Here's an update on this. I approached the seller in a "non-attacking" way and it proved fruitful. My message first:
"Dear alcamler,
I received my comic in today's mail. I cringed when I pulled it out of our mailbox and felt how flimsy the package was. No cardboard backing/sandwich, no "DO NOT BEND" anywhere on the package, not even a regular comic backing board. I'm not sure how many comic books you've sold in the past, but this is NOT the way to ship them.
I buy and sell comics (mostly online) for a living now. You'll save yourself some headaches with future buyers by placing the comic(s) between 2 pieces of slightly oversized cardboard and taping all 4 sides. Then place the sandwich in an envelope like the one you used to ship mine. I ship this way all the time via 1st Class Mail and the most it ever costs me is about $2.50-2.75. I know you only charged $2.00 to ship this comic, but most comic collectors will gladly pay an extra 50 to 75 cents to ensure their purchase arrives in the advertised condition.
I'm still happy with the purchase as I got it for only 99 cents. I will leave positive feedback.
-mikesmarvels1957"
And his response:
"Dear mikesmarvels1957,
Thank you Mike for your suggestion. I have sold a lot of items but I haven't sold comic books so this is new for me. I thought just putting them into a plastic sleeve holder would be good enough, plus I really expected that people would order 4 or 5 at a time, which would protect them more, but I do understand your suggestion and I will have to adjust my shipping cost to reflect the extra weight. I was trying to keep the shipping cost down as much as possible.
Does the "Do not bend" on the package really matter to the USPS? I have always felt that they don't really care about writing on the outside of packages.
Thanks again for your suggestion and your purchase. (oh, and your positive feedback)
- alcamler"
So I'll give him another opportunity some day soon. (thumbs u