Thanks, David. I am pretty thick skinned so don't worry too much if my posts attract some opprobrium. At least they get the matter discussed.
Tommy On Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 3:59 AM, David Kusumoto <[email protected]> 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 > > 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.
