What's so classic Bruce here is not that he did the right thing and
canceled the bids, but that he felt obliged to announce the fact in an
email that was more self serving than a Citgo station. rudy franchi
Bruce,
You are to be commended for passing up the opportunity to pick up a
quick few hundred bucks on that particular item. As you must know,
when a regular seller says "I don't know what this is" that's usually
sufficient warning for most people to do their own homework and
knowingly bid at their own risk. But it's different with you. You
have built up such a fine reputation that many people would tend to
shrug off your disclaimer, thinking "Bruce is too knowledgeable and
professional to sell a commercial reprint without clearly saying so".
Heck, I bet many of your bidders don't even bother to read the text
description and just look at your high resolution picture and make
their decision on that basis, so they might miss the disclaimer
entirely.
So, while what you did was the right thing to do, it also protects
your reputation doesn't it? You know what kind of firestorm this
would have become on the forums if the story came out (as it surely
would have) that Bruce Hershenson "duped" some poor fool into paying
$360 for a reprint. Thus I conclude that your honesty comes as much
from self-interest as altruism. See? I *knew* I could find something
snippy to say about you if I tried hard enough. :))
-- JR
----- Original Message -----
icy
I currently am auctioning a great group of items on eBay, including a
bunch of 40 x 60s. Since I was selling these posters, which need to
go in long tubes, I also listed the other really wide rolled posters
I had on hand. These were mostly English 40 x 60s, and a couple of
bus stops, but I also had a special large Goodfellows poster that
measures 38" x 53".
I had no idea what this was, but I put it was a special poster, and
said I had no idea if it was intended for theater use (and asked
anyone who did know to e-mail me so I could post it). I thought it
was likely NOT a commercial poster, given its large size. One person
e-mailed me on the poster prior to today, and I posted the response
online, saying I had no clue.
But David Lieberman just e-mailed me a link to an eBay auction
showing the same poster for sale for $12 and he said it IS a
commercial poster. He said it is sold "all over eBay".
I went to the auction and the poster was at $360!!!!!!!!!! I would
say that this amply demonstrates the power of eMoviePoster.com's
number of viewers, and why we get so many consignors! I can't cancel
the auction because eBay doesn't let you cancel auctions within 12
hours, so I did the next best thing, which was to cancel all the
bids, add to the image, and e-mail all the bidders.
I am just glad I found out BEFORE the auction ended. Did I ever
consider just letting the auction end and telling the buyer, "sorry,
but I stated I did not know what this was, so too bad for you"? After
all, one could say that I did nothing wrong, and it was the bidders'
fault for not checking out the item thoroughly.
Not for a moment did I consider doing this, because I truly do
believe (as my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Crabtree told me), "honesty
IS the best policy".
Oh wait, that wasn't MY kindergarten teacher, but rather the one from
the Little Rascals shows I watched all the time. But I do believe she
was surely right (and I wish all auction houses (and movie poster
sellers) felt the same way)!
Bruce
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