What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[Tanooki]

I totally agree, but it is unreasonable to make a request after paying and assuming the seller would eat the shipping cost for a box with added padding.

I got to talking with the guy by dumb luck who was sitting there at the time. He was fine having it double bubble bagged (one within another) which only added an ounce, so it's fine. Going up to a box with what I have would have increased the price as I don't have any that small but priority small flat rate boxes and the others the weight would creep up on the price.

Oh and as far as cardboard boxes go for anyone interested I do two things commonly.
1) If I already had the box broken down flat I have a standard method of (let's say GBA) backing it in cardboard and using a DVD sized bubble mailer.
2) If the box is in 8/10+ quality shape and hasn't been broken down, it goes in a box, usually priority small flat rate. If worse but still solid, I leave it to the buyer.

Obviously I'll make exceptions if someone asks for something in particular if shipping costs isn't an issue, or if it is I'll even flatten a box too. I have a Harvest Moon GBA game going out today with the tray, box, papers, but no manual. It's in a bubble bag, advertised on ebay as such. I backed it in cardboard, laid it flat, then wrapped the game in a little bit of paper with tape to hold it, put it on the opposite side of the cardboard so it doesn't rub into or dig a dent into the box.

My problem is thinking you're entitled to a free shipping/packing upgrade after paying and moaning about being a collectible(or something of the sort) as I'm not a charity nor something like lukiegames who has inventory and balances where I can eat losses.

[mjmjr25]

Safe / appropriate shipping methods should be ANY buyer's expectation.

People who ship free don't actually ship free, you know. You can increase the cost to appropriately ship something, but then you should expect a lower bid price - people do account for shipping into their bid. Asking for more money to ship something the right way is weak. The outrageousness here does not lie with the buyer. We've all received items shipped inappropriately because the seller was trying to save a quarter. Ship it right or don't sell it.

[Fragems]

Basically the way I calculate it is Sub $25 in a solid case = bubble mailer. Anything $25+ or with a weak/cardboard box which can be easily damaged gets a box. Ebay 99.9% of the time will refund a buyer even without your consent anytime they get a report of a damaged item on occasion even letting them keep the item so it's really in your best interest to pack things well.

[mjmjr25]

Why would the sale price determine if you appropriately pack something?

[REPO Man]

Once I get back to work (the way things are looking, I won't be able to get back to work until as early as late next month, which wouldn't be so bad if I could get more unemployment benefits), there's a few things I'm gonna try to get. It should be noted that all this, and moving to NYC, are based around getting a second job and selling a lot of my things.

One thing is a new laptop. My current laptop, which is almost four years old (my last laptop was eight years old when I got my current one), and when I purchased it, I got it for around $300 from K-Mart (when they still sold laptops, though they probably still and I was too bitter about their lack of video games) and it was pretty low-end for its time (again, that was four years ago). My reason is that I'm getting more and more into PC gaming, previously only just playing old stuff, and lately games I discover are becoming increasingly difficult to run at full-speed on my laptop despite constant willingness to sacrifice graphical quality (Sonic Generations at its lowest settings ran at a semi-playable speed for the classic levels and I experienced a sudden nosedive in framerate with the modern levels).

And since getting a laptop from K-Mart might not even be possible (they were one of the few places where I could get a laptop on layaway), I'll probably have to go the monthly-payment route (my parents did that when they got me my old Dell Inspiron back in 2004). So I could use some recommendations and some advice on paying in monthly installments. Oh, and how much a four-year-old second-hand Acer Aspire 7739Z would go for.

Next is I plan on getting a hard drive for the Xbox 360 Elite that I got from my brother (he got it by trading either an iPod Nano or a Zune or something like that, and then sold the 360 to me for $100), in an effort to replace my old 360 whose disc drive no longer works. But it was one of those models that didn't come with a hard drive. He suggested taking the hard drive from my original Xbox 360 (the actual hard drive from the enclosure, mind you) and just put that in there but that's basically... just... no. Plus, I plan on selling my old 360 (which I currently only keep for all the stuff on the hard drive), despite the non-working disc drive and the lack of A/V cable (I'm using a universal cable that I also use with my Wii, PS2 and modded PS1), and if there's a hard drive then it's still good for people who buy games digitally.

Now I found some good deals on third-party hard drives ($30something for 320GB, more than double what my old 360's hard drive has), but they lack the feature that lets me play original Xbox titles (I only have a few, though, but they're not readily available on other consoles) and their prices seem too good to be true. And then there's the official hard drives, which are close to $70, but allow for playing original Xbox titles AND are made by a company I recognize. Should I put my faith in a third-party drive or pay more than double for an official drive?

