Rich, I have bought from you in the past and never considered your shipping costs too expensive. In general, I understand that posting to UK from USA is never going to be cheap. I am a small-time dealer myself and occasionally sell to clients in US, so appreciate the costs involved. I do not see shipping as having any profit potential but, like yourself, often take a hit on total postage costs. My initial email was about a specific company, not all US dealers, and it seems that others share my concerns with the attitude of HA in this respect. It is interesting that I have just received 2 emails from them, the first saying that they would seek confirmation of the shipping costs, the second containing a revised and substantially lower quote. Everyone can draw their own conclusions, but I will leave it at that.
Tommy On Thu, Jul 9, 2015 at 9:38 PM, Richard Halegua Posters + Comic Art < sa...@comic-art.com> wrote: > I don't mind the clarification Helmut > > you do get a discount when buying online and it does vary per package. > however, while a single poster in a box weighs 15ozs, one you introduce a > second poster it is over 1lb which makes you pay the 2lb rate. it is rare > that I only sell one poster to any buyer. > However, using your $9.97 rate, I'm still losing money on each package if > you look at my maths. This may not have a poor affect when you're selling > items over $100, but the cheaper items - of which our hobby has more of > every day as thousands more items get pumped out every week at $1 bid (or > even just how many sell below that magical $15 poster some people stand on > their soapbox about) - still are losers in labor & costs > > clearly however you do understand the 40% discount that you are ultimately > giving when you sell that $50 poster for $30 online and I agree.. It's a > difficult price point, but again, as those thousands of items get pumped > out week-after-week under that magical $15 price point, that 40% discount > seems more onerous every day > > I can also add that for every dollar I have increased postage over the > past 10 years, my final value price for any item is reflected in that and > decreases, so it's a loser again. > > here was my favorite from 2013, for an example on how bad it can be > > I had some silent era half sheets listed in auction, as usual starting at > my 99 cents at the time > somehow, these 2 listings actually sold for just opening bid 99 cents each > and to two different bidders, one in California and one in New Jersey so > shipping $10 and shipping $14 > well these two buyers both balked at the shipping costs with the reason > "but the poster only cost 99 cents!" even though one admitted his proxy bid > was $37, the $14.99 total cost was too much. > Both buyers backed out. Interestingly, *I was going to lose money on both > sales after packing & shipping and I was the only person willing to go > through with the deals*. It's insane or inane (you choose) but at least I > got to keep both posters, one of which I later sold for $50 at Cinevent > > Rich > > At 01:15 PM 7/9/2015, Helmut Hamm wrote: > > Rich, > > I hate to contradict you, but if you buy the postage online on the USPS > website, for a 2 pd. package it's only $9.97, not $11.55. Single poster > orders should not exceed 1 pd, so for these you would pay $6.51 for > postage, if purchased online. With all due respect, but I can't see how > you're losing money here. > > As to your 40% discount example: To each his own, but if I start giving > discounts in this range, I feel I could as well replace my price tag with a > 'make offer' button. Seriously, I don't mind the occasional discount on > selected items, but 40% on a single $50 poster purchase? I'd rather have > you take your business somewhere else. > > Personally, I have decided to keep my shipping rates as simply as > possible: For up to nine folded posters, I charge a flat rate of 5 Euros in > Germany, 8 Euros to any location worldwide. For rolled posters, or larger > orders, I charge a flat 15 Euros in Europe, 20 Euros worldwide. These rates > include tracking and full insurance, and unless you require UPS or Fedex, > 20 Euros is the maximum I charge for a single order, regardless of size and > destination. > > On small orders (total weight of under 1 pd.) I make a tiny extra, > anything beyond that I lose money. I probably lose a good deal of money > this way every year, but I also get ZERO complaints about my shipping rates. > > Cheers, > > Helmut > > www.filmposter.net > > *Gesendet:* Donnerstag, 09. Juli 2015 um 21:37 Uhr *Von:* "Richard > Halegua Posters + Comic Art" <sa...