Tragic ending to a wonderful Edison Poster

[melvind]

Recently I purchased this wonderful Edison advertising poster off eBay.

 

 

I just had to share this story with someone, so here goes to my friends on the forum. Days later when it arrived in a flimsy oversize FedEx envelope I felt a pain in the pit of my stomach. I carefully opened it and my worst fears were realized. The seller put one piece of poster board smaller than the size of the piece and wrapped it in two plastic bags. It could easily move around and being fragile and very old paper, it fell apart in shipment.

 

 

I did get an apology and immediate refund from the seller, but I am just heart sick about the state of the poster. All the pieces are still there, so I amy attempt to get it mounted with the pieces in place.. But, it was really disappointing.

 

Thanks for letting me share my disappointment and sadness.

Edited July 26, 2020 by melvind

[KinetoGuy]

How unfortunate....

[phonogfp]

We could fill a convention hall with articles destroyed by careless eBay sellers.  It must be the most destructive force for phonographs and records since the World Wars.  I'm sorry for your loss, Dan.  There's certainly nothing to be lost by mounting the pieces in place and framing it. 

 

Good luck!

 

George P.

[melvind]

It is sad, but to keep things in perspective it is just a thing. In these times having health seems more important than any item in my collection. I still feel a bit sad about the poster, but there is much more to life than a ruined poster.

[Fran604g]

That's so very unfortunate. We as historical collectors have assumed the responsibility of the sellers, it seems. 

 

Fran

 

 

[RodPickett]

I’m sure we’ve all experienced similar examples, sadly.  I’ve also had the reverse, which is equally frustrating.  I’ve purchased valuable and fragile wax cylinders and received them wrapped so tightly and taped solidly with clear cellophane tape that it is difficult to even understand where to begin to unwrap the mystery without damage to the cylinder or its box.  I have on rare occasion received items taped with clear cellophane at one end folder-over so it did not adhere to the bubble-wrap and clearly labeled “pull here”.

 

Dan – I almost placed a bid on that poster.

[Valecnik]

I've gotten to the point that I preach safe packing endlessly.   Good packing not only takes good materials but takes time.  I could tell many similarly tragic stories as I'm sure others could.  It most recently happened to me two years ago at Christmas with a seller who assured me that he'd shipped things all over the world without problem....

[Lioret]

We all give our pep talk to the seller about proper packing. I often offer to pay additional if needed.  But they have to FOLLOW your request.  There in lies the problem.  They may think you are over reacting....  I had an original Bettini cylinder shipped from Sweden.  I had extensive, detailed shipping instructions.  The record arrived in the original cylinder box with craft paper wrapped around it....mostly wax dust inside.  Disgusting!  And asking them to take it to the UPS  store or similar is no guarantee either.  Many of theme are just as clueless.  

[Valecnik]

3 hours ago, Lioret said:

We all give our pep talk to the seller about proper packing. I often offer to pay additional if needed.  But they have to FOLLOW your request.  There in lies the problem.  They may think you are over reacting....  I had an original Bettini cylinder shipped from Sweden.  I had extensive, detailed shipping instructions.  The record arrived in the original cylinder box with craft paper wrapped around it....mostly wax dust inside.  Disgusting!  And asking them to take it to the UPS  store or similar is no guarantee either.  Many of theme are just as clueless.  

This is what makes me the most crazy.  Every time I've had such a mishap it's AFTER having given the seller DETAILED instructions. which they just ignore.

[tomb]

I think everyone here has horror stories of items packed badly and damaged.  Here is mine on a good one. This month I received a rare radio that was the best packed item I have ever received.  It was stuffed inside to prevent shifting, bubble wrapped, placed into a box, bubble wrapped again, stiffeners were added to the  inside of the outside box and  it was well taped.  It took me a while to unwrap.... I had contacted the seller to wrap it well and he did.  It was an enjoyable pain to unwrap it.  There are some good sellers out there, but I agree that it pays to give instructions to the shipper.  That prevents the heart aches and frustration that  a damaged item brings.   Tom

[Guest]

My story defies explanation. I eBayed a 78 I wanted and it arrived from across the country sandwiched between 2 pieces of cardboard only. And it was not broken. Luckiest 78 in the world..

[AmberolaAndy]

I’ve had 78s lost in the mail! Thankfully the money I got back went to getting my VV-VIII motor restored.