Also, after I get the hard drive I'm gonna sell my old 360, which as a reminder has a non-functioning disc drive, comes with no games, controllers or an A/V cable, but doesn't RROD and comes with a 120GB hard drive. I've seen original 360s in better condition go for $30-40, but they probably only come with the default hard drive.

Also, in the debate between Xbox One and PlayStation 4, while I've decided that I want both I'm currently focused on getting the PS4 first since it has a greater number of exclusive titles I'm interested in, as well as PlayStation Now. But... what do you guys think?

And yes, I know that even with two jobs, there is no guarantee that I'll be making $300-500 like the last time I was doing the two-jobs thing. And that there's no guarantee that I'd be able to replace my laptop, get an Xbox 360 Elite hard drive, a PS4 and possibly a Vita AND still move to NYC in the fall (even if I sell a huge bulk of the things I can stand to part with, mostly game consoles I can emulate, books I don't really read or have read enough times, DVDs I don't watch, et al), but it's nice to dream so SHUT UP!

[ElkinFencer10]

Hey man, if you've got a dream, go for it. NYC is an expensive place to live, but if you want it badly enough, I'm sure you'll find a way to make it happen. I would suggest the South, though; it's way cheaper to live down here, and we have sweet tea, Cracker Barrel, and Bojangles.

[Ack]

Hey man, if you've got a dream, go for it. NYC is an expensive place to live, but if you want it badly enough, I'm sure you'll find a way to make it happen. I would suggest the South, though; it's way cheaper to live down here, and we have sweet tea, Cracker Barrel, and Bojangles.

Elkin, I know you have been a sporadic user for many years before really ramping up your participation lately, but you are about to learn about the cycle of REPO. It is a thing of beauty, this cycle, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, and it sheds truth and hope for a bountiful and joyous change in the seasons.

Every year on Racketboy, we forum members come together to see if the REPO will rant about moving to New York again; we don't put our faith in mere groundhogs or some such magical hoodoo nonsense like "meteorology." Instead, we know the secret of watching and waiting for the REPO's sadly ranted laments about the NYC move, because when he rants, it means Spring has finally, truly begun.

It is just unfortunate that spambots cannot move to New York, because we haven't invented a way for AIs to walk around yet. And REPO is truly the most gifted and blessed spambot of them all.

[prfsnl_gmr]

One thing is a new laptop.

My laptop is six years old, and despite the fact that I am gainfully employed on a full-time basis and despite the fact that I could easily afford to do so, I do not plan to replace it. It still works, and I would rather save the money or spend it on something else.

Also, in the debate between Xbox One and PlayStation 4

I could go buy both of those sytems right now, but I am not going to do so because I already have plenty of games to play and because I would rather save the money or spend it on something else. (I also do not have any space left under my television, and I really do not want to start any new collections. Also, I haven't exactly been blown away by the games available for either system.)

[SirGawain]

If you aren't dead set on PS4, the Xbox1 is backward compatible with many 360 games and the list keeps growing. Just food for thought

[ElkinFencer10]

Hey man, if you've got a dream, go for it. NYC is an expensive place to live, but if you want it badly enough, I'm sure you'll find a way to make it happen. I would suggest the South, though; it's way cheaper to live down here, and we have sweet tea, Cracker Barrel, and Bojangles.

Elkin, I know you have been a sporadic user for many years before really ramping up your participation lately, but you are about to learn about the cycle of REPO. It is a thing of beauty, this cycle, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, and it sheds truth and hope for a bountiful and joyous change in the seasons.

Every year on Racketboy, we forum members come together to see if the REPO will rant about moving to New York again; we don't put our faith in mere groundhogs or some such magical hoodoo nonsense like "meteorology." Instead, we know the secret of watching and waiting for the REPO's sadly ranted laments about the NYC move, because when he rants, it means Spring has finally, truly begun.

It is just unfortunate that spambots cannot move to New York, because we haven't invented a way for AIs to walk around yet. And REPO is truly the most gifted and blessed spambot of them all.

I just laughed so hard reading through this. My students are looking at me like I'm a lunatic (and they're not too far off base). Thank you for initiating me into this most sacred of Racketboy traditions. I truly feel like a part of this beautiful community having witnessed REPO's cycle begin again.