if anyone cares to sell one. - Also looking for This Gun for Hire lobby card UNRESTORED with Alan Ladd holding V. Lake's limp body.
- Also lookking for This Gun For Hire One Sheet.... Price is the key....must be 14K-16K. TIA --- Bruce Hershenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > JR > > A small correction to what you wrote. I DO charge > actual shipping > (plus $2 for packaging materials) some weeks (like > this current > week), but I only do so when the items vary in size, > weight and/or > value quite a bit, and there is no good way to > charge a flat rate. > > Other weeks (when I sell mostly items of the same > size), I charge a > variable shipping charge, based on the total DOLLARS > spent, and > irregardless of the total number of items. The costs > are these: > If your order total is less than $20, U.S. shipping > is $5.50 > If your order total is $20 to $49.99, U.S. shipping > is $7.00 > If your order total is $50 to $399.99, U.S. shipping > is $8.50 > If your order total is $400 or over, U.S. shipping > is $10.00 > > For those who live outside the U.S. I still charge > actual shipping > (plus $2 for packaging materials), because rates > vary so much from > country to country. > > The benefit of the above sliding scale is that those > who just get a > single cheap item "get a break", and that is > important as those > people are the ones most likely to get upset over > what they perceive > as "excessive shipping". > > Do I sometimes lose money? Sure. I almost never make > even a penny. > But it is worth it to have a standardized rate that > all but the > wackiest of collectors can live with. > > As to the packaging materials, I always use > brand-new custom-made > heavy duty boxes, tubes, and backing boards, and I > spend the $2 I > charge on 99% of the orders I send. I never get > complaints about that > $2 charge, once they see my packages and tubes! > > I wish all sellers would adopt these same standards, > but I am not > holding my breath waiting. For too many sellers (and > major auction > houses) shipping and "handling" charges are a major > "profit center". > My least favorite sellers are those that charge a > full "per item" > charge for every item you get, and only combine the > shipping if you > complain (and say it was an error), thus pocketing a > LOT of extra > money from those who DON'T complain. > > Incidentally JR, I suggest you re-consider regularly > mentioning me in > a positive light. You might find that the Hershenson > haters out there > start attacking you, maybe even calling you a > "joke", and I wouldn't > want that to happen, as I have a lot of respect for > you and what you > have accomplished. > > Bruce > > JR wrote: > > I agree with what Craig and others have been saying > about pumped-up > "shipping and handling" charges that some sellers > implement. But I'd > like to point out a couple of things: > > 1) This is a common practice for non-eBay mail-order > companies and > has been for decades. How many times have you seen > the TV ad where > they're going to send you a "$75 dollar value for > ONLY $9.95" and you > look at the screen and it says "$9.95 plus shipping > & handling" and > when you place the order you discover that shipping > and handing is > $19.95 or more? Using the shipping and handling > charge as a way to > offer absurdly low retail prices and still end up > getting paid closer > to a genuine retail price is a common practice,even > with the big > brand-name catalogs -- let's not pretend it's just > an eBay issue. > It's just that more and more of those sellers who > have been doing > regular mail-order and charging excessive shipping > charges have now > moved to doing business on eBay and have brought > their decades-old > techniques with them. > > 2) In a way, eBay encourages this kind of thing by > prohibiting > sellers from charging users who pay with PayPal or > Credit Cards a > processing fee. The seller is charged the > processing fee -- it is a > cost of doing business -- but they are not allowed > to pass it on to > the customers, at least not up front and honestly. > They can't add it > to the starting bid, because on all this low-cost > stuff that makes > their starting bids non-competitive with the 99-cent > starting bids of > their rivals on eBay. So, the only place left for > them to recoup > genuine cost-of-business expenses is by pumping up > the "shipping and > handling" charge. Note the "handling" term attached > to "shipping and > handling" -- that very clearly means they are not > claiming that all > of the charge will be spent on the actual shipping > cost, but some of > it is also for covering "handling" -- a code word > for "our cost of > doing business and making the profit we feel we need > to make to stay > in business." > > So, pumped-up shipping and handling charges are > nothing new and > there's really nothing that eBay is going to be able > to do about it, > despite their public posturing. The only thing a > buyer can do is be a > smart shopper and check out various sellers and > compare what their > "shipping and handling" charges are -- then do > business with the ones > who seems to be the most reasonable in this area. I > remember several > years ago when Bruce was publicly criticized because > he was charging > a flat $8.00 shipping and handling fee on all of his > eBay sales -- > regardless of how many posters you won, he would > combine them into > one package and charge you a flat $8 bucks. At the > time some people > thought that was kinda high... particularly if you > only won a single > poster for $9.95 (in those days many poster sellers > were only > charging $3.00 to $5.00 to ship). Now almost > everyone charges $8 > bucks or more and Bruce has now gone to actual-cost > shipping plus a > flat $2.00 for packaging materials (which makes the > most sense, but > is a hassle for his staff and the exact amount the > shipping will be > is something the bidder can't know until he's > actually won and gets > the invoice -- but it's the only fair way to do it. > Those who still > charge a flat fee must either make it high enough to > guarantee that > they won't lose money on the packaging and shipping > or else take a > chance that they will. Given the low prices so many > eBay items go > for, most are not willing to take even a small loss > on shipping and > handling and I don't blame them). > > It's true many more sellers abuse the process... > that some insist on > insurance and then don't buy it... or charge you > Priority Mail rates > and then ship "Media Mail" or simple First Class in > crummy packaging. > Those people you learn to avoid buying from -- and > when one of them > screws you like this take a stand and leave negative > feedback and > explain what they did, so that others are warned (or > maybe === message truncated === __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! 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