Amazon ship in own container (SIOC) - is it avoidable?

gearaddict

BillDL said:

Just as well you didn't order a toy from Love Honey that arrived only in the product box 

Wow, imagine!

On the resale thing - yeah, I know I shouldn't buy things with a view to selling them but I know myself...and I've only kept a handful of pieces of gear long term. I'm always moving things on. I guess if I am buying something used, damaged or missing packaging wouldn't put me off but if it's a choice between that and one where everything is pristine then I'd go for that. If I'm buying something quite expensive brand new then I'd rather not be at a disadvantage right off the bat. But that's just me.

ICBM

We all know that we don’t all keep everything we buy forever, and that some buyers prefer to pay more for an item with its original box, so even if it doesn’t matter at all to you personally, it’s just stupid to deliberately damage it when you don’t know how the buyer will feel about it.

I find the whole concept of the ‘case candy’ with expensive guitars that some buyers get very hung up about ridiculous, but I wouldn’t deliberately wreck it if it was in the sale listing, and then be surprised if the buyer complains.

gearaddict

So after contacting Amazon customer service and asking they take care of the packaging and making the purchase while I was online with the guy...I even put it down as a gift coz I thought that might mean they put it in something...guess what? Some knobhead stuck a 'enjoy your gift!' sticker right on the front of the inner box which is completely impossible to remove without destroying the box. I actually can't believe it! Jesus.

ICBM

gearaddict said:

So after contacting Amazon customer service and asking they take care of the packaging and making the purchase while I was online with the guy...I even put it down as a gift coz I thought that might mean they put it in something...guess what? Some knobhead stuck a 'enjoy your gift!' sticker right on the front of the inner box which is completely impossible to remove without destroying the box. I actually can't believe it! Jesus.

You can usually get them off with some label remover solvent, especially if the box is smooth/shiny cardboard.

That does sound like it's deliberate though, in which case I might be inclined to send it back.

Dave_Mc

JAYJO said:

when buying collectables off ebay a big part of the value can be the box itself. Every item should imo be packaged or on inspection  delivery refused . On a shelf in a shop a damaged box would more likely lead to a reduction.  boxes may be tampererd with and then you have to deal with it. parts missing etc. Not everything bought off Amazon is non collectable years down the line..... 
Imagine your new guitar being delivered in its case with stickers slapped all over it... post offices by me now refusing to deal with Amazon returns.
  

Yeah definitely. Not even collectables, anything really that you might want to sell, will usually sell for more- or at least more easily- with the original box in good condition. In the absence of anything better, buyers will usually use that as a proxy for "the original owner looked after it if they kept the original box in good condition".

Agreed about a "real" shop- Amazon's prices are often very attractive, but not always, and it's very annoying to pay full price for something and have it damaged before it even arrives because of dodgy packaging- in a completely forseeable and avoidable way.

RaymondLin said:

I bought a lego set once and chose the 2hour delivery option and it came with the address label stuck directly onto the Lego box.  That was the only time.  Normally their packaging is excessive.

I guess the way to make sure there is some kind of packaging, if it is a small enough item, is to order something else to go into the order with it, something small, something with the same delivery time table.

Amazon is not the only one who does this though, I've had it from other people. 

The packaging is often excessive in terms of the box being way too big, but often that still doesn't mean the thing is packaged all that well. I've had loads of things from them with a bash in them here or there because they were rattling around inside that far-too-big box...

It's not the end of the world if it's something for yourself (though sometimes it still is, depending on the item in particular), but I'm very wary about buying anything for anyone else from them.

Ordering something else doesn't always solve the external packaging thing, either- they may well put the stuff in the same box, but they don't always.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

We all know that we don’t all keep everything we buy forever, and that some buyers prefer to pay more for an item with its original box, so even if it doesn’t matter at all to you personally, it’s just stupid to deliberately damage it when you don’t know how the buyer will feel about it.

I find the whole concept of the ‘case candy’ with expensive guitars that some buyers get very hung up about ridiculous, but I wouldn’t deliberately wreck it if it was in the sale listing, and then be surprised if the buyer complains.

Exactly

gearaddict said:

So after contacting Amazon customer service and asking they take care of the packaging and making the purchase while I was online with the guy...I even put it down as a gift coz I thought that might mean they put it in something...guess what? Some knobhead stuck a 'enjoy your gift!' sticker right on the front of the inner box which is completely impossible to remove without destroying the box. I actually can't believe it! Jesus.

That's ridiculous. Those stickers really annoy me. Especially when it's something which is obviously a gift.