Cels destroyed during shipping?

Could someone post a link to the type of plastic folders or cases being referred to? Thanks...

Still nothing other than the one 'we don't know, we pack safety, ask post office' message.

Ted, what I'm talking about is:

I've ordered from these guys before, and they always have shipped in rigid sideloading pvc (sorta like this: http://www.the2buds.com/surspc.htm ) only oversized for a cel. The cels inside are in the thin cel bags.

This time it showed up in a more floppy side loading dark black colored sleeve. I just spent 30 minutes on google trying to find a link to something similar. Its like a sheet music protector or single file folder, semi rigid (but not near as much as the clear ones I've gotten in the past) and 15x10.5".

It is now wavy, warped, crackly, and smells bad. And has some sort of residue on it.

I've always been at least content if not happy with my orders from these guys (the auction description is always 'excellent' condition even when they aren't) but I wont be ordering again from them. Looking at the last 200 feedback they have gotten only one person (besides me) had a problem and no one reported anything remotely similar.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=gzvega&item=&iid=&frm=1883&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:SID

Yes Xeno and that IMO IS the problem the Japanese sellers just do not take the extra precautions. So many cels on YJP are sold internationally it makes me shake my head that the sellers just do not get it! I am not trying to be an ass about this, but is it really unreasonable to request the seller to put a fragile item such as a cel into a protective case? *eyes rolling to the heavens* I bet if they saw on average how people shipped cels domestically they'd learn to be a tad more empathic and cooperate.

I still dont think the sellers is 100% to blame in case of the JP sellers. How could they know how bad something is in another country unless someone tells them so?
The buyer should have some responsibility in making it clear you dont like their packing, and this is how I want it. I made sure with Mandarake when they first started their online service several years ago. If you dont like the
way they ship internationally, use the deputy who does the best packing job.

Then you get the people who whine about having to pay $15 for EMS when thats the cost of shipping plus the case. I sell internationally, and I get lots of cases, where they dont way to pay a lot of shipping $ (difference is only like a few dollars), while others who make special requests to make their package bulletproof.

When you get a package from a seller who knows how to pack, Id suggest taking a picture of it, and use it to give to other sellers for reference when theyre shipping to you again.

Xeno, this was off eBay (not a deputy service, but the seller is located in Japan) and I had bought from them several times before. They changed the packaging for this order and that (probably) caused or contributed to the problem. The one time (after about 5 transactions) I have them ship SAL rather than EMS the cels show up screwed up.

If I would have known the packaging would have been different of course I would have asked them not to change it or paid the extra for EMS. But the packaging did change and I had no way of knowing ahead of time. Now they won't respond, let alone take any (even partial) responsibility for the damage to the cels.

On a related topic you brought up...
Yes, $15-18 for ems is how much it costs [assuming JP postal rates are similar to US rates, one ounce going EMS is 18.50 to Japan), but why $10 (from this vendor, not you) for three cels going airmail (SAL/Air Letter Post). Should be half that.

Back to the topic...
So if the seller isn't to blame, who is? Me, for being a cheap ass unwilling to pay $18 (but still paying $10) to ship $30 worth of cels? The post office for apparently zapping them with a heat death ray? Or the seller for using crummy packaging which leeched chemicals all over the cels or by wiping them with a solvent before packaging them? Using "oh, but you could have paid for insurance" to cover for damage in transit caused by substandard packaging just doesn't seem right to me.