Vendor Name: dom341
Item Purchased: AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE (160242430149)

Item As Described: Yes
Shipped Quickly: No
Customer Service: N/A

I won this game on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, so I knew I wouldn’t get it quickly. But this seller didn’t even put it in the mail until May 30. To me, that’s unacceptable: Ship the item as soon as you are paid.

(And no, the fact that it’s a holiday weekend shouldn’t have an impact on shipping expectations. I don’t buy if I can’t pay immediately; people shouldn’t sell if they can’t ship immediately. If a seller wants to take a week off, fine; he should suspend his auctions or set them to end when he’s ready to fulfill his orders. It’s that simple.)

Even so, this was a fine purchase, described fairly (as much as it was described) and I got it for a good price. I might well use this vendor again, but I would need better assurances about shipping time.

Vendor Name: ctgy
Item Purchased: War at Sea Avalon Hill wargame complete rare great cond (300226117697)

Item As Described: Yes
Shipped Quickly: Yes
Customer Service: Great

War At Sea is the training wheels of the board wargaming genre: It’s how you learn to play wargames. Affectionately known by many as “War At Yahtzee” for the fact that you roll many dice at once, it’s about as easy to learn and play as any other board game. I picked it up in the sixth grade, and got hooked on war games as a result.

In the exact condition described, well-packaged and shipped quickly. I would definitely use this vendor again.

Vendor Name: bibigrl28
Item Purchased: Linksys EZXS55w 5 Port Switch Cisco 10/100 Ethernet (230253984235)

Item As Described: Yes
Shipped Quickly: Yes
Customer Service: Great

This was a neat find: Someone unloading a switch they had accidentally purchased, and starting the bidding at 1 cent. I won it for $1.25.

Shipped quickly and at cost, I couldn’t be more pleased. I’d buy from this person again.

User Name: gearxs
Product Purchased: Logitech X-530 5.1 Surround Speakers+Subwoofer(XBOX/PC) (380028415737)

Product As Advertised: Almost
Shipped Quickly: Yes
Customer Service: Good

These speakers usually run around $80, so getting them for less than $30 ($42, after shipping) was a good deal.

They were advertised as “refurbished” but the subwoofer casing shows damage from whomever owned them previously. It doesn’t seem to affect the performance of the speakers, but I consider “refurbished” to mean you would fix any visible defects.

Also, they were packaged in a used box, without original packing materials, documentation, etc. That’s fine, but again, “refurbished” would suggest they were in something approaching factory condition.

Nonetheless, they arrived quickly, work fine and were cheap, so I guess it’s a wash. I would probably buy from this vendor again.

User Name: lancemisner
Product Purchased: Vintage Avalon assault on crete simulation board game (110251584477)

Product As Advertised: Almost
Shipped Quickly: Sort Of
Customer Service: Good

I won this auction late on Friday, May 16 and paid (as I always do) immediately after winning. That meant the weekend went by without shipping; the item actually went out on May 20, the Tuesday following the auction.

The game also arrived with a sizable gash in the USPS mailing box — a gash that went through the box and into the game, damaging the game box bottom fairly significantly.

I suspect the damage was done by the USPS, but generally speaking, they owe up to damaging your mail by leaving a note. They don’t compensate you for damaging the mail, but they do tell you they did the mangling.

That wasn’t the case here.

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