AW: [meteorite-list] General Meteorite InterestHasIncreased100%InLast Year

[Greg Hupe]

Dear everyone associated with this post,

We advertise eBay shipping prices based in the U.S. and then go from there. 
In EVERY eBay auction notice after win, eBay includes the following message 
to the winning bidder:

>>Your payment instructions to buyer:
Thank you for bidding with us. Please add the shipping amount indicated if 
you are in the United States, if you are NOT in the U.S., please email me 
your shipping address so I can quote the proper shipping amount for you. If 
you have won more than one auction, email me a list of auction numbers AND 
descriptions along with your shipping address so I can quote combined 
shipping and/or insurance. Thank you.
<<

If this is not clearly our way of asking all winners to contact us regarding 
"actual" shipping costs, then I don't know what is. Also, it clearly states 
we combine shipping to save the buyer costs. Sure, sometimes the actual 
amount will be a few cents more and, most often than not, the amount is 
higher and we pick up the extra costs.

I will only ship Priority in the U.S. due to the fact that I can use the 
post office Priority boxes which provide protection against damage, much 
better than a padded envelope! I ship overseas packages typically in a box 
for same reason, and if a single item is durable, I will send in a padded 
envelope at a lesser rate than advertised.

If a buyer pays a higher price for shipping and I catch it, I will contact 
them and inform them of this and to have free or discounted shipping next 
package. Almost all of our customers are return bidders so within the first 
couple transactions everyone is in tune to our way of shipping and can 
expect to pay for protected shipping.

General question to all, would you rather have protected shipments in a box 
or run the risk of having damaged goods from a padded envelope?? I, for one, 
prefer to feel confident that the item being shipped to me will arrive in 
one piece. Sure, accidents happen or an unseen fracture in the specimen will 
show up during shipping. The postal workers are not the most careful bunch 
in the world, but with boxes, you get better insurance of safe arrival. 
Bottom line, you get what you pay for!

Enough said on this topic, I have better things to do like package material 
to be shipped to happy customers, most in boxes!

Have a great weekend to all,

Greg Hupe
meteoritelab
naturesvault

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael L Blood" <mlblood at cox.net>
To: "Bernhard Rems" <rendelius at rpgdot.com>; "Meteorite List" 
<Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 12:43 PM
Subject: Re: AW: [meteorite-list] General Meteorite 
InterestHasIncreased100%InLast Year


> on 10/1/04 9:09 AM, Bernhard Rems at rendelius at rpgdot.com wrote:
>
>> It's funny to see how much people charge for international shipping, by
>> the way. Some do it for $1 (well, one does *g*), most are under $5.
>> Some, the greedy ones, charge $7 and up.
> -----------
> Hi Burnhard & list members,
>        Not sure where you live, but I charge ACTUAL COST.
> (Of course, no fee for "handling" - which is, indeed, a
> cut and dried rip off).
>        However, "greedy ones charge $7 and up" has me
> confused, as nearly all registered mail (which I use for
> ALL overseas shipping, as it is the ONLY way to guarantee
> delivery, other than FED EX, which is more expensive)
> costs about $12 these days (it varies from $11+ to $12+
> accept to Japan, where it costs $25!)
>        All others (within the US) are a flat 3.85 + insurance ($2 first
> $100, $1 each additional $100). Insurance is optional, but
> recommended.
>        Canada is the exception, where I can send Global Priority
> for $7, but I still recommend registered, as even without insurance,
> it is nearly 100% reliable. MOST out of US buyers want to avoid
> import fees, so, want no insurance. Fine, but not at MY risk. So,
> registered is THE way to go.
>        (I also pack it safely enough that I can literally toss it across
> the room and bounce it off the wall with no fear whatsoever of
> damage to the specimen - I KNOW some nit wit is actually going
> to do this in transit, so, failure to prepare for same is just plane
> stupid. Of course, there is no fee for this. People who charge
> "handling fees" are outrageous in my book)
>        So, when you say "greedy ones charge $7 and up" this does
> not make sense to me (Unless, of course, you are in the US and so
> is the seller - in which case, INDEED, that would be a rip off - unless
> insurance brought it to that level).
>        Best wishes, Michael
>
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