posted on January 14, 2005 05:02:47 AM new
This is a nice problem to have...
Owner consigned a 1969 Gibson Les Paul to me. $1800 is a reasonable selling price; he'd be happy. If it were my own, I'd probably start it at $1, but he wants to start it at $1200, which is okay with me.
Auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3775977112&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT begins. 17 minutes into 17 (while I'm putting kids to bed), opening bid is hit. Bidder sends email requesting amount required to end auction. After kids are asleep, I tell him that "I'm not the owner, blah, blah, I'll get back to you after I talk to the owner but he will probably want to let the auction continue."
Wake up this morning, two more bids (to $1325) by two different bidders; new high bidder emails me with the same request as first bidder. 9 1/2 days to go.
If it were my item, My inclination would be to let the auction continue, but I am (I believe) duty-bound to tell the consignor about the two requests. What would you encourage the consignor to do?
Thanks in advance, and please, no sour grapes, I don't have these "problems" every day either.
posted on January 14, 2005 05:11:40 AM new
I would advise the client to let it run. I've had this happen before and it's lots of fun to watch. With as much time as there is left, you're bound to meet your original expectations and probably exceed them. Of course, there's no guarantee, but I'd definitely tell the client what's going on and advise them to let it run. Just my 2 cents.
posted on January 14, 2005 05:29:56 AM new
WOW!!! Let that baby ride!!! I think you will fetch quite a bit of money from this. My dad had a Gibson electric guitar (I'm not sure how old it was, but definitely from the '60s), but it was lost in Hurricane Andrew. It was white and had the same case. The only difference I can see (other than the color) was that his had a whammy bar. It was a beautiful guitar and one that my sister and I learned how to play. Of course this was many years ago, but whenever I think of dad playing his guitar with his old beat-up amplifier, I get tears in my eyes. I would love to be able to replace it, although due to dad's accident, he will never be able to play again.
posted on January 14, 2005 05:55:29 AM new
let it ride.......
"1969 Gibson Les Paul 'Custom' "Black Beauty" The Ultimate 60's Les Paul Custom, it has the great features of a '1968' Les Paul Custom model. All Gold parts including a Tune-O-Matic bridge/Stop Tailpiece combo, 2-Humbucking pickups and Tuners, it also features the original Sprague Capacitors, a Multi-bound Top and Back, bound neck with an Ebony fret-board, Pearl block inlays, 5-Piece Split Diamond Inlay on the headstock, This is a light-weight great playing and sounding Les Paul Custom and a rare find! EXC w/Original Rectangle HSC $5500 HOLD"
Must of sold because it's not on the current page.
posted on January 14, 2005 07:18:44 AM new
yes...from experience...let it ride.
we sold a race car trailer a few years back for a freind. it was brand new and they never got around using it because of a death in their family. they wanted just to get rid of it and would have sold it for $10,000...bidding went over $10,000 the first day and people kept emailing and offering $13,000 to $15,000 for it. My friend wanted to sell it right then and there...but i and told them to wait.
It ended up selling for just over $20,000...they winner was a 15 hours drive away and picked it up 2 days later and paid cash.
sad thing is...before the trailer was listed...my friend came to me and asked me if i wanted to buy it for $10,000...i told them no..but i would try and help sell it for them.
posted on January 14, 2005 09:05:09 AM new
Got an offline offer of $4150. I guess the owner wasn't sure of what he had, and to my shame, I didn't know enough to set him straight.
One way or another, this is going to be a good payday
posted on January 14, 2005 11:38:55 AM new
glassgrl,
Anything over $250, we require a signature. Anything really expensive, we require an adult signature.
It's a long story, but we do use UPS insurance when shipping with UPS. If I didn't have a special relationship with a UPS Store, I wouldn't. They're good to us
posted on January 14, 2005 12:05:57 PM new
dadofstickboy,
Are you accusing me of gouging? I sure hope not, because I don't even know you, so why would you insult me?
If you can ship this for less, I'll put you in charge of shipping here at an hourly wage. I assume that you Have heard of dimensional weight.
