# Got a steal on Ebay



## HOTrainNut (Feb 17, 2016)

So the other day on Ebay I won a Broadway Limited Paragon 3 L1 2-8-2. I think thee seller messed up because I won it for FAR under cost. So now im gonna need to search for the rolling thunder sound system. So it will be here tomorrow.


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

HOTrainNut said:


> So the other day on Ebay I won a Broadway Limited Paragon 3 L1 2-8-2. I think thee seller messed up because I won it for FAR under cost. So now im gonna need to search for the rolling thunder sound system. So it will be here tomorrow.


SWEET! From what I've read on the web and on BLI's website concerning the new Paragon3 system you're going to love that locomotive and the fact that you stole it on eBay makes it even sweeter. BLI has their own channel on YouTube where they go into detail about the new Paragon3 system and they also go thru all the sounds so, if you haven't checked that out yet you might want to do so. Congrats on the new purchase, Bo.


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## HOTrainNut (Feb 17, 2016)

Well ill see how it looks when it gets here tomorrow. See how she runs.


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## HOTrainNut (Feb 17, 2016)

So well THANK YOU USPS. My package arrived destroyed. Looks like it was kicked around and ran over repeatedly. Locomotive is smashed.


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## sirfoldalot (Oct 30, 2015)

Sorry to hear that .. happening more and more.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

sirfoldalot said:


> Sorry to hear that .. happening more and more.


Apparently...

I have been ordering on-line for years. I can think of only one damaged shipment over all of those years -- until the last 3 months when I have had THREE damaged shipments -- all USPS.


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## lyrics 51 (Mar 9, 2016)

Sorry to hear about that. So far I've been lucky and had no packages ruined. Have two coming this weekend. Getting a little worried.


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## HOTrainNut (Feb 17, 2016)

The package was really beat up and I was hoping it wasnt damaged inside. BUT....It was destroyed   Guess ill have to just find another one for NOT retail pricing....$399.99 CRAP.


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## tkruger (Jan 18, 2009)

As far of shipping goes I have far more issues with FedEx than USPS. FedEx has left items in snow drifts, puddles, damaged boxes, late deliveries etc.


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

This is really sad to hear but I do feel your pain my friend. I've had so many packages show up thru USPS that have been damaged or destroyed, I photograph every single package I receive and send it to those who shipped the packages so they know what the post office is like. It's unbelievable how many packages show up on my door step via USPS that are damaged or destroyed. Just the other day my new Walthers Flyer showed up but it was packaged in a window style envelope from the post office and when I opened it, the cover of the magazine was torn off and several pages destroyed. This happens more & more with the post office and I think something really needs to be done about it.

In all the years I've been dealing with the post office for shipments of merchandise, I have yet to collect on a damaged package that was insured. The post office will always find a technicality to get out of paying and I've yet to collect a dime for damages. When I tell folks that they don't believe me and I assure you it's the gospel. And, it's amazing how many packages will arrive thru USPS with a little sticker that reads, "Received in Damaged Condition" and when you call the shipper they say the package went out in perfect condition which you know it did, especially when dealing with a business. It's a real shame how poorly the post office deals with mail these days and it does absolutely no good to complain because it gets us nowhere!


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Texas Hi-Railer said:


> And, it's amazing how many packages will arrive thru USPS with a little sticker that reads, "Received in Damaged Condition" and when you call the shipper they say the package went out in perfect condition which you know it did, especially when dealing with a business.


I have seen those labels, too. It means that a package arrived damaged at say the third step of a 5-step process. So they slap the sticker on -- with NO identification as to what step it arrived at in that condition. This protects all of the workers along the line from being held responsible. It also protects the nice man who delivers my mail from being blamed -- which is OK, because I'm sure that he did not do it.


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## davidone (Apr 20, 2015)

Never a problem with the USPS receiving or shipping. I have mostly shipped with the USPS thru ebay and over 600 items shipped without issue. FedEx has been great also.

Most damage comes from poor packing from the shipper. I double box all locomotives and fragile items along with bubble wrap and foam peanuts. If you can hear movement inside the box, it was not packed properly.


