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 [1]
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/ [2] 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
