shipping eggs and Ebay feedback

[SundownWaterfowl]

Quote:
I never write that on the box. It almost always assures that the eggs get tossed around or x-rayed. I only write it if the buyer requests it. Otherwise my eggs always arrive better when I dont write anything on the box. Some post office worker will she fragile eggs and start shaking the box around.

hahaha, you posted this before I saw....you are very right about marking the box fragile. But, I have had people get all in a tizzy if I didn't then I get blamed if they have a poor hatch....so sometimes as a seller you're danged if you do and danged if you don't

I ask the seller, "Do you want your box marked "Fragile Eggs" etc. And if they want it marked, I mark it, If not then I dont mark it. I get the best results when I dont mark the box.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I haven't bought eggs off Ebay...yet...but I'm sure I will at some time. I agree that the eggs should have been bubble-wrapped individually first. That would have probably saved at least some of them. One thing to point out is that on Ebay it is "buyer beware". Usually sellers request that buyers ask 'any and all' questions BEFORE they bid. I think this would include inquiring about how they ship their eggs. Also, no matter how well wrapped, if the box was dropped, many would be broken.

I don't believe in leaving negative feedback for ANY reason until you have contact the seller and tried to work out a mutually agreeable solution. JMHO...

 

[Wildwoodchickens]

Hi
i got eggs from ebay sellers and i got one in bubble wrap and newpaper and one in paper towels and eggs crate taped and in new papers as well
And all eggs were fine as far as i can tell no broken ones
so i would say it was a wonderful post office woker that want to play ball with a box

 

[ginasmarans]

As a shipper of eggs, I would want to know if that many of the eggs I sent were broken,unless it was obvious that the P.O. destroyed the box. I am always looking at ways to reduce cost and improve the protection of the eggs I send. I recently changed the way I pack eggs because I read that it was the best way. After 2 shipments where 2 eggs were broken each time,I have gone back to my first method. Having said that,in my opinion, wrapping an egg in paper towel is inadequate.

 

[CindyS]

that does not sound like a good way to pack eggs, obviously its not if there were six broken. I sell eggs on ebay and have sent 26 boxes of 18 eggs so far this year, and not one broken one. It all boils down to taking the time to do it right.

 

[DuckyBoys]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Just an update - I got the other box of eggs I ordered and here's the low down on those:

Ordered 12 eggs
got 18 WOW! So cool!
1 was slightly cracked all the others were fine.

She wrapped each one in bubble wrap, put some shredded newspaper in the carton (Cardboard this time not styrofoam), taped them shut securely, put in box, put in another box WOW!, and filled with shredded paper.

I will definately buy from this person again and will say so on her feedback, the other probably not. I haven't had a chance to e-mail her yet because I had meetings in Denver all day but I'll definately let her know what happened and then just leave it at that. Her packing could have been better but her shipping time was excellent.

Thanks again for the replies - I'm new at this!

 

[MaransGuy]

This bubble-wrap vs. paper towel debate has raged on before and I am sure it will pop up again in another couple months. I do think that bubble wrap is probably better than just paper towels, however.....my BLRW's, silkies and my flock of showgirls are all testaments that paper towels/tissues can work out just fine. Every one of them arrived in tissues and egg cartons and I had 90%+ hatch rates on the silkies and SGs. I'm sure lots of people have had eggs arrived in horrible shape packed that same way so the debate will no doubt go on ad nauseum.

All that being said, I do use bubble wrap around my eggs when I ship and have had eggs arrive cracked nonetheless. I double box and use plenty of paper to stabilize everything. I'm not sure how it happened as they typically have 2 layers of bubble wrap around the egg, but it did happen once (via USPS). I now use UPS for my shipments, ground for close areas or 2nd Day Air for greater distances, and have not had a real problem since.

Regarding the "Fragile" stickers..... I actually asked my UPS guy just a couple days ago about that. He said that a lot of drivers, especially old timers, typically ignore any labels on the boxes. Some drivers do pay attention, while there are a few out there that will go out of their way to mess with the boxes marked that way. The one label he said are just outright wastes of time are the "This Side Up" ones. With all of the automation used in the systems it is just an impossible request. I do put "Fragile, Handle with Care" stickers on my boxes but have never marked them "Hatching Eggs". That, I think, would be just too much for an a** hole package handler to resist.

Richard

 

[DuckLady]

I would let her know in a non confrontational way, as in "just to let you know I had x number of eggs broken possibly due to rough postal handing. WHen I reorder from you, can I ask you to wrap in bubble wrap instead of paper towels, as it didn't protect them this time" or something like that.

As for leaving negative feedback, it should be a very last resort after all ways of resolution have been exhausted.
Even so, I have had eggs shipped in an egg carton and newspaper get here safely, so postal handling has more to do with broken eggs and bad hatches in most cases. That is a risk a buyer takes.

 

[Peeps]

I just received 2 shipments of eggs. I purposely looked for sellers who are close to me (California), so the eggs don't have to travel so far. The first box was from California, it was marked "Fragile eggs" and the box was a little crushed and had a dent in it. Each egg was individually wrapped in foam and were loose in packing peanuts. She also included some extras in an egg carton, she was experimenting on shipping in egg cartons. The ones in the egg carton were not wrapped, but had foam sheets over the eggs in the carton and the carton was wrapped and placed in the center of the box filled w/ peanuts. Only one egg (out of 22) was dented right where the box was dented, and only because it was wedged between the box & carton.

The next box was not marked and came from washington. The eggs were wrapped in paper towels then put into an egg carton then packed tightly with newspaper. This box was also slightly crushed. Every egg was perfect. (16 eggs)

I feel so lucky to have had only one dented egg. None of mine had bubble wrap, But both boxes were slightly crushed and only one dented egg.

I think there are several safe ways to pack eggs, but then it is out of your hands in to USPS's. I have been down to the sorting center boxes get dropped & thrown all over the place! I would have a hard time blaming the shipper for broken eggs unless the packaging was obviously inadequate.

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

The main reason I use toilet paper or paper towels instead of the bubble wrap is I have a fear that bubble wrap cuts off the oxygen to the eggs.....I don't always use this method but usually I do try to if I have the spare cartons.....