Further to comments regarding the hassles of eBay noted in relation to my last post, I thought I would note that, over the past year, I have experienced some very unpleasant things as a vintage buyer on eBay (this does not include my amazing deal of a coat mentioned in the last post). Here are a couple of vintage buying pet peeves that I, as a vintage seller, can assure you I will never inflict on my Etsy customers:
1) getting my beautiful vintage in old used plastic shopping or black garbage bags/musty newspaper/other stinky old bags or boxes. It's not THAT difficult to take a little pride in how your outgoing parcel is going to look to your customer. Blech!
2) receiving purchases that have been absolutely doused with febreze, perfume, incense, or other scent due to the seller's failure to properly air out and/or clean the items before shipment. If the item originally smelled like mothballs, spraying it with air freshener will not eradicate the smell you are trying to mask; the item will just end up smelling like mothballs AND air freshener (especially if the item has been shipped in a plastic bag, which it usually is). Also, many of these products permanently damage or stain the item you are spritzing zealously, so smarten up!
Sorry...just had to get that out there.
9 comments:
Ooh... Yeah. I just got some shiny new large resealable plastic bags to ship vintage in. I feel so fancy! I don't know how I did it before that :) I used new plastic bags, but it looks so much more neat now.
And ot, but I totally saw that poor fox and it gave me a good laugh. Poor pop-eyed broken beastie.
I've gotten some smelly things but i still prefer eBay over Etsy. It's easier to search on ebay, at least there you can see more categories and the listings comes up with the newest first.
Yeah... I've had a couple of those too!! I especially hate the newspapers wrapping paper patterns/vintage magazines (hello! the newsprint will rub off!) or not wrapping vintage in anything before shoving it in the envelope. I live in a fairly rainy region, and always am freaked out that if vintage it's wrapped in plastic, it'll get ruined. At this point, I always wrap my Etsy vintage in (clean, unused ;) plastic bags before wrapping them in tissue like a gift. I think this is part of the reason I like Etsy so much: the sellers 9 times out of 10 (there are always exceptions) take pride in their merchandise and shipping it!
♥ Casey | blog
betty lou, you do make a good point about eBay being a bit easier to search for sure!
Wearing History: those are ideal for shipping vintage. I had a feeling you might have noticed a certain beastie!
Casey: that sounds like the perfect way to send items! I have to agree with you about Etsy sellers ;)
Yes I HATE Febreze
I agree absolutely!
I also can't beleive how often I get things screwed into a ball. How hard is it to fold?
I wrap my stuff in acid free tissue paper and then put it into a resealable plastic envelope.
As someone with allergies to most of the chemicals used to make fragrances, anything that smells is a deal-breaker for me. I would have to return the item because just opening the package can set off serious allergic reactions for me. (Seriously, I can end up in the Emergency Room.)
I haven't had this happen yet, but it makes me think that I should start convo-ing sellers to make sure they don't make my purchase smell!
And I also get nervous when someone hasn't wrapped vintage ephemera in plastic; what were they thinking?!?!
While eBay can be easier to search, I personally don't use it. I'm not into bargaining and I don't have time to mess around bidding and waiting for something. Just tell me the price, I'll pay it, and we can get on with the next thing! Don't make me waste time I could spend sewing! LOL!
Oh, the balled up clothing is the WORST, isn't it, Retro Chick!
Nancy, you raise a really good point about fragrance allergies! I have eczema and start feeling a distinct itch if there is an overly smelly perfume applied to a garment. I certainly don't have as serious an allergy as you, though. WOW! I also agree the auction aspect of eBay can be annoying and stressful (as Casey noted, too). Where possible, when I shop on eBay, I use the "buy it now or best offer" option if it is available on an item I love (which of course it usually isn't!!)
Totally agree with all of those! Thankfully I've always received nice smelling well packaged items, let's hope it continues!
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