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

davidone said:


> Never a problem with the USPS receiving or shipping. I have mostly shipped with the USPS thru ebay and over 600 items shipped without issue. FedEx has been great also.
> 
> Most damage comes from poor packing from the shipper. I double box all locomotives and fragile items along with bubble wrap and foam peanuts. If you can hear movement inside the box, it was not packed properly.


What he said about packing period.

Had a moron ship me a Challenger and another with a Proto GP9 and both were rattling around inside their own boxes. All the peanuts and paper do no good there.


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## bluenavigator (Aug 30, 2015)

Ouch! I do feel the pain! I had been getting many items via USPS. I do not see any mail being damaged or getting the sticker that it was delivered as damaged. However, I do see the boxes being beat as they were shipped for my wife. My wife was not too happy to see them but at least, they are not fragile items. 

I rarely get them insured before they were shipped to me. 

Speaking of insured boxes/mails/parcels, I felt the pain after seeing the FedEx truck being hit by the locomotive. Everything were everywhere! I was off from my old job as I drove down the highway. I noticed weird piece of something on the top front of the locomotive. I think maybe one of these EMDs. I thought to myself, "That piece is not supposed to be there at all. It does not look right at all." Then I saw FedEx truck being smashed to smithereens! Whoa!! That explains why the piece of something was on the top of that locomotive. I wondered what happened to the driver...then I thought of these parcels, packages, mails being lost. I do not know the entire story. 

Train hits FedEx Truck

Turned out that it is EMD GP38-2 that hit the FedEx truck


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

davidone said:


> Never a problem with the USPS receiving or shipping. I have mostly shipped with the USPS thru ebay and over 600 items shipped without issue. FedEx has been great also.
> 
> Most damage comes from poor packing from the shipper. I double box all locomotives and fragile items along with bubble wrap and foam peanuts. If you can hear movement inside the box, it was not packed properly.


I agree completely. However...

For me USPS has occasionally defeated even "ideal" packaging. I recently got a loco that housed in its original foam packaging, in its original box, wrapped in paper, then the box suspended in a much larger sturdy box of peanuts.

The outer box arrived having been mangled into a football shape, with a one-inch hole in the side that looked like it had been speared. But I felt relieved when I opened the outer box and found the loco's box was undamaged -- even the paper wrapping was perfect.

However when I opened the loco box, the front pilot fell off. The outer box had sustained such a force that the loco shifted in its foam cradle and broke off some of the foam pieces that held it in place. The loco shifted upwards and broke off the pilot which was firmly held by other parts of the foam cradle. The break was actually across the cast metal plate that formed the base of the loco.

Then about a month later, I got another box with a similar spear hole in it. Fortunately, the inner contents were well packaged and intact.


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## davidone (Apr 20, 2015)

You should never use paper as a packing material. It lets items move around. I don't accept items poorly wrapped, back it goes to the shipper.

No excuse for not packing properly.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

davidone said:


> You should never use paper as a packing material. It lets items move around. I don't accept items poorly wrapped, back it goes to the shipper.
> 
> No excuse for not packing properly.


Agreed, but perhaps you misread my post. This was not a case of poor packing.

The paper was a cosmetic wrapping around the original train box, which was then packed in a larger, sturdy box filled with styrofoam peanuts. The loco was packed as good as could have been done.

My point about the paper being intact was to point out that whatever speared and crushed the outer box did not even scratch the cosmetic paper around the train box. However the train was still damaged inside its original foam cradle in its original box, because of some very hard force applied to the outer box -- much more force than simply dropping it on the floor.


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

MtRR75 said:


> Agreed, but perhaps you misread my post. This was not a case of poor packing.
> 
> The paper was a cosmetic wrapping around the original train box, which was then packed in a larger, sturdy box filled with styrofoam peanuts. The loco was packed as good as could have been done.
> 
> My point about the paper being intact was to point out that whatever speared and crushed the outer box did not even scratch the cosmetic paper around the train box. However the train was still damaged inside its original foam cradle in its original box, because of some very hard force applied to the outer box -- much more force than simply dropping it on the floor.


