Enoch Root wrote:
A stanley #5 with lots of blade, a type 19 with the rounded cutter top,
rosewood handles, nickel plated forked lever, and vertical characters on
the lateral adjust. Looks like it was only used a little, and I think
the factory milling marks are still on the cutter bevel.

Cost me $10 and about as much to ship.

I'm very happy with the plane. Except for one thing. During shipping
the toe was chipped and the iron deformed around the chip such that I'll
have to lap the sole a bit to get things right. There's a smile on that
end of the box where the plane punched through it, and the only packing
is some bubble wrap wound around its long axis (ends were exposed) and
some popcorn.

Doesn't bother me.

But now, do I take one for the team and leave bad feedback? 'Cause it's
still a good deal. I made a huge error not checking this guy's feedback
before bidding and now I notice it is awful, he doesn't give feedback
unless the seller gives it first, and he's retaliatory. I can be
assured of getting bad feedback, but I'm also reasonably sure no one
would take it seriously. His bad feedback would have kept me from
bidding... had I looked. Maybe that's why it was so cheap?

Because now I'm faced with my own principles: I rate shipping speed,
packaging, and match to description. That's always what I said, and
I've always given good feedback because I never thought I had a problem
with any of those. But this time, I think the packaging was bad, even
when the other criteria are good, this one was bad.

So I could give a neutral. He'll (I'm sure) give me a negative, and
I'll have to clarify in the followups and hope people read it.

I could give a negative. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It's not clear whether you bought the plane as a user or as a
collectible. The item was very inexpensive so you probably didn't ask
for insurance, right? I do the same thing. It's a lot safer bet if
you've checked the feedback beforehand and read what's been written
about the seller's packaging. Otherwise, get the insurance. You can
ask for them to ship the item UPS instead of USPS as the big brown
includes the first $100 (I think) of insurance coverage in their
shipping cost automatically.

Some bubble wrap and popcorn (you do mean styrofoam, right?) would
probably appear adequate protection for what looks like a heavy and
strong tool to someone who doesn't know tools. They probably wouldn't
realize the brittleness of the cast iron.

What feedback you leave should be dependent on the seller's performance
(was the packaging neglectful due to poor attitude or an honest
mistake?), your performance (was it wise not to get the insurance and
not to look into the seller's feedback beforehand?), whether you were
really damaged, and what your relative feedback "strengths" are. The
person with little feedback stands to be more affected by your single
vote.

If I fellt like I had to point out the packaging to help future buyers,
I'd give positive feedback, receive the seller's positive feedback, and
then leave a follow up and mention the packaging.

R