Hi,
and Steve many dealers have gotten to know the in's and out's (from the
latter exist only 2 or 3) of the collectorship.
That several dealers' or collectors' webpages are outdated is
understandable. Most sellers, professionals and collectors, are a
one-man-show. To maintain or to built up a homepage requires aside some
technical skills a lot of time. Time which most do not have. To acquire
meteorites costs time, to hunt them or to travel to purchase them costs
time, the cutting and grinding (especially with the irons) is
time-consuming, to exhibit on fairs too. Most sellers have an assortment of
various other non-meteoritical stuff, others have some other jobs for their
main income and finally they have a family and don't want to have a dog's
live with 100 working hours per week.
Furthermore a homepage has more the function of a shop window, it attracts
rather laymen and newcomers, both groups tending to purchase only little
pieces, most are content to own at all a single piece from space (in most
cases a little iron), so that only a minute part of the sales volume will be
generated by one's homepage.
In selling meteorites the dealer has not to fish for the customers, he has
to come to the collectors. As the collectors scene is so small, most
offerors know their collectors in person or via email, hence they know
their individual preferences and whenever they got a new locales, they know
in whose collection's focus it fits and they will discuss directly with the
collectors. On the other hand, especially larger or very expensive
specimens, there of course a buyer want to have the piece in his very hands
to decide, whether he likes it for the collection or not - there to have a
professional webpage, where you click onto the piece to add it to the
shopping cart is a little bit inadequate :-)
Hence most of such deals - selling or swapping are done by personal
communication. (Yippie, be prepared, Stefan Ralew, Andi Gren and
Mr.Buckleboo will come to next year's Tucson show!).
Other thing is ebay, where compared to a homepage, a seller has the
warranty, that the specimen will be moved immediately (while on a homepage
some stones can rest a year or more until it is sold)
and as a meteorite seller can't live from love and air alone, they have to
use ebay - to set up auctions takes time too.
Last thing from the sewing case of a meteorite seller is the customers'
service - to give them expert advice - and depending on the pedagogical
impetus to assist, to help and to give guidance to the laymen or the
beginners to accompany them on their first steps to our fascinating hobby.
Costs a lot of time.
And finally the income of meteorite sellers and the compulsion in those
somewhat difficult years to offer the stones at competitive prices won't
allow them in most cases to hire a professional web designer or student to
build up a nice homepage and administer it at the usual rates.
Uuh, my webpage is more than 4 years old and I don't find time to learn
some HTML and to rebuild it. Ek!
Martininho Buckleboo
-Ursprüngliche Nachricht-
Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Im Auftrag von Steve
Arnold, Chicago!!
Gesendet: Samstag, 24. Juni 2006 18:54
An: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
Betreff: [meteorite-list] meteorite dealers (not removing old inventory)
Hi mike,and list again.I have to go along with mike on this.It really is
frustrating to go to a site and find that there is something you really
want and then you find out it was sold a month or two ago.Having been
invloved with this great hobby now for 7 years,I have really gotten to
know the in's and out's of most of the dealers.But with some of the
newbies,I just say be patient and maybe email some of the dealers and let
them know what it is you really want and I know that they will be more
than happy to get back to you.It is like anything
else,PATIENCE,PATIENCE,and more PATIENCE.
STEVE ARNOLD,CHICAGO
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