Hi Bill,
Not that I'm an experienced collector, but I did get into an EBay spitting contest with a guy who sold me some stuff. Basically, it was a swivel for a nunchaku, and it never arrived. Eventually part of the flimsy envelope he mailed it in showed up, and it was pretty obvious why I never received the swivel. We both left negative comments for each other, and EBay's attempt to mediate ended when I pointed out that if the seller had simply charged more for shipping and sent the item in a box, the problem would never have occurred. He shut up too.
That said, I think there's an important point here. When getting something in shipping, 1) check the box for damage (not a bad idea to photograph it unopened). 2) open it carefully (perhaps more photos?). If the item is in pieces inside an undamaged box, then you can make a good case for misrepresentation. If the box is trashed along with the item inside, then the seller is at most responsible for bad choices in packaging and the shipping method, not for damage to the item itself.
While I hesitate to take the seller's side even partially, it is possible that the weapon did get trashed in shipment. When you have a long flimsy blade and heavy handle, it's possible to break it through rough handling. That doesn't exempt him from criticism (especially about the weapon's represented qualities), but I'm just as apt to suspect our postal service.
[Totally off-topic, but I recently moved 40 miles from my previous address. Not a problem, right? I'm still trying to get the mail forwarded, and yesterday I found out that they're still shipping some mail to my old address. This is fascinating, given that I'm also getting magazines at my new address, meaning that the address change got entered into their computer system, but was not implemented on the ground. That's the US postal service for you.]
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