@comic-art.com> *An:* > MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU *Betreff:* Re: [MOPO] HA shipping costs > folks.. let's get real on shipping costs. to do so, I'm going to explain > what shipping is like to sellers first of all, while it does seem that > buyers pay shipping costs - it isn't completely true (if it's true at all) > for instance, let's say you as a buyer find something in a store for $50. > You want one, but you say "let's see if I can find this cheaper on the net" > you look and find one priced at $40, but the shipping cost is $10. That > equals $50 and is no deal, so you keep looking. you can't find another, so > you contact the seller and ask if he'll go $30, which he does, you pay $40 > total, get your item. But the dealer.. he's really paying the shipping. > Why? Because in order to sell you the item, he had to drop $20 from the > original price, originally discounted to $40 and then custom discounted to > $30. That $10 came out of the seller's sale, not from your pocket. The > dealer's total discount is 40% of the "list price" the bigger problem to > the dealer however is that the $10 shipping cost didn't really cover all > the costs. when I get $14 to ship a package to NYC, I'm actually losing > $2-4 per package! why? well a 2lb package (any package with 2 posters is > over one pound) costs $11.55, so after shipping itself, there is $2.45 left > for labor and materials my materials cost for a simple package: 2 pieces of > cardboard @47cents (shipped to me)= 94cents. a plastic bag 16cents, a label > (& ink) 42 cents. tape, order print out, maybe a flyer and then, labor. How > much is labor per package - well I know as we've done all the actuarial > stuff here. no person who has ever worked for me ever made more than 5 > packages per hour and the average is 3.5 packages per hour. easy math, if > I'm paying $10 and hour, that is $3 in labor per package. So 94+16+42+3.00= > $4.52. add another 30 cents for the misc (tape etc) and you have about > $4.82 in packaging costs, but you only got $2.45 to cover it. So there is a > loss of $2.37 per package. It gets worse if the item is rolled as I can't > put that in any of the free packaging boxes that the USPS provides. a Tube > costs $1.67 shipped. Or if I have to use my own box because the Priority > Mail box is too small or whatever reason. $2.37+ $1.67= $4.04 loss, per > package think of doing that 50 times a week. it becomes a serious extra > cost and was one of the reasons I had to stop doing a weekly auction (aside > from just being enable to do that much work, even with help) International > orders used to be even worse, because unless your package was shipping > Priority Mail, I had to stand on line at the post office to do the > mailings. Okay, here's that math = 20 mins drive to the po, 30-45min line > wait & counter service (sometimes even more) and then a 20min drive back. a > hour or more of my time and I couldn't send any help as I either paid with > a check or my card, which an employee couldn't do and my hours are more > costly than an employees. Thankfully, I finally was able to get Stamps.com > installed on one computer (it only works on one computer. all others it > freezes up..what a pain) so now I don't have to stand on line at all but > what's my loss on international shipping? It's more than the standard loss > on domestic as I must use all purchased packaging now I don't want to seem > unsympathetic to buyers domestically or internationally and I understand > your pain, but really when I hear people complain about shipping costs - > why don't you just stick a screwdriver in my ear as the pain on my side is > not much different that said, I've posted that a new auction begins on July > 29th we'll have a semi-regular monthly auction, probably 8 or so auctions > annually. Auctions will all start at $9.99 or $10.00 (I believe my software > does not allow cents - I have to check) and the auction will have lobby > cards for Jailhouse Rock, the Outlaw and others, folded one sheets > (including Jaws 1975R), promo items, and other stuff that can all ship in a > single package. a further announcement will be coming after I finish > photographing the 150 or so items for this auction. thanks for reading. > stop complaining Rich At 08:16 AM 7/9/2015, Simon Oram wrote: > Tommy, can I ask you something you mention business practice at the > end of your post. Is this something that you think only applies to other > people or do you think your business practices are exempt from scrutiny and > public discussion? Just I find it a bit rich coming from yourself after > having my one and only dealing with you, no abuse intended but I was > waiting for you to produce the big smoking gun or did you want everybody > else to do it for you before you had your say. Simon From: Tommy Barr > <http://tommymb...@gmail.htm> Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2015 3:54 PM To: > MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <http://mop...