What's the deal, cheapskate eBay shippers?!!

Ok, this is the second occurrence in a week of a very specific problem with eBay, so I will address it here. When you are shipping something through the mail where the content is fragile and susceptible to damage, why would you mail it in a common envelope? The reason why cards should be sent in bubble or padding-wrapped mailers is that there are significant bumps on route through the postal delivery system that a single top-loader will not protect against...when I ship out cards, I use bubble envelopes and sandwich the top-loader between card stock or two empty top-loaders...for a card that I'm sending to someone else.

Here's two examples of cards that I received from auctions I won off eBay. One card has been returned and hopefully I'll get a refund. The other card was only a dollar and it doesn't seem worth it.

First, an 2007 SPx Winning Materials jersey card that I got in the mail. It was sent in a penny sleeve, top-loader, folded into a piece of paper (the invoice) and mailed in a common white envelope.

Unfortunately, you can't see much due to my scanner (my digital camera having died doesn't help in producing much photographic evidence. However, the close-up on the right shows damage on the right side of the card. More importantly, coming out of the top and bottom of the X are creases. My first suspicion was that this is an impact damage...maybe someone's heavy book landing on the woefully unprotected envelope. However, and this is purely speculation, is it possible that this is a sign of tampering? If anyone knows anything about this type of damage, maybe you could fill me in. However, without any other evidence, my guess is that something landed on the right side of the card, causing it to bend and crease...which is a shame, because now the card is worthless.

The other card was an even greater loss. I don't want to speak ill of the seller/shipper because the guy is being great about making this right, but I think it is instructional as to why proper shipping is crucial in this hobby. When I opened the envelope (which had a blackish outline of the edges of the top-loader on the back of the envelope exterior), to the right is what I saw.

The top of the card, a great 2007 Artifacts quad jersey that is limited to 50, was pressed against the tape. Not only did the adhesive remove some of the top of the card's printing, but it also caused a pressure indention.

Even worse, the card was damaged, as the scan to the left clearly shows (left and right of the top two jersey pieces).

The worst part of this situation is that the card is a very nice card, especially for a player collector. Unfortunately, it is now damaged and pretty much worthless.

Seriously, sellers, these cards are getting banged up. If you are charging $3 to $3.50 for shipping and handling, please use a protected envelope. I use them, even at the cost of making a few bucks. It is a shame for these cards to get damaged.