifically asked to have it shipped to me in an unprotected mailer, in the hopes that it may suffer double the horrible fate before it reached me. That copy of the game is officially the stuff of NA legend!
For what it's worth, we made some real NA lemonade out of that crushed Zelda II! First myself and Ferris Beuller battled it out at an auction for this precious 1/1 holy grail, and nearly a year later I was able to gift it to him in a Secret Santa package at Christmas. Though that copy may be utterly destroyed, it still managed to bring great posthumous joy to an NA'er! I even specifically asked to have it shipped to me in an unprotected mailer, in the hopes that it may suffer double the horrible fate before it reached me. That copy of the game is officially the stuff of NA legend!
Did anyone ever test the cart?
I never did, the game was so crushed that to take it out of the box would mean strategically putting it back in later, so I left it "sealed" lol. I never heard back from Ferris if he ever tried booting it up, so the legend continues until he does! Ferris if you're reading this, test that puppy out!
Well, a week later the guy the guy still hadn't shipped, apparently due to being very busy with work. His solution was to get his mom to mail it out, who did so by putting the box in an unpadded mailer envelope and shipping it off to me at a shipping cost of under $3. You can imagine how this story ends, I'm still too sad to tell it.
This is almost the same story I got! Except due to value, the seller assured me he'd ship the same day. When 24 hours passed I followed up and he was "busy with work" (same excuse) and assued it would go out today (1 day late). Then when I confronted him about how lucky we were after it arrived in the bubble mailer, he said that he told his brother to ship it and specifically told him to package it well.
I guess that's the American / Canadian way, don't accept blame for your own actions, always deflect to someone else. If you got time to take $100s in an online transaction then you have time to ship. Worst case PO is open on Saturday if your 9-5 was literally jam-packed.
Well, a week later the guy the guy still hadn't shipped, apparently due to being very busy with work. His solution was to get his mom to mail it out, who did so by putting the box in an unpadded mailer envelope and shipping it off to me at a shipping cost of under $3. You can imagine how this story ends, I'm still too sad to tell it.
This is almost the same story I got! Except due to value, the seller assured me he'd ship the same day. When 24 hours passed I followed up and he was "busy with work" (same excuse) and assued it would go out today (1 day late). Then when I confronted him about how lucky we were after it arrived in the bubble mailer, he said that he told his brother to ship it and specifically told him to package it well.
I guess that's the American / Canadian way, don't accept blame for your own actions, always deflect to someone else. If you got time to take $100s in an online transaction then you have time to ship. Worst case PO is open on Saturday if your 9-5 was literally jam-packed.
Yeah, actually not the first time I've ever gotten the "I was too busy, somebody else shipped and screwed this up! Damn them!" Funny thing to have as a fairly common issue to come up.
Not a Nintendos, but last week I got two full-size VHS cameras with a charger and two batteries. They were loose with no packing material whatsoever, in one big singlewall cardboard box. Of course the box was beat to hell. One camera's viewfinder was broken off, and its cable was pulled partly out of the insulation, with broken wires. Neither camera will turn on at all, although that was questionable even before the seller decided to just dump them in a ring together and yell "FIGHT!"
I'm pretty sure that this damage is happening either at the PO that received the package or the one doing the delivery. Possibly even in the trucks.
Ok... where else would it be?
There’s a lot that takes place between point A and point B. Sorting facilities, and loading docks, for instance. My point is, I think the issue is a cultural on within specific POs, and not as much of a problem with organization “in the middle”.
There’s a lot that takes place between point A and point B. Sorting facilities, and loading docks, for instance. My point is, I think the issue is a cultural on within specific POs, and not as much of a problem with organization “in the middle”.
Oh, ok. Not knowing your perspective, I figured sorting facilities were included in that. Having worked in a small one and a large one in different areas (private shippers not USPS) I can say they are definitely good places for damage to occur. Pissed off employees, mistakes, fast pace, and malfunction are all causes. I think you're right that people cause damage more than equipment does but it's not always intentional. I'd say throwing items around issecond to when the slide gets jammed up or there's just too much stuff in one of the cages.
