A Well-Deserved Shout-out for Integrity & Attention to Detail

You find all degrees of integrity in the vast range of sellers on TradeMe . . . from great integrity all the way through to absolutely none.

But it's rare to encounter one with what you could justifiably describe as having "phenomenal integrity".

When I bought six items recently (from five different sellers), I came across two that qualified for that rarest of descriptors.

One was a used electronics seller. The sort of category where "you pays ya money and ya takes ya chances". However, I was after a very specific item . . . a little "ghetto blaster" exactly the same as that which I already had. There's a reason I wanted this particular, well-outdated little unit, and I was surprised not only to find one in this seller's catalogue, but two, and they looked to be in excellent condition. They were also priced reasonably.

A few questions sent to the seller - a marc-electrix - brought a lightning fast reply, and also a favorable response to my request for a discount if I purchased both units. (I knew my chances of finding these very special little units ever again, let alone in such a genuinely as-new condition, was low.)

'Please Don't Use NZ Post Couriers'

So that was good, but it's the next display of integrity that was truly outstanding. If you've read the article about my recent series of experiences with New Zealand Post's courier "service", you'll understand how non-negotiable it was for the seller to agree NOT, under any circumstances, to entrust the transport of these very delicate units to NZ Post Couriers.

It was no issue for the seller. He was very obliging. But what was truly impressive was the immense amount of care, integrity and professionalism (to say nothing of time and proper professional electronic packing materials) that went into his preparation of the package containing the two units. It was the sort of packaging (both in terms of materials and of effort) that you'd expect if you had bought a high-end electronic item from a "big box" (or other commercial) retailer . . . hardly for a couple of small, 15-year-old ghetto blasters.

From the verbatim, huge-type delivery instructions and the multiple "VERY FRAGILE" signs all over the box, to the knock-proof foam frames and the individual special-materials wrapping of every piece associated with each item, it must have taken him some considerable time to prepare for transport. And, I dare say, it possibly also cost him more than he charged me for the actual couriering thereof. 

And I'll also make mention of the fact that the two units were so freshly and pristine-cleaned that, aside from the datedness of the models, they could have held their own on a retail shelf today.

So, marc_electrix, I wish you every continued success with your TradeMe business. You truly deserve it. 

Integrity Plus

On to the next seller. A very different product and a very different experience . . . but a high-integrity seller, all the same. 

In this instance, I bought a free-standing, old-style wardrobe. Except that, actually, I didn't . . . Upon moving the wardrobe away from her wall to prepare it for transport, the seller was horrified to find evidence of borer in the back of it.

I had, however, already paid. Including for her to personally transport it from her region down to mine.

So she got in her vehicle, drove a 3-hour (or more) round trip, to refund my money, in cash, in person . . . and brought with her two bags of fresh organic fruit and vegetables grown on her own property by way of apology for the disappointment she felt she had caused me.

Now, that's integrity.

The other three items I purchased were all clothing. Heading into a Wairarapa winter, it was time to bundle up with a few big, oversized jumpers and/or a nice warm, stylish jacket to top off a pair of jeans.

One seller's gorgeous long mulberry dress-style jumper was just as described on the tin, if not even a little better. Further, it arrived folded respectfully, in a courier bag of a size sufficient to allow it to be packed nice and flat.

And Now to the Scumbag End of the Seller Spectrum

The two other sellers . . . what can I say? Not much. Cretins, the pair.

One advertised what looked like a bloke's very classy, up-market label jersey as "OS" (as in, Over-Sized) and crowed that it "covers your bum".

The other advertised a very stylish-looking faux-fur-lined, khaki bomber jacket . . . and she advertised it as a "Size 12".

The bloke's top-end label jersey arrived, and sure, it might have "covered your bum". If you were a BLOODY DWARF. And, as for "OS" (outsized), I'm a 12 with a reasonably svelte figure, and if THAT was "outsized", I'm a bloody monkey's uncle. It would hardly have been "outsized" even for a boy, let alone a man. Oh, and the seller turned out not to be a male (as had been my impression when purchasing), but a sheila, who took exception to the unhappy feedback I left on her TradeMe account (regarding the purchase I'd just made from her, that would find its next home at an op shop instead of in my wardrobe).

And the bomber jacket. Oh, the bomber jacket, the arrival of which I had awaited with such anticipation. Let's just say that, if I was a 10-year-old girl it might have fitted me nicely. Or perhaps an eight-year-old. It was tiny. It certainly was NOT the adult's "Size 12" it was advertised as. But whatever size it actually was will never be known, because the seller had carefully and totally cut out the label from the back of its collar.

In both of the above instances, the sellers had crumpled up and shoehorned the garments into the smallest possible plastic courier envelope they could. In the case of the bomber jacket, it must have been pushed in by foot. Truly a remarkable feat.

I hazard a guess that both sellers make further profit on the "shipping" fees they charge.

It's also my guess that they probably scour op shops and re-sell their booty on TradeMe, taking photos of their finds from ambiguous angles. I won't buy any more clothes from TradeMe after these experiences . . . which unfairly penalises sellers like the one who sold me the lovely mulberry jersey, of course. But taking a garment I've just paid good money for (plus "shipping") straight down to the nearest op shop without getting one wear out of it, is not my idea of "recycling".