Smelly boxes...

It's always a crapshoot when you order a used item from the internet -- a book, something from ebay... Generally I only buy from vendors whose feedback rating is 98% or better, or from those booksellers who actually provide a description of the book versus their "company guarantee". I'd rather read that a book I'm considering has a few dog eared pages than a guarantee on a refund if I'm unsatisfied. How do I know if I want the book if I can't even find a visual description of damage or marks??

So recently I've ordered both used books and some lotion from ebay. In both instances I received my products and had to do the "Phew! This is smelly!" No, it didn't smell like animal urine...it smelled like a chain smoker. I wonder if these sellers even realize that their personal habits are immediately noticeable to a buyer when you pick up the product and get a whiff of eau de smoke. Fortunately I can toss the packaging around my lotion and not have that lingering odor taking over my bathroom, but even the used book itself had a lingering odor of smoke. Yuck! I generally keep every book in a series that I'm reading before giving the whole collection to the library or etc, but not this time. I gave the book away once I was done with it.

I'm about to leave feedback for my very recent purchase of my lotion and briefly considered saying something about the smell, but it's actually irrelevant from the business of purchase and receipt. The vendor used proper and mostly environmentally-friendly packaging. The item was shipped immediately upon confirmation of payment, so I have to give good marks for that. It's not as if my lotion will smell like cigarettes and I'll recycle the packaging, so the smell won't be a permanent thing. This time I won't be critical but I may very well have to say something the next time a book arrives and is smelly.