I've been buying things like comics and games mail-order for 30+ years, probably not the same volume that some people on here buy, but enough to be statistically relevant. Aside from long shipping times, I can't think of one time where I've had a horror story until this year. Since the beginning of January, I have had two CIB games mangled by USPS sorting (carts were fine but the boxes and manuals took a hit because they were also apparently exposed to water at some point in transit), another two where they were chewed up enough to lose the shipping label (making a 2-day ship into a 1 month ship) but the games were fine thankfully, and 4 or 5 comics or magazines that were supposed to be packaged to protect, but instead came in nothing more than manila envelopes. My favorite was a person who shipped a square-fold NES pak poster by folding it in half again and mailed it in a plain white envelope. So far none of it has been super expensive, I don't trust shipping on bigger ticket items if I don't have to, but its like the universe only wants me to buy in person.
Recently I encountered a new type of terrible packaging.
I bought a PC game for $200. It was a fair price and the seller had listed it as a BIN and knew the value. He wrapped it in bubble wrap and packaged it in a nice sturdy box. The problem was that the box was TOO SMALL TO FIT THE GAME. He literally crushed it into a thin box and mailed me a smashed game. I got a refund, but I'm still upset since it will take me a long time find this again in good condition.
Recently I encountered a new type of terrible packaging.
I bought a PC game for $200. It was a fair price and the seller had listed it as a BIN and knew the value. He wrapped it in bubble wrap and packaged it in a nice sturdy box. The problem was that the box was TOO SMALL TO FIT THE GAME. He literally crushed it into a thin box and mailed me a smashed game. I got a refund, but I'm still upset since it will take me a long time find this again in good condition.
What?!?!?! That's bonkers, makes no sense on the seller at all.
Recently I encountered a new type of terrible packaging.
I bought a PC game for $200. It was a fair price and the seller had listed it as a BIN and knew the value. He wrapped it in bubble wrap and packaged it in a nice sturdy box. The problem was that the box was TOO SMALL TO FIT THE GAME. He literally crushed it into a thin box and mailed me a smashed game. I got a refund, but I'm still upset since it will take me a long time find this again in good condition.
What?!?!?! That's bonkers, makes no sense on the seller at all.
Yeah, he responded that he was surprised since he spends $10,000 a year on shipping and would let his shipping guys know that they need to be more careful when packaging items. But he only had 2,500 feedback and wasn't selling many items. It made no sense.
I've had every postal scenario that has come up in this thread so far happen to me at some point; there's definitely a cultural element involved, too. The too-tight-packaging issue is especially common for packages originating out of Spain and Italy. It seems to be a norm there to package items as tight as possible, either with make-shift cardboard boxes lacking structural integrity, or similarly sized boxes that are occasionally too small. Items that I have received from France and Belgian Wallonia have often been poorly packaged, too.
I've found that it helps to not only preemptively stress the importance of the condition of the original packaging, but also to make explicit what can happen during shipping if not packaged properly (cracking, crushing, etc...), as some sellers seem to lack the imagination and experience.
Recently I encountered a new type of terrible packaging.
I bought a PC game for $200. It was a fair price and the seller had listed it as a BIN and knew the value. He wrapped it in bubble wrap and packaged it in a nice sturdy box. The problem was that the box was TOO SMALL TO FIT THE GAME. He literally crushed it into a thin box and mailed me a smashed game. I got a refund, but I'm still upset since it will take me a long time find this again in good condition.
I have a similar story ($150 game, BIN from experienced seller), except instead of a too small box, he wrapped the game like a burrito, tightly in loose cardboard, completely crushing it in the process.
Be careful of sellers with low feedback on selling rare items or sellers of high level feedback but little amounts of games in their inventory. A lack of experience with video game packing or trying to maximise profit is why items are given the bubble mailer treatment.
As others have mentioned, for expensive rarities, stress to the seller to pack with care AND give them examples of how you would like the game to be packed.
Finally, I dream one day all sellers who charge postage at maximum and then proceed to pack with minimum, they would be banned from selling online forever. But I suspect it would remain simply a dream.
Echoing the OP, I also managed to get away with receiving a copy of MBR/SR in a bubble mailer. This is a sealed copy that somehow arrived safely in the UK after being posted from the US, having worked in a postal sorting office while at university and seeing how packages are treated I was stunned that the game wasn't ruined.
Comments
Wow glad that made it ok Jone...
Nothing on the top of my head comes to mind but im sure ive gotten several crushed games over the years for this reason.
One of the best shipping mishaps
http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=7&thr...
