When purchasing vintage Lionel or Marx cardboard set boxes, make sure you tell the seller that the box is worth money, not just the trains it holds inside!

This is especially true if the auctioneer lacks experience, expertise, or is a "sell it for you" type franchise. 

I have had this happen to me twice, the first one had the shipping weight jotted down on the corner, the second had 2-inch wide clear plastic tape slathered all over the box!

 The seller of the inked box gave me a break on the shipping, and made me happy,  the plastic tape seller, (who happens to own one of those "professional" drop-and sell it ebay stores) told me she didn't think taping it up hurt the box's value at all, and told me to go whistle for my money, then she laughed at me and hung up on me.

So, make sure you stress to your seller not to damage your set box, or you might see your money burned like I did.

A Follow Up ...

 I filed a complaint with Paypal, and they rejected it! They never asked for pictures or anything.

 So, by Paypal standards, you can sell a train with a vintage box, tape the hell out of it after the auction closes, and it's perfectly A-O.K.!!

 Well, it's a lesson learned, right? For more eye-opening stories, visit paypalsucks.com or google "Paypal".

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