And I thought why not get more precise: auction-related emails.
I am not here to interpret Judith Martin's approach to cyber civility, but I will say that much of the auctioneer's job is cluttered with buyers who don't pay and sellers who don't invoice, and both these non-events tend to be accompanied by a complete failure to look at one's emails.
So, as a reminder: if you post a lot for sale; or if you bid on a lot; or if you click on an approval lot, please follow through. Please, be courteous; be Gestalt; and don't create, by your failure to do any of the above, a reason for the auctioneer to go into Glen Close mode.
Next up: Rabbit topicals
David
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
I definitely agree with that. No seller, and Phil's comment is good for new sellers to learn, should ship any item before it is paid for.
In addition, I believe that buyers who do not pay, or are slow to pay or answer communications from the seller without good reason, should face a graduated disciplinary process from warning notice to what Bobby stated in his reply to another post. Depending on how serious the actions of the buyer are (i.e. - bought 100 items from one seller; bought several items from several different sellers), the action taken against the buyer could skip from the "slap on the wrist" to the more severe repercussions.
Not to be one sided on this, but the same principles should apply to sellers who do not ship, unless there's a good reason for not shipping.
While that is true, Michael and Phil, WE as auctioneers need to know when there are problems with either buyers or sellers, ESPECIALLY when there is a trend going on.
This is NOT EBay, where every man or woman is for themselves.
And as much as some people do not like PayPal, it does offer buyer protection. The buyer does need to file their claim within 6 months of the transaction, I believe. I would rather that a buyer come to us first BEFORE they need to do this, however, especially in the auctions, where there are two of us. We had a situation a number of months ago where several buyers had a problem with the same seller. I was one of them, and if I knew others were in the same boat, I might have done things a little differently.
I also don't take kindly to what typically happened in StampWants/BidStart/SG forums where "dirty laundry" was and is being aired out. BOB
Bob, I wasn't talking about PayPal or any other site at all. I was talking about members here who abuse buying and selling privileges on SOR. It does happen, thankfully not that often, and many times when it does, there was a justified reason for it.
"WE as auctioneers need to know when there are problems with either buyers or sellers, ESPECIALLY when there is a trend going on."
Definitely. That's what you and David get paid the big bucks for.
Phil, happy to be a pinch hitter for you any time, but I can imagine no manager substituting me for you in the lineup. Frankly, I'd go to the plate, then fire the manager.
Your little bambino
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
Michael is quite right.... rules apply to buyers and sellers alike, and there, unfortunately, sufficient skating around rules and etiquettes from both parties.
And there are repurcussions. I generally assume some third-party