ordering supplies online?

[prodpoke]

i was browsing dick blick online and they have the best prices for art supplies for the hobbyist. i live in the DC area and there are plenty of art shops but they're overpriced as hell.
i got my package today but like a few of my chalk pastels (sargent art 48 ct.) are snapped or chipped and the plastic tray is crushed. i know i'll eventually break them myself so i can drag the side to do shading and its just 13 dollar pastels but i don't know, is this quality you would expect? i was a wee bit disappointed.

[J Wilson]

Eh, it's possible you could have gotten the same result from buying them in a store too. I'm not a pastel artist, so I can't comment on the brand, but I do know the good quality ones are very soft and prone to breaking. The cheap ones I'd expect to not be packaged very carefully. Anytime a box gets dropped, pastels can break, and boxes get dropped a lot when they are shipped (even to the art store).

If more than a few are broken though I'd complain. If it's only a few, it's pretty much inevitable.