If it turns out that the package costs less to ship, we give partial refunds all the time. I don't think this one will. I might even lose some money on shipping. It will probably cost $30+ just for insurance.
posted on January 14, 2005 12:24:04 PM new
Please, please, say it ain't so. Are you really going to ship that magnificent
instrument UPS ground?
My first real job was working on the receiving dock of a warehouse of a certain major retailer. I unloaded (or received) shipments delivered by just about every truckline and LTL carrier.
Packages shipped UPS Ground were the most likely to be damaged. Individual boxes that fell off pallets, and bounced around loose
on the back semi trucks faired much better than those bumped around from dock to dock via UPS.
The few packages that have been delivered to my home via UPS Ground in the past few years have not improved my opinion of them. (I don't bid if UPS GROUND is the only option.)
UPS 2nd Day Air, on the other hand seems to be a great service. Wouldn't UPS 2nd Day AIR be less than $100.00 (even with a generous handling charge). I recently shipped a French Horn across the country (with case, double boxed) 2nd Day, INSURED, via FED-EX for $56.00.
$100.00 via ground seems a bit steep.
[ edited by ajbooks9000 on Jan 14, 2005 12:25 PM ]
posted on January 14, 2005 12:56:47 PM new
Somehow this became a referendum on my shipping. Have you ever noticed how many threads turn into discussions about shipping?
When I double-box this guitar, it will go over-sized. Insurance for $4000 is $39, unless I use a discounted insurance. This guitar will be packed very well. If I have to ship an over-sized box from NJ to CA, it will not be cheap. If the buyer lives closer, it will cost less. If it costs materially less than $100, INCLUDING my costs to pack it, I will send a refund. I sleep well at night and don't feel I'm ripping anyone off.
Perhaps my prices are higher than the ones charged by people who do this from a spare bedroom in their home, but then again, so are my costs. My store costs me $2500 per month in rent, plus employees, computers (6 here plus 1 at home), internet, gas, etc. AND NOBODY IS FORCED TO BID IF THEY DON'T LIKE MY SHIPPING! I get kudos for my shipping in many feedbacks, because we ship fragile and awkward things all the time with very little breakage.
My experience with UPS is happier than yours. My experience with FedEx is someone who mailed me a "Guaranteed" next morning envelope with a cashier's check inside on the 22nd, and I received it on the 28th. Granted, Christmas and bad weather were involved, but puhleeze!
posted on January 14, 2005 01:35:31 PM new
No, I'm the one that is sorry. I got a bit ruffled with dadofstickboy. Your post was nothing but courteous, and I'm sorry if my mood spilled over into my reply to you.
The good news is that my wife is coming back after a business trip tonight I'll be happy, the kids will be happy, and my wife will be happier still. And, I'll have something to do besides over-react to a forum post
I re-read my post, and I think I was still somewhat chafed by the one previous to yours. And, for what it's worth, his post wasn't so bad either.
posted on January 14, 2005 03:06:21 PM new
I think that when figuring in the shipping people seem to be forgetting the size of a guitar case and the box one places it in with packing. On top of that - every try to find a box for one of those bad boys?
In terms of the guitar getting damaged - I doubt it - Gibson makes a hell of a case. Wrap the case in a plastic shrink wrap or the thin padding sheets to lessen it's movement since the hinges are broken and you should be good to go.
The one thing I would suggest in the future is if you have an item like this that you don't know much about, contact someone that does. Older classic instraments like this are often sought after by recording studios who loan or rent them to clients for sessions and so are willing to pay top dollar.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on January 14, 2005 04:12:59 PM new
Fenix, you're right about dimensional weight. Sometimes I see auctions on items similar to something I'm selling, or a potential buyer will say that "this other auction will ship for $x" which is less than half of my shipping. Around the office we say, new sellers weigh, experienced sellers weigh and MEASURE!
The package gets even bigger. If you want to collect on UPS insurance for an item > $500, you had better DOUBLE box it -- even if it doesn't need it. There really are no stock boxes for this; a wardrobe box is much too large, so that means making two boxes (which isn't as quick as pulling one out of a bin)... and there has to be padding between the boxes! MAN, now that I think about it, I'm going to revise the auction's shipping charges upward
Fenix, if I had to really know what I'm selling half of the time, I'd have to close up my shop. We have some "associates" who help us out with sports memorabilia, antiquarian books, cameras, etc., and we know some things relatively well (audio equipment, handbags, etc.), but I haven't found someone I trust for musical instruments. We sold a vintage banjo for $2750 that a local music shop offered to buy for $400!