WHAT DUMDUM SHITASS WOULD SEND IT IN A BOX THAT FLIMSY
That dumb fuck!
Yes, I did recall this but not a bubble mailer. I guess still relevant, lol.
Wow glad that made it ok Jone...
Nothing on the top of my head comes to mind but im sure ive gotten several crushed games over the years for this reason.
One of the best shipping mishaps
http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=7&thr...
WHAT DUMDUM SHITASS WOULD SEND IT IN A BOX THAT FLIMSY
That dumb fuck!
Yes, I did recall this but not a bubble mailer. I guess still relevant, lol.
For what it's worth, we made some real NA lemonade out of that crushed Zelda II! First myself and Ferris Beuller battled it out at an auction for this precious 1/1 holy grail, and nearly a year later I was able to gift it to him in a Secret Santa package at Christmas. Though that copy may be utterly destroyed, it still managed to bring great posthumous joy to an NA'er! I even specifically asked to have it shipped to me in an unprotected mailer, in the hopes that it may suffer double the horrible fate before it reached me. That copy of the game is officially the stuff of NA legend!
Well, a week later the guy the guy still hadn't shipped, apparently due to being very busy with work. His solution was to get his mom to mail it out, who did so by putting the box in an unpadded mailer envelope and shipping it off to me at a shipping cost of under $3. You can imagine how this story ends, I'm still too sad to tell it.
Edit: Oh, I should include that I kept the copy, since in all of my years of scanning the internet nearly to dark-web levels searching for Virtual Boy items, I'd never seen a copy of this demo for sale before (or since). It actually wasn't even for sale, I learned another VB collector had it, and I offered him money until he said yes. Dude offered to take it back and refund me, and I had to decline since I'd probably not see this come up for sale again. To this day, I still haven't lol.
For what it's worth, we made some real NA lemonade out of that crushed Zelda II! First myself and Ferris Beuller battled it out at an auction for this precious 1/1 holy grail, and nearly a year later I was able to gift it to him in a Secret Santa package at Christmas. Though that copy may be utterly destroyed, it still managed to bring great posthumous joy to an NA'er! I even specifically asked to have it shipped to me in an unprotected mailer, in the hopes that it may suffer double the horrible fate before it reached me. That copy of the game is officially the stuff of NA legend!
Did anyone ever test the cart?
For what it's worth, we made some real NA lemonade out of that crushed Zelda II! First myself and Ferris Beuller battled it out at an auction for this precious 1/1 holy grail, and nearly a year later I was able to gift it to him in a Secret Santa package at Christmas. Though that copy may be utterly destroyed, it still managed to bring great posthumous joy to an NA'er! I even specifically asked to have it shipped to me in an unprotected mailer, in the hopes that it may suffer double the horrible fate before it reached me. That copy of the game is officially the stuff of NA legend!
Did anyone ever test the cart?
I never did, the game was so crushed that to take it out of the box would mean strategically putting it back in later, so I left it "sealed" lol. I never heard back from Ferris if he ever tried booting it up, so the legend continues until he does! Ferris if you're reading this, test that puppy out!
Well, a week later the guy the guy still hadn't shipped, apparently due to being very busy with work. His solution was to get his mom to mail it out, who did so by putting the box in an unpadded mailer envelope and shipping it off to me at a shipping cost of under $3. You can imagine how this story ends, I'm still too sad to tell it.
This is almost the same story I got! Except due to value, the seller assured me he'd ship the same day. When 24 hours passed I followed up and he was "busy with work" (same excuse) and assued it would go out today (1 day late). Then when I confronted him about how lucky we were after it arrived in the bubble mailer, he said that he told his brother to ship it and specifically told him to package it well.
I guess that's the American / Canadian way, don't accept blame for your own actions, always deflect to someone else. If you got time to take $100s in an online transaction then you have time to ship. Worst case PO is open on Saturday if your 9-5 was literally jam-packed.
Well, a week later the guy the guy still hadn't shipped, apparently due to being very busy with work. His solution was to get his mom to mail it out, who did so by putting the box in an unpadded mailer envelope and shipping it off to me at a shipping cost of under $3. You can imagine how this story ends, I'm still too sad to tell it.
