None of which applies to me, for the record. My only purchase was paid for reasonably promptly from memory, though I do not have my email archive on hand to confirm.
I feel sorry for the consignor, they would have received a lot more. How much more I could only guess. Natalie --- On Sun, 4/11/07, Bruce Hershenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Bruce Hershenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [MOPO] Re Hershenson Auctions > To: [email protected] > Received: Sunday, 4 November, 2007, 6:35 AM > I am not at my office right now, and won't be able to > check until Monday > morning why this specific person was placed on my blocked > bidder list, but > there are three primary reasons people are placed on my > blocked bidder list: > > 1) There is an automated process that places all bidders on > my blocked > bidder list if they have not paid four weeks after an item > closes. If they > never do pay, they stay there, even if it is over one 99 > cent item (this is > because we absolutely do not want even one bidder who does > not intend to > honor every single bid they make on our auctions). > If they pay AFTER four weeks, then they remain on my > blocked bidder > list until they discover it, which sometimes takes a few > weeks, and often a > year or more. If they then contact us directly, we remove > they from my > blocked bidder list, and tell them that if they don't > pay for future > purchases within four weeks at the very most, they will > permanently stay on > my blocked bidder list. > This may seem harsh, but I think no one should bid on > items if they > can't pay in full within four weeks. Some have > described this as > "restrictive payment terms", but I wonder if > those who can't pay within four > weeks (especially since they can pay with any credit card, > which can be paid > off over years) should be bidding at all? Maybe they should > save their money > for more pressing things, like their mortgage payment, etc. > When auction houses give unlimited credit, with a tiny > amount down, and > endless time to pay at high interest rates, they are in > effect turning > themselves into credit card companies, and that can cause > artificially > inflated prices on collectibles, and contributes towards > creating a "Ponzi > scheme", where prices rise 20% annually, until the > inevitable crash (it > works the same in the stock market, the real estate market, > and the antiques > and art markets, but this is the first time it has been > tried in > collectibles, but I suspect the result will be the same). > > 2) I place people on my blocked bidder list if they post on > a forum that > they will never purchase from me. This is for their > protection. I sell so > much that they may accidentally bid on one of my items > without realizing I > am the seller, and this way the blocked bidder list serves > as a wake-up to > remind them that they don't want to buy from me. > > 3) I place people on my blocked bidder list if they post > libelous or > defamatory remarks about me in any public forums. There is > one sad fellow > who several times has posted that I was fired from > Christie's in 1993, with > additional incorrect defamatory comments. It apparently > does not matter to > this fellow that I was never fired from Christie's (I > stopped doing auctions > there because they changed owners, and the new owners would > not sign the > same contract as the previous owners, one that stipulated > that I and > not Christie's publish the catalog: in fact they > offered me other incentives > in an effort to keep me there, and I turned them down), and > the very > public fact that I did my last auction with them in 1997 > also does not seem > to matter either! I can't see why I want to sell to > someone who is so far > removed from reality that they post private whispered > smears which they are > told onto public forums (without in any way attempting to > find out if they > are correct), and so this person, and others like him, > remain on my blocked > bidder list. > > I have found that by keeping these people on my blocked > bidder list, I > collect from 99%+ of the buyers, both in money terms, and > in terms of > numbers of items. I also get less than one in one thousand > items returned, > either because of condition description, or any other > inaccuracy in the > description. I am convinced that the tiny number of people > who reside on I > my blocked bidder list are responsible for a huge > percentage of the > complaints we regularly see posted about on forums, and I > have no desire to > change my strategy of selling. > I want my auctions to be 100% honest in terms of > actual bidders who > only place bids on items they intend to buy, and who honor > every single bid > they make. I strive to describe every item 100% accurately, > even if it often > makes some of my consignors cringe (I regularly get e-mails > from consignors > that say, "Did you really have to run it down THAT > much?", but in their > heart of hearts they KNOW I described it accurately), and I > know the buyers > very much appreciate that honestly. We have spent 19 years > perfecting the > best ways of wrapping movie paper, and the only complaint I > get on that > front is the "It took me an hour to open the danged > package!" I hear > regularly. > I feel certain that the above policies pay off huge > for me in terms of > the number of people who bid in my auctions (sometimes to > the exclusion of > all others) precisely because they know there is no monkey > business in the > bidding, that the items will be exactly as described, and > that they will > arrive in exactly the condition they left here in, and I > KNOW that this is > often not the case with other auctions). > > I fully recognize that there is a tiny percentage of people > who in spite of > all of the above do not want to deal with me (many out of > jealousy, in the > same way they don't want to buy from Wal-Mart) and I > can live with that. I > am content to continue to sell to the 29.000+ collectors I > have already sold > to, and leave that tiny "lunatic fringe" alone! > > Bruce > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at > www.filmfan.com > > ___________________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > > Send a message addressed to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF > MOPO-L > > The author of this message is solely responsible for > its content. National Bingo Night. Play along for the chance to win $10,000 every week. Download your gamecard now at Yahoo!7 TV. http://au.blogs.yahoo.com/national-bingo-night/ Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