We do sometimes broker deals with experts (we have someone for vintage Tiffany glass, someone for violins, etc.). However, as a consignment shop, it starts getting really dodgy in terms of ethics. For example, I tell my clients when I am going to introduce them to our antiquarian book dealer: he is honest, but he is in business. He will offer you between 1/3 and 1/2 of what he thinks he can sell the book for, since that's our agreement with him. Please understand that he has expertise and a network of clients that you and I don't have, and that's the basis of his deserving a profit. As a courtesy, he will help us with descriptions of books he's not personally interested in.
posted on January 14, 2005 04:29:38 PM new
Cash,
Go to a local moving company and get a crib mattress carton as well as a twin size mattress carton. Cut off one end of the twin carton, fashion flaps for that end and you have your inner and outer boxes. They may charge you for a crib carton, but will probably give you a used twin carton free. If they don't have a crib carton, a flat wardrobe, used for international shipping will work as well.
A $75.00 solid state device will always blow first to protect a 25 cent fuse ~ Murphy's Law
posted on January 15, 2005 08:29:46 AM new
The question at hand is, "what are the dimensions?"
I ship about 5 oversize 2 parcels a week, which is equivelant to 70 pounds shipping weight. (Oversize 2 is 108 inches to 130 inches) The most expensive shipping cost I have ever had was $37.00. Now you add the insurance costs and you will be in the $50 neighborhood. I have to question the dimensions of the boxed guitar. I ship many items oversize 1 (84 to 108 inches) and a guitar should easily fit into this catagory once properly boxed.
Ok, enough about the shipping. Since you have it stated, if a bidder bids, so what. They knew how much it is going to be ahead of time, so they have nothing to complain about. Besides, with UPS, they will never know what the actual cost will be anyway.
Let the auction ride. I do many high priced consignments and never even consider an offer to end it early. This is something you should have already discussed with your client. I suggest next time to agree to simply delete all e-mail requests for the offers and move on. No need to bother the client with the stupid stuff.
posted on January 15, 2005 10:01:05 AM new
Stonecold,
You might be right about ignoring emailed offers. I have to think about it. It always seemed like a duty on my part to relay any good faith offers to the owner. I'll have to "think on it."
One last thing about shipping: I'm WAY on the East Coast, and if trends hold, I would have to ship WAY to the West Coast. I previously priced 2/3 of the way cross country in my listings, until it seemed that "all heavy or large packages go to California." So, now I price NJ to CA, and refund the excess if appropriate.
posted on January 23, 2005 11:24:01 PM new
The cumulative wisdom of this nice bunch of Vendio people never ceases to amaze me.
I'm glad to know the guitar went for a good amount!
___________________________________
Is it true that the only difference between a yard sale and a trash pickup is how close to the road the stuff is placed?
posted on January 23, 2005 11:47:14 PM new
Regarding, pricing of shipping, we use flat price shipping based on from our zip to Seattle, which is about 2000 miles from us. We ONLY ship UPS, and even on items as cheap as $40, if it is a highly breakable item, we insure it for $1,000, which is fairly cheap via USP. We learned long ago, items shipped via UPS, with a value of $1,000 and over are handled totally different than those with a value under $1,000. One of our local customers is with UPS and gave us “insider” hints.
Xmas 2003, we tried to ship under the normal UPS insurance; you know the first $100 is free. We had endless breakage on lamps and delicate items such as these. We immediately went back to the $1,000.00 of insurance on each item, and no more breakage. I think this past xmas, 2004, we only had one breakage – against about 9 the xmas before using regular shipping value. The about $3.50 for the $1,000.00 is added in our shipping rates, and no one has ever complained.
~"It does not matter what I think, it does not matter what you think. The only thing which matters is: What is the TRUTH!"~
every day either.