This is almost the same story I got! Except due to value, the seller assured me he'd ship the same day. When 24 hours passed I followed up and he was "busy with work" (same excuse) and assued it would go out today (1 day late). Then when I confronted him about how lucky we were after it arrived in the bubble mailer, he said that he told his brother to ship it and specifically told him to package it well.
I guess that's the American / Canadian way, don't accept blame for your own actions, always deflect to someone else. If you got time to take $100s in an online transaction then you have time to ship. Worst case PO is open on Saturday if your 9-5 was literally jam-packed.
Yeah, actually not the first time I've ever gotten the "I was too busy, somebody else shipped and screwed this up! Damn them!" Funny thing to have as a fairly common issue to come up.
I guess that's the American / Canadian way, don't accept blame for your own actions, always deflect to someone else.
I'm pretty sure that this damage is happening either at the PO that received the package or the one doing the delivery. Possibly even in the trucks.
Ok... where else would it be?
I'm pretty sure that this damage is happening either at the PO that received the package or the one doing the delivery. Possibly even in the trucks.
Ok... where else would it be?
There’s a lot that takes place between point A and point B. Sorting facilities, and loading docks, for instance. My point is, I think the issue is a cultural on within specific POs, and not as much of a problem with organization “in the middle”.
There’s a lot that takes place between point A and point B. Sorting facilities, and loading docks, for instance. My point is, I think the issue is a cultural on within specific POs, and not as much of a problem with organization “in the middle”.
Oh, ok. Not knowing your perspective, I figured sorting facilities were included in that. Having worked in a small one and a large one in different areas (private shippers not USPS) I can say they are definitely good places for damage to occur. Pissed off employees, mistakes, fast pace, and malfunction are all causes. I think you're right that people cause damage more than equipment does but it's not always intentional. I'd say throwing items around issecond to when the slide gets jammed up or there's just too much stuff in one of the cages.
I bought a PC game for $200. It was a fair price and the seller had listed it as a BIN and knew the value. He wrapped it in bubble wrap and packaged it in a nice sturdy box. The problem was that the box was TOO SMALL TO FIT THE GAME. He literally crushed it into a thin box and mailed me a smashed game. I got a refund, but I'm still upset since it will take me a long time find this again in good condition.
Recently I encountered a new type of terrible packaging.
I bought a PC game for $200. It was a fair price and the seller had listed it as a BIN and knew the value. He wrapped it in bubble wrap and packaged it in a nice sturdy box. The problem was that the box was TOO SMALL TO FIT THE GAME. He literally crushed it into a thin box and mailed me a smashed game. I got a refund, but I'm still upset since it will take me a long time find this again in good condition.
What?!?!?! That's bonkers, makes no sense on the seller at all.
Recently I encountered a new type of terrible packaging.
I bought a PC game for $200. It was a fair price and the seller had listed it as a BIN and knew the value. He wrapped it in bubble wrap and packaged it in a nice sturdy box. The problem was that the box was TOO SMALL TO FIT THE GAME. He literally crushed it into a thin box and mailed me a smashed game. I got a refund, but I'm still upset since it will take me a long time find this again in good condition.
What?!?!?! That's bonkers, makes no sense on the seller at all.
Yeah, he responded that he was surprised since he spends $10,000 a year on shipping and would let his shipping guys know that they need to be more careful when packaging items. But he only had 2,500 feedback and wasn't selling many items. It made no sense.
I've found that it helps to not only preemptively stress the importance of the condition of the original packaging, but also to make explicit what can happen during shipping if not packaged properly (cracking, crushing, etc...), as some sellers seem to lack the imagination and experience.
Recently I encountered a new type of terrible packaging.
I bought a PC game for $200. It was a fair price and the seller had listed it as a BIN and knew the value. He wrapped it in bubble wrap and packaged it in a nice sturdy box. The problem was that the box was TOO SMALL TO FIT THE GAME. He literally crushed it into a thin box and mailed me a smashed game. I got a refund, but I'm still upset since it will take me a long time find this again in good condition.
I have a similar story ($150 game, BIN from experienced seller), except instead of a too small box, he wrapped the game like a burrito, tightly in loose cardboard, completely crushing it in the process.
As others have mentioned, for expensive rarities, stress to the seller to pack with care AND give them examples of how you would like the game to be packed.
Finally, I dream one day all sellers who charge postage at maximum and then proceed to pack with minimum, they would be banned from selling online forever. But I suspect it would remain simply a dream.