[meteorite-list] Ebay, Selling, Quiting, etc. Last Word!

Sun, 30 Dec 2001 14:03:55 -0800

Hello Everyone,
 
First, my apologies to Charlie and Michael.  I re-read their post with a less defensive attitude.  I have now calmed down enough to explain what happened at ebay.
 
I had some meteorite and non-meteorite auctions ended by ebay a couple of days ago.  Ebay sellers take note:  my auctions were ended because (1) I provided a hyperlink to my website (that is, a clickable banner) and (2) I stated in my auctions that anything can be returned for a refund minus shipping and auction fees.  Ebay apparently interprets this last statement as requiring the buyer to pay these fees and this is against their policy.  I have made references to my website and I have stated this refund policy for literally years (though I have never had anything returned).
 
This business of not being able to link to a website really irritates me.  If anyone has been to my site in the last 6 months or so, you would have seen a 99% educational site, which is what I like mostly about meteorites.  I have not had any new material for sale in months because I simply have not had the time.  I have gotten email from educators and school kids, CNN science reporters, people researching the topic of meteorites, etc, most of whom found my site via ebay.
 
Now ebay is saying they won't allow links to external sites.
 
Umm, interesting.  I just tried to change my ebay id from wbranchsb to branchmeteorites.com and ebay would not let me do it.  Nor would they accept branchmeteoritesdotcom.  Looks like dealers such as Jim Strope (sikhote-alin.com) and Steve Arnold (meteoritebroker.com) and others got theirs in time.
 
In case anyone follows my auctions, I did just successfully change my id to branchmeteorites, so now I have to shades to the right of my id.
 
Speaking only from my experience with the commercial side of my website, I can honestly say that few people actually bought from my site.  It seems that most collectors prefer to bid at ebay.  Funny thing is, most of these bidders bid up the price of something far beyond what they could have gotten it for at my site.  Amazing.
 
Well, I have decided that my New Years resolution will be to spend even more time with my family (not to mention my telescope projects) by just quitting to the commercial side of meteorites.  I will do away with the commercial side of my site and focus more on the educational portion.  For those of you who do not do this, I takes a lot of time to fully process new material for sale at a website, including preparing specimens for auction at ebay.  In the past, whenever I would post new material at my site I would also enter for auction one specimen at a time at ebay until it was all sold.  As I previously noted, most of my material sells (sold) at ebay, so posting at my website and ebay becomes somewhat redundant and time-consuming. 
 
As with any collecting venture, specimens fall in and out of favor and whenever one falls out of my favor I will offer it for sale here or at *gulp* ebay but I will no longer list the quantity of items as I used to.
 
BTW, I have recently developed an interest in astrophotography and I will be spending more time with this.  My initial efforts were on Christmas eve, December 24.  I used a 70mm scope and my digital camera, which was held to the eyepiece.  Here is the best of a series I took of sunspots:
 
 
and here is an image of the moon, same setup,
 
 
These were untouched, unprocessed, straight from the camera images.  I would appreciate any critical comments from those of you who might do astrophotograpy.
 
Okay, the length of this post has to be a record for me so I will end it.  I want to thank everyone who has supported my efforts at branchmeteorites.  I have tried to offer good material at reasonable prices, often at cost.  You can follow any auctions I might have by searching on my (new) user id: branchmeteorites but before I re-list it at ebay, I have a 2263 gram sculpted Canyon Diablo for $550.00.  Here is an image:
 
 
Best wishes and Happy New Year to every one!
 
-Walter

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Walter Branch, Ph.D.
Branch Meteorites
322 Stephenson Ave., Suite B
Savannah, GA  31405 USA
www.branchmeteorites.com

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