At the outset, I wish to make it clear that it is _not_ my intention
to malign or attack the seller, who thus far has come across as honest
and straightforward. Rather, I am seeking information and advice
_before_ contacting the seller about the issue, in order to be as
informed, reasonable and effective as possible when I do so.

A used Mac PowerBook G3 I purchased on ebay was shipped to me packed
in nothing more than a simple 'Scotch Bubble Mailer' envelope, placed
inside a flimsy Priority Mail Flat-Rate Box with _one_ newspaper page
inside.

I've seen items of far less fragility and value packed with more
cushioning and protection than this!

The box was not even marked 'Fragile: Handle with Care'.

Although, I did not notice any _obvious_, _external_ damage when I
unpacked the unit, it seems almost inevetable to me that a laptop
packed that way would suffer some damage in transit.

The unit seemed to power-up okay but I could not turn it off. I
finally closed the lid and tended to something else. When I re-opened
the lid, the screen remained black. I tried pressing a number of keys
and buttons but the most that did was cause some beeping. At one
point, a voice asked me if I really wanted to shut-down but there was
no way for me to respond, since the screen was black. (I tried saying
'yes' on the off-chance that it would recognize voice). Throughout
this time, I could _hear_ that the unit was powered, despite the
completely black screen.

Finally, for no apparant reason, the screen came on again and I was
able to shut-down the unit.

Even if this turns-out to be something minor which can be easily
solved, or- for that matter-, if the unit would have powered-on and
off without any obvious problems, it still seems to me that the
completely unacceptable way in which the unit was shipped to me
warrants my being able to return it, at the expense of the seller, to
be thoroughly tested.

In retrospect, I'm thinking that I probably should not have even
opened the box but rather contacted the seller immediately to complain
about the grossly insufficient packaging.
The cost of the item was $86.00 and the seller charged $19.99 to ship
via USPS Priority Mail- UNinsured. This was in accordance with her
clearly-stated shipping policy, the relevant portions of which I have
quoted below:

"All laptops, laptop parts, and Computer parts will be shipped via
USPS mail. All Complete Desktop Computers will be send via UPS Ground.
USPS items shipped will have delivery confirmation and UPS items will
have UPS tracking."

"Any items sold for over $100 dollars will be insured as well. If you
have any questions about shipping please ask."

While this policy of not insuring items under $100.00 seems
reflective of the same lack of basic, due diligence and prudence
demonstrated by the improper packaging, (likely due to lack of
experience)I do not think the fact that the item was not insured is
really relevant in this case; How could insurance cover damage in
transit to an item which was improperly packaged and never even marked
as being fragile by the _sender_?!

The seller does offer a 30-day warranty but what I fear is that the
problem I described above may turn out to be something easily fixed
while there remains serious damage from transit that either may not
become apparant before the end of the warranty period _or_ which the
seller will claim is not covered for one or more reasons. (and, in
ordinary circumstances, may very well legitimately not be covered but
would not have occured if the item had been shipped properly!)

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and for any replies
you may make.
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