A year-end rant...[mis]packing revisited...or Why Ebay Still Makes Me Itch...

I will preface this minor rant with a "the book arrived safely and all is well" and I know there are those who feel that I should, thus, keep my mouth shut...but I can't...oh well: So I "win" an auction on behalf of a client for a lovely little circa 1560 emblematica volume. I was able to secure it within what we hoped to pay (a bit north of $3,000), I was able to pay by EFT (and thus avoid the ebay/paypal "convenience" premium) and the shipping by FedEx (from the EU) was very fairly priced.

When the package arrived, my heart was in my throat. The images tell the proverbial tale. The book arrived in a FedEx Tyvek envelope...mind you, this is a good thing, as FedEx appears to have thrown it in a mud puddle somewhere along the route (the mud splatter can be seen in the first picture). Tyvek is great stuff...but I could tell it was "unboxed" within and was thus nervous from the start.

I opened the Tyvek to find a padded manila envelope. I admit that I pretty much loathe these things. I am the first to say that if you are shipping a reading copy of this or that...something that cost $20 or less perhaps...then a padded envelope is probably perfectly fine. However, when you are shipping a valuable (or reasonably valuable) book, incurring the "cost" of using a bloody box is really not too much for a client to expect. Prior to this book, my "record" was receiving a $700+ volume in a padded envelope (and bumped at two corners as a result). Here, a $3000+ book had been so packed....urgh.

Hope springs eternal, so I thought, "well, hopefully it is between overlapped cardboard pieces to protect it." With minor trepidation, I opened the evelope and found another layer of bubble wrap and brown packing tape. I could make out what appeared to be wrapping paper under it...but now cardboard. Perhaps it is under that?!?

Having opened the bubble wrap with care, I found the wrapping paper and more brown tape. I opened this carefully...reasonably taken aback by the lack of any protection for the corner, etc. The book itself was, overall, happy. The head and heel are gently bumped, but may well have shown that prior to this ride across the sea. In the end, I shouldn't *really* complain, as the book arrived safely.

However, I really do just find it upsetting. Here is a book, over 450 years old and reasonably expensive, that was effectively wrapped in bubble-wrap and dropped in an envelope. I just really don't think this is "acceptable"...although, admittedly, it did arrive safely. I guess my rule of thumb is that I ship books the way I would like to receive them...safely and well packed in a crush resistant box. Packing materials are relatively cheap and a straight cost of doing business. When I do have to use a Tyvek envelope (for a pamphlet or the like), I wrap/pack it in paper and bubble and then between stiff cardboard overlapped sheets taped tight to protect the edges.

I don't really ship anything under $25 and most of what I send is a fair bit more than that...and I completely understand that the metrics are very different if you are moving a lot of lower end material. That said, I just don't understand how someone can put a $100, $500 or $3000 book in a padded envelope and think that is is "ok". grumble grumble grumble