Yet another great and insightful post, David.
Thank you.
Jeff
On Jul 9, 2015, at 7:59 PM, David Kusumoto wrote:
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?
Your question, in my view, was reasonable, Tommy. At MoPo - like
elsewhere - there are fiefdoms of fans for this or that dealer - or
for this or that auction house. Unfortunately, any question that
sounds legitimate to "consumers" - which also sounds like an attack
on these disparate fiefdoms - causes some to reflexively rise to
their defense, dishing out metaphors and analogies, mixed with the
occasional fact or direct/indirect quote designed to challenge YOUR
sanity, e.g., to make you appear dim-witted, dodgy or worse for
even querying the group.
Everyone, MYSELF INCLUDED, is guilty of this from time to time, as
we have our faves and biases about who's great, who's good and who
we should avoid because of documented or confessed spotty service
or bad behavior. Even known scammers who have been dragged into
courts or in the news media - have allies on these boards. Just
keep in mind that the lion's share of contributors are merchants
peddling their goods - and to be fair, most have a lot of
expertise, e.g., the recent discussion of "The Third Man" was
especially enlightening.
But the downside of merchant dominance on public forums like MoPo
is I can only count on one hand the number of pure consumers and
non-full-time sellers who choose to contribute to MoPo REGULARLY.
It's too brutal for them because they fear being attacked by paper
cuts of sarcasm. The vast majority of MoPo's small membership are
customer lurkers who are being offended every week - whose
identities I learn about via private messaging as a consumer
advocate. Even the marketing of goods, which is a primary service
provided on these boards - is fraught with controversy. If some
forum members believe it's done too frequently - or - in the eyes
of some, too flamboyantly - (as some felt Bruce H. did before he
left MoPo) - this is frowned upon, esp. benchmark-based advertising
which compares merchants with other merchants. What's common
everywhere in advertising is taboo here - yet the disapproval, in
my view, is expressed most loudly - and almost entirely by
competing merchants, not consumers. -d.
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 15:54:01 +0100
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: HA shipping costs
To: [email protected]
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 <[email protected]> wrote:
Am 09.07.2015 um 13:28 schrieb Simon Oram <[email protected]>:
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
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