Tom Postage is one of the biggest problems for dealers these days - particularly in sending packages from Australia to the US. There is no getting around the increases in costs and that is ultimately reducing the cost of lower end stock even further.
Here is an example. I recently sold a lot of items on ebay for 2.99 each. Commission on the sale was 0.30 which sounds OK. However, there was also a commission on the postage of 1.20 for domestic postage and 1.70 for international postage My postage charges barely cover the actual cost. If you inflate the postage price to cover the commission buyers will be turned off. Many dealers forget about factoring in the commission on postage when setting prices on ebay. It is pretty obvious that it is a complete waste of time in selling anything for a low price on ebay. It sounds like sacrilege to a collector, but it is getting to the stage where it will be better for a dealer to throw low value stock in the garbage rather than try and move it. Regards John JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA www.moviemem.com PO Box 92 Elanora Qld 4221 Australia -----Original Message----- From: MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of Tom Martin Sent: Wednesday, 24 September 2014 2:08 PM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: Re: [MOPO] MoviePosterBid Auctions being rescheduled and other notices about the future of auctions john very interesting... I may have found a new profession helping people disolve collections.. when My own issues happened , stress, divorce, haveing to move because I lost my house and commercial building in divorce, health, money loss.. at 1st I was devastated but what happened next and is still happening is I was able to stop being emotional and deal with it in a strategic way..I discovered life was not everlasting thats everyhing was so temporary, thats how I learned a Robinson curuso approach to survival...I started with Prayer, then downsized everything.. s my costs are minimal, and basically hunkered down as I was unable to walk.. so I was bedridden since like 2012, 2013 and just this year could put some weight on a rebuilt foot.tehn My ear went deaf and I have Heart issues and beginnings of Glucoma... No pity please.. I think its funny because Its so odd being a mucisn who like to see and hear and walk and them Boom// but anyways I am a chaos managment expert.. I remeber before my stents in Hospital the nurses said your on a laptop dealing with customerson ebay?? I was and in a nursing home also.. I tryed to delagate to my son howevere he had a different idea of customer service.. he know now afet he himself experienced a pissed off customer so I put on hiatis till I felt ready to do it myself... Ive sent a few ordeds since about a month ago and so far everyones been happy..I have been testing the waters soI do a good job... But I am able to organize very fast make decisions and orchestrate big projects even when I can not walk... and Im learning to adapt to disablitys ... sure its hard but in a way its why I can help others,,, that find it hard to let go and get stuck in collections.. people call me everyday on phone and I give them ideas on how to sell off thier collectables for free...I try to direct them/// also.I would be happy to help anyone on mopo do this also..as imagine if the collection can be used as a fundraiser, or as a tax write off, or packed up cleaned out in a week of everythng... some wives would love it... nice part is the funds can make some dreams happen like a well earned vacation or a car or just simplifing life.. as many auction house want High end only or dealers want to pay pennies..I think of this as it can be various ways to dispose... some in museums, some in private, some in shoppes...a custom way to get rid of a huge amount in a short time... as I did it myself and know every aspect of the project from start to finish.. and Like Rich understands about 60% is probably slow sellers and paying more in rent then what it will sell for.. I am able to look at a math problem and basically I approach it systematically like a Military mission.. If anyone has a logjam and needs help my offer is open Just call and tell me te perimiters of your life issues and ill suggest ideas.. also if anyone wants to be in my network as a potential buyer or seller let me know.. when I do deals I try to make all party's happy the seller, the buyer and also make it fast and simple. On 2014-09-23 23:36, JOHN REID Vintage Movie Memorabilia wrote: > Hi Rich > Your email probably applies to a lot of us. I am in my early 60s and > suddenly starting to realise that my warehouse full of posters has > gotten out of control. When I look at it all I sometimes wonder how I > could have accumulated so much over the last twenty years or so. It's > certainly true that you can't keep up the same pace forever but you > still have to move the stock that you have or maybe even throw a lot > of it away. > Ultimately, I think we all have to wind down a bit from time to time. > Regards > John > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of > Richard Halegua Posters + Comic Art > Sent: Wednesday, 24 September 2014 6:20 AM > To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU > Subject: [MOPO] MoviePosterBid Auctions being rescheduled and other > notices about the future of auctions > > Hi Folks. > > I've been getting some queries about what's going on at > MoviePosterBid.com as my schedules