@listserv.american.htm> > Subject: Re: [MOPO] HA shipping costs Since March 2012, I have bought a > total of 182 items from HA, ranging in price from $16 to $621. They have > obviously posted many packages to me in that time, and mostly without any > complaint on my part about shipping costs. Recently, however, I have had > cause to question the cost. The last shipment I received was initially > invoiced to me at $147.06, which I queried. I was informed that HA had > charged me at Fedex retail rate and not their discounted rate, so the > invoice was reduced to $103.25. Even so, that was expensive for a small box > of folded posters, especially considering that the previous charge from > HA was for 3 packages sent together containing a mixture of rolled and > folded (approx. 11 folded, 3 rolled including 1 linenbacked, 3 lobby > cards) for which I was charged the not entirely unreasonable amount of > $122.75. I asked that they quote me for shipping before sending any future > packages, and I received a quote (comparing like for like) of $221.97. That > was for 13 folded and 1 rolled (linenbacked) poster, similar to that > previous shipment in size but almost $100 more. I asked for a breakdown of > the cost on 20th June but received no reply until yesterday, when I was > sent exactly the same quote with no reference to my query. (As a matter of > interest, the value of the posters in question is just over $1,000 so not, > as Simon deemed to suggest, cheap purchases.) I buy from several other U.S. > dealers and have found their postage costs to be reasonable, and certainly > never as expensive as Heritage. I have been willing to pay their shipping > charges, however, as obviously they have an attractive offer, in the same > way most people are prepared to pay their buyers’ premium even though > other online poster auctions don’t have one. In this instance, though, I > find it totally unacceptable, which is why I have asked other MOPO members > if they have had similar experiences. Why some have a problem with that I > fail to understand. If MOPO exists to allow collectors to discuss matters > of importance to members (and they don't all live in USA) and not simply > for advertising sales, then surely the business practices of one of the > hobby’s biggest players is a matter for discussion? Tommy On Thu, Jul > 9, 2015 at 3:36 PM, Helmut Hamm <texasmu...@web.de > <http://texasmu...@web.htm>> wrote: Am 09.07.2015 um 13:28 schrieb Simon > Oram < fab5fre...@btinternet.com <http://fab5fre...@btinternet.htm>>: Look > Heritage's shipping charges for the weekly slots are expensive for overseas > buyers on cheap items or items that you thought you got for a bargain price > , so move on and don't buy from them anymore or better still set up an > address in the US to get all your stuff sent there, if you can. What more > do want? Simon, with all due respect, but I also had my grievances > with Heritage's shipping department in the past… Several years ago, they > had GREAT rates with Fedex, two-day international delivery, for less money > than USPS Priority Mail. Unfortunately, the Heritage shipping > department was repeatedly unable to give me ANY estimate upfront. Nobody > over there was able or willing to tell me, what the best option for my > deliveries would've been. In consequence, I had to make a blind choice, and > pay whatever they charged me. I mean, we're not talking about a couple > of bucks here: Take a $10 poster purchase, with buyer's premium you're at > roughly $25, add $40 for shipping and 19% import tax, you end up paying $77 > for what started out as a $10 poster. In consequence, I complete gave > up bidding on low-key items with Heritage, since they usually ended up > costing me WAY too much money. On a related topic: I guess I am > somewhat sensitive about shipping costs, but I still have to see the reason > why so many ebay sellers feel they are untitled to grant themselves a > substantial premium for shipping outside the US. None of those guys would > dare to charge $25 for a domestic package, that costs them $5 to ship, yet > they have no hesitation to charge $40 for an international package, that > costs less than $20 to ship. Also, the common shipping option I see > listed is Priority Mail International. For most of my incoming packages, > that's a waste of money. It DOES take an extra click on the USPS website to > find the cost for First Class Mail International, and one more click to > choose the free 'delivery confirmation' option, which will provide full > tracking all the way to Germany. Then again, why go the extra mile and ship > for $20, when you can make your buyer pay $40 and ship Priority? Helmut > > > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > > ------------------------------ > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
