New Collector? Buying from ebay?

[RickC]

Hello new collectors.

If you plan on buying any cast iron from ebay, be sure and communicate with your seller the fragility of cast iron. MANY people think that cast iron is indestructible, which is not true. Cast iron when dropped, banged, etc, it will crack or chip. Believe me, I have a small stack of very nice skillets that I spent a lot of time hunting and paying for that arrived either broken or cracked. These weren't broken or cracked before shipping.

You should always assume that your seller has no clue and that your delivery company of choice treats all of your packages like this.

This is the message I send to all sellers immediately after I hit "Buy it Now" or I win an auction on ebay.

Blah, Blah... Thanks for listing this (Whatever you bought) Blah, Blahh... if you are unsure about packing cast iron for shipping here are two great resources.
http://www.castironcollector.com/selling.php
http://www.wag-society.org/Packing/Packing.htm


This is a note I got back a few days ago on a holy grail piece I bought a week or so ago.

Thank you for the information about shipping cast iron. I have not sold or shipped a lot of cast iron,
Your skillet shipped yesterday wraped, and doubled boxed. Hope and pray it will arrive safely.

Thank you for your purchase

Skillet arrived packed better than I'd ever seen, and I left glowing feedback for this purchase. Granted, some people will either not read your message and will still throw a piece in a padded envelope and pray, or will read it and not give a ****, but when it gets to you and it's broken you can say "See, I told you!!!" and get with ebay to get your money back.

Good luck out there and Happy Hunting.

 

[Jeffrey R.]

Hello new collectors.

I have a small stack of very nice skillets that I spent a lot of time hunting and paying for that arrived either broken or cracked.

Rick has a New style of collecting cast iron, either broken or cracked.
He will take both types.
Just send them to RickC, So. Ca. All the shipping company's know him. They take good care of him.:biggrin:

---------- Post added at 11:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:00 AM ----------

Not all eBay sellers are bad packers. Purchased 2 Griswold #10 dutch ovens, both made it to VT safe and sound.
First Photo, double boxed.
Second Photo, A nest inside the large box, where the small box sat.
Third Photo, open the small box, lid sitting in heavy foam with card board under it.
Forth Photo, dig a little deeper, trivet wrapped in heavy paper, no room to move.
Fifth Photo, Dutch oven pot.

5 Photos to the right; https://picasaweb.google.com/114772661409714296598/JeffreyR#6102747253579839090

But like RickC writes; You should always assume that your seller has no clue and that your delivery company of choice treats all of your packages like this.

 

[RickC]

Rick has a New style of collecting cast iron, either broken or cracked.

It would seem so. Being in an area where CI isn't as plentiful as it is further east I've picked up quite a few pieces online. It's always a gamble, and I much prefer to buy things in person. I get to inspect it, and I don't have to pay for shipping and wait around with my fingers crossed that it gets here safe.

I will say though, that there are in fact sellers who are VERY professional and pack items so good a bomb couldn't hurt the contents, but accidents do happen. There's a few people whom I don't bother to send a note to because I know they know how to pack.

 

[Glenn Brown]

I've only purchased a few cast iron items off Ebay, and luckily, the sellers knew how to pack them. I've purchased things from Ebay and other places that arrived with damage because of the ignorance of the seller in packing. The OP suggestion about relaying info about packing is a very good idea.