Well first of all, the OP didn't get the tubes he ordered, so right off the bat that's a screw up. Also, if I was buying a bunch of tubes to stock up, I'd be pissed off too if they were just rubber banded and not in an individual box, especially if the product that's shown is in a box. I guess the simple answer is it should say if you will be getting something different than what is shown, or that if they will not come in retail packaging. Especially if you want to resell something at some point. You may want or need the packaging if you want to sell something as "new in box".