I'll let McBlzr handle the story but, I want to personally thank him for first for bidding on the item and second, for not being as mad as I am about having the item lost/stolen.
@McBlzr What a great guy. Looks like you did a good job of packaging the set - no fault of yours. Keep it up on eBay - setbacks will happen.
Ever John the strong! Wonderful fellow. He sent me M&M Viagra, even though I didn't need it. (is that too much information?)
I NEVER use eBay's generated labels. You may as well put a sticker on your envelopes that says, "VALUABLE - STEAL ME!"
Recently had a package that I could have sworn the medal was stolen from. Turned out that a rip occured at the of the package, and the medal fell out. Fortunately it fell into my bag. In short ocassionally rips happen. In this case, it is nice to see an older collector helping a young collector.
Good advice, I think. Then you must get tracking from the USPS website?? Or what, do you journey to the post office to insure and track? I will think long and hard about your advice!! I have seen coins packaged (taped to a page) in a magazine (like TIME), the package did not appear to contain any coins and you could not feel them. I often write, DO NOT BEND PICTURES on a hard type thin package with coins inside, which you cannot feel or sense (weight wise). Still young Tony do you really think the EBAY mailing label is totally a mistake? I have had two coin packages opened/stolen while in transit to me. Both were opened with a knife blade or razor, a small slice, and both occurred in a southern Calif mail facility. I actually suspect a postal employee, a quick experienced one.
I used to write the same thing on my packages, however, I decided to stop because I don't want to see someone argue with eBay that the package clearly states there were pictures in the box and not their item.
I've made well over a thousand coin purchases on eBay & have only received 4 torn envelopes. Two of which arrived in a USPS body bag, missing all contents. All were Manila envelopes. When I send coins (stabbed or raw), I use a #000 poly envelope & a 3 1/4" by about 10" strip of cardboard I cut from an old box. I'll fold the cardboard in half, sandwiching the item in between, then tightly tape the cardboard together. Now, this 3x5 shipper fits snugly inside the poly envelope. You can use the same two pieces of clear packing tape to adhere the label (printed at 77% size, so it will fit) and secure the flap on the envelope. Maybe a little overkill on the packaging here, however I have yet to have any damaged shipments! My philosophy is that there will always be a temptation for someone to tamper with packages in the mail. My goal is to make my packages the least tempting (or most difficult to get into). Btw- even a slabbed Morgan packaged this way comes in at under 3oz, so this method should save some postage costs, too. Hope that helps!
You have listed the best form of packaging for coins. I wish more coin sellers on Ebay would do the same. Some sellers don't have a clue on how to package coins for for shipping. The folded cardboard over wrap works great at protecting the coins and also makes it hard for the coin to slip out if the envelope is ripped or torn. And for those sellers that just use a plain envelope they should at least tape the edges of the envelope with heavy duty packaging tape to avoid tears and rips.
