Is it normal for used RAM to ship wrapped in foil?

Foil is actually a legit way to ship memory, and the neat individual wrapping suggests whoever packed it knew exactly what they were doing. The key thing about metal foil is that it's conductive, so when it wraps around both edges of the stick it shorts all the pins togather, which means everthing sits at the same voltage. A static zap can only hurt a chip when there's a voltage difference between two pins, so shorting them all out leaves nowhere for a damaging pulse to develop. Clear plastic bags are the real danger, since rubbing plastic against plastic is exactly what builds up a charge in the first place. I used to ship decommissioned server sticks the same way when I ran out of proper bags, no complaints ever.

So no, don't bother the seller for a refund over the packaging. Foil used to be the standard way sensitive parts arrived before static dissipative bags got cheap. You can even see a leftover version of the idea on stuff today, like the pin-protected parts that come with a little conductive clip across thier contacts.

One caveat since you asked about the foil touching the pins: it's fine while the module is unpowered and out of packaging, which is what matters here. That's how these parts live on the shelf anyway. When you go to install them, just ground yourself first, touch the metal case or a doorknob, and handle the sticks by the edges like you'd handle a photo print. Then pop them in and run a memory test or just a heavy session of whatever you normally do. If they pass a few hours of use without a single error, they're good, and if one is genuinely bad you'd typically find out fast regardless of how it was shipped.

Same here, I did PC repair out of my garage for six years and used sticks shipped in foil showed up plenty of times, never had one arrive dead. Only real test is running them, so don't let the packaging spook you. I'd let MemTest86 run at least two full passes before trusting used RAM, that catches errors a casual session will miss. If it comes back clean you're set.

That's how ICs used to arrive back in the day, little chips folded up in foil in a foam mailer, and folks handled them fine. One tip from my bench days: if the contacts look dull or smudged after their trip, a gentle wipe with a clean pencil eraser brightens them right up. Just wipe the residue off with a lint-free cloth before seating the stick. And hold onto that foil afterward, it makes decent wrapping if you ever pass parts along to somebody else.

Bought a used stick off a guy at a swap meet years ago and it came wrapped in foil the same way. Ran it for another four years before I upgraded, never a hiccup. One thing I do with used memory is test one stick at a time if the board has slots to spare, that way if something acts up you know right away wich one it is instead of guessing. Once they both test clean you can put them where you want them. I keep all my spare sticks in that same foil trick now, costs nothing and it works.

Funny timing, I just unpacked a box of old parts from my dad's basement and half the sticks in there were folded up in foil from back when he worked at a repair shop. Every single one of them still tested fine. My own habit these days is to try used RAM in a junk board I keep around before it goes anywhere near my main machine, takes two minutes and keeps the sketchy parts away from the good stuff. If yours boot and post on the first try that's ussually half the battle won allready.

Update: went ahead and installed both sticks. Took the eraser tip from the reply above and gave the contacts a quick clean since they looked a bit dull after shipping. Then ran two full passes overnight, zero errors, and the machine has been solid all week. Turns out the seller knew what they were doing after all.