have been rather erratic for the > past few months > > I had announced an autographs auction that was going to begin today, > but I won't be making it. > > I've been working on a number of projects for the past several months > all related to my other collectibles stuff and it's been reducing the > schedule of available time to do movie poster auctions > > Why is this happening? > > Well it's like this, since I took over & started doing a regular > auction on MoviePosterBid.com in 2006, for the past 8 years I have > done almost nothing else other than my auctions. > For 7 years, this was a weekly process that I had assistants for, but > my Secretary of many years Anna moved on last May and I'd been > handling it mostly by myself until my friend Brian had started helping > me a few months back. > > Doing these auctions is a real job.. Creating, photographing, listing, > shipping (and all the other attendant work for an auction) is 160 > hours work. For most people 160 hours is full time job and they would > be correct, it is indeed a full time job. In retrospect, it's hard to > understand how I did this for 7 years on a weekly rotation and while I > have been doing a monthly or even bi-weekly series for a while, the > combination of all the other work and the auctions means something has > got to give. > > For instance, for all of that 7 years, my warehouse, which is full of > other material aside from movie posters has pretty much laid > untouched, which means that nearly $1,000,000 of merchandise has been > effectively not for sale. Comic books, original comic art, pulp > magazines, movie & other magazines, miscellaneous items of all kinds > and who-knows-what have sat, mostly untouched except for when boxes > needed to be moved so that I could get at the movie posters behind > them. It's something I can't ignore anymore. > > I must process and list all that stuff. Turn it into cash and trade. > Get it out of my overstuffed and disorganized 2200 sqft of racked and > shelved warehouse. > As a result, I have been far more busy working in the back of the > building than in the front and no question, movie poster auctions have > taken a back seat. > For the near term this is not going to change. I have to get this work > done and it is going to take the rest of this year at least. My > ambitions make me think I can do all this work and fast, but as I near > 60, I'm finally coming to the conclusion that I can't work like I did > when I was 35. > > What that means is that I will not be able to adhere to a regular > bi-weekly auction schedule, though it does not mean I will not be > doing auctions. > It > just means that sometimes an auction will be happening and sometimes > not. I had an auction of autographed items announced that would start > today, but is being delayed not just because of the work I have in > back, but also because I'm leaving Thursday for L.A. to be at the Ray > Courts Celebrities Show return in Burbank > http://courtscelebritiesshow.com/ Ray did his shows for many years, > sold out & is now coming back.. and I'm going! > > None the less, I can't get the auction listed in time and rather than > keep saying "an auction is coming now" I'm going to reschedule it for > after my return from LA. I will enlarge this auction and the > autographed items will just be a part of the sale along with folded > posters and lobby cards. > This > begins October 5th and will not be rescheduled, so you can mark your > calendars > > Moving forward, I have been asking new consignors to wait for me as I > clean up all the work I have and get back to a proper point to handle > their material. Thankfully, they have all stated that they would wait > for me and I have some nice collections lined up, so when I get back > to a real schedule, you folks will be very happy. > > meanwhile, if you are looking for collectibles to buy, I am currently > processing text lists for comic books, pulps, Big Little Books, art, > magazines and other collectibles as well as a very large list of movie > posters Some material has been listed in the MoviePosterBid.com > Supermarket for ready sale > http://www.movieposterbid.com/index.php?option=com_mijoshop&view=home&; > Itemid > =537 > > and you can find some comics listings at the CGC comics boards > http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Numbe > r=8016 > 543&fpart=1 > http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Numbe > r=8027 > 017&fpart=1 > http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Numbe > r=8027 > 019&fpart=1 > http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Numbe > r=8051 > 418#Post8051418 > > Also, while we are re-aligning everything here, I'm going to get the > programmer to fix some bugs on MPB that have been irritating me as > well as bidders. Hopefully they can figure out pretty soon what the > solutions are. > > In any case, thanks for reading everyone. It's been a long road and > the road hasn't ended.. It goes on into the distance. I hope I find > you waiting at the next rest stop > > thanks > Rich > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > > Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ > How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List > > Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu > In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L > > The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. ---- Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