Did you make the purchase from a retailer or a private individual? The reason I ask is I had that happen to me a few years back and when I contacted the seller about it, he stated the item shipped directly from his warehouse and he had not seen the damage and was of the opinion it may have been damaged in shipment to him prior to him sending the item to me.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Texas Hi-Railer said:


> Did you make the purchase from a retailer or a private individual? The reason I ask is I had that happen to me a few years back and when I contacted the seller about it, he stated the item shipped directly from his warehouse and he had not seen the damage and was of the opinion it may have been damaged in shipment to him prior to him sending the item to me.


Not sure if you are asking this question of me or of the original poster....

Actually, I got real lucky. I bought mine from an eBay seller who does a lot of business, but is basically a one-man operation -- and a model railroader himself -- who also likes to rebuild locos. He had packaged it himself. He volunteered to try to fix it, even though I told him it was not his fault.

So I sent it back. The loco was new-old-stock and no longer made. But he contacted the manufacturer, and got lucky. They found a old, non working version of this loco in storage. They salvaged the parts that I needed and sent it to my seller -- who installed the parts -- which meant completely rebuilding the whole loco. He charged me nothing for this service and offered to give me a partial refund -- since there was one tiny part that he could not replace. I told him to keep the money, which was far less that it would have cost to pay him to rebuild my loco.


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

MtRR75 said:


> Not sure if you are asking this question of me or of the original poster....
> 
> Actually, I got real lucky. I bought mine from an eBay seller who does a lot of business, but is basically a one-man operation -- and a model railroader himself -- who also likes to rebuild locos. He had packaged it himself. He volunteered to try to fix it, even though I told him it was not his fault.
> 
> So I sent it back. The loco was new-old-stock and no longer made. But he contacted the manufacturer, and got lucky. They found a old, non working version of this loco in storage. They salvaged the parts that I needed and sent it to my seller -- who installed the parts -- which meant completely rebuilding the whole loco. He charged me nothing for this service and offer to give me a partial refund -- since there was one tiny part that he could not replace. I told him to keep the money, which was far less that it would have cost to pay him to rebuild my loco.


Yeah, I was asking you. That is so cool that guy was willing to do all of that for you at no charge. I've met a few like that on eBay who will go out of their way to make things right but, those sellers are few & far between.


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## ggnlars (Aug 6, 2013)

What service was used? Was it insured? It does make a difference. Parcel select and some others are handed to a third party and are trucked from one center to another. This results in more hand offs, from one truck to another. Priority normally goes by air or USPS truck depending on distance. Handling is usually better in the latter case. I ship USPS a lot and most of the problems come with the lower cost services. 

For light items, first class seems to be ok. But for others that are 2 pounds or more always use priority. If it is more than an amount you can risk, then insurance is worth it. It's a hassle getting them to pay, but insured items seem to see fewer gorillas.
Sorry for your pain,
Larry
www.llxlocomotives.com


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

In all the years of using the post office for shipping & receiving packages, I've only had to file 2 claims for damages on insured packages and both times the post office got out of paying by "No current market value" on both packages. Now, both times that was used items I purchased off eBay and the post office claimed some BS technicality and they paid out $0 both times I filed so, I never spent another dime for insurance thru the US postal service since.


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## HOTrainNut (Feb 17, 2016)

ggnlars said:


> What service was used? Was it insured? It does make a difference. Parcel select and some others are handed to a third party and are trucked from one center to another. This results in more hand offs, from one truck to another. Priority normally goes by air or USPS truck depending on distance. Handling is usually better in the latter case. I ship USPS a lot and most of the problems come with the lower cost services.
> 
> For light items, first class seems to be ok. But for others that are 2 pounds or more always use priority. If it is more than an amount you can risk, then insurance is worth it. It's a hassle getting them to pay, but insured items seem to see fewer gorillas.
> Sorry for your pain,
> ...


It was priority insured, but it looks like it was slammed between 2 objects. It wasnt the shippers fault it was packed well but there was no pay packing peanuts could stop this kinda of damage. I got my money back from the USPS already and they definitely saw the package and realized it wasnt something the shipper or I did. They knew exactly what it was. One of their package handling "robots" probably pinched the box and crushed it.


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