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I purchase a ton of Lego to sell and for my kids. As a family...we do not keep our boxes, so we are not picky about the condition of the box. However, as a seller I have noticed that the boxes I receive in the mail are mostly flawed. I order mainly from Amazon, Target, ToyRUs, ect. My boxes arrive in all sorts of condition. The outer boxes are sometimes smashed or opened. The Lego sets inside usually have minor creasing or a corner that has a problem. I do list in my auctions that the boxes are not perfect. The only place that I seem to have a great record with is Lego.com. I have yet to call and complain to anyone. Does anyone else find that this is a common growing problem?
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I have never had 100% damage free boxes, but Lego seems to be the best, then Lego, then TRU and then Target. For me, Target is the worst.
[email protected] is really good about replacing damaged boxes from shipping issues. TRU and Target on the other hand are just horrible at shipping LEGO, in my opinion and its very hard to get any issues fixed with them. Target sent me cases of the Imperial Shuttle in the original shipping boxes, with huge holes on the side but patched up with Target tape =(
For me as long as the return process is easy I will continue to order. Although I do really like Walmart's ship to store pickup option since I can refuse the items at the store and not have to deal with sending stuff back. What's nice is that you can ship even exclusive sets like UCS or Modulars that they don't usually carry in store.
I have a new driver this week, maybe that is it? :)
An order from TRU's fulfillment warehouse that is 10 miles from my house...smashed :(
I have an Imperial Shuttle and Fire Brigade on the way, and would like a rough idea how I may receive it.
Additionally I have ordered a lot from Amazon.fr and Amazon.es and all my items have arrived safe and sound so far, but a lot of the time they use vary large boxes that are not completely filled with packaging (so excess movement of contents) and the boxes are not tapped up very well, so there is normally gabs.
I have had so many damaged sets from them, I have stopped buying completely, but you may well be fine, so don't let my experiences turn you off until you get them.
Aside from that, about 80% of my lego comes from Amazon UK since they do free shipping to Ireland and only have had 2, perhaps 3 boxes with some damage to them but not serious amounts - in fact, the most recent one was actually shipped from Europe, Germany I expect, as they occasionally do and it was knocked at the corners as was the outer box.
As it happens I bin my boxes so I don't really care as long as the content is fine. I get more frustrated about the DSS being mangled or the instructions and that can happen off the shelf as I have recently found from a local store with 2 sets.
In both cases, the boxes were essentially opened already when they were delivered. The tape they are using and boxes are just not holding up during shipping. I did however, finally receive an order this year from Toys-R-Us that was packaged and shipped well.
My outer packages from Amazon have always been in good condition. I did order the fire temple from Amazon.uk, and that arrived in great condition.
By contrast, I've only had three orders out of hundreds from Lego that were damaged. Once, the shipping box was exposed to water at some point, damaging the contents and the other two times it was crushed in shipping. I find Lego's shipping to be impressive and the second-best of any source I've purchased Lego from (the best being Entertainment Earth where they pride themselves in the condition of packaging).
More recently from Target, I ordered the Death Star and it came in the original LEGO shipping box. It was in perfect condition. A few weeks later, ordered the latest X-Wing and TIE Fighter. They came in a shipping box together and were packaged nicely. Again, great condition.
I have also ordered a few things direct from LEGO and have had good experiences too. The one I've stayed away for is Walmart. I've read about the most horror stories from them.
Last week I received #4436 from Target, the box was crushed by the air bags, after I took it out, I could not even close the small shipping box with just the air bags (only 4 of them)
I have luck and back luck with all 3 US carriers, no one stands out, I always feel bad returning an item for a crush box, I rarely do it when it is set from my self unless I suspect damages (like an #8810 Unimog from TRU crushed down to half the box volume...)
Lesson learned :)
LEGO [email protected]: sturdy box, bigger ones have inner wall, rational grouping of like sized items.
Target: sturdiest boxes, sufficient air pack, occasionally odd grouping
Barnes and Noble: good box, sufficient air pack
Walmart: good box, poor grouping of items
Amazon: weak box, insufficient paper packing, occasional crushing, good return/replacement customer service
TRU: good box, boxes too large causing frequent crushing & shifting, insufficient air wrap, poor return/replacement customer service
I would have rather not gotten the freebies and had mint box conditions as they would have been without the careless packing. Now I contemplate returning these, but I most likely will just deal with it. :(
If the condition of the box is important to you, try to avoid shipping at all.
Yeah and returns for damaged boxes is a bit of a crapshoot with Amazon as well, though I think one of their return reasons is for a item damaged, but the shipping box is not (implying damaged at the warehouse) but who knows how many times Amazon will let you do that before they ban you from Amazon.
But I agree with everyone else that Amazon ranks among the worst in keeping LEGO boxes pristine. I have a close friend that used to work at Amazon, and he's confirmed multiple times how employees and managers alike didn't seem to care about the quality of their shipped products. I guess it wasn't uncommon to see a recently boxed laptop carelessly dropped on it's way to be shipped. Even the following "smash!" sound wasn't enough to stop the shipment. My friend quit Amazon for many reasons, but a big one was their lack of quality and care.
I'm going to buy a few 501st Battle Packs for resale, but I'm definitely NOT getting them though Amazon.
For example, at Costco when they receive a damaged LEGO box they are required to throw it away. LEGO won't accept the return, and they don't even allow the business to donate the set. It's the same for Costco returns. If someone returns a LEGO set to Costco, Costco is required by LEGO to throw it into the dumpster. I randomly learned this from someone who used to work in returns at Costco.
It's much like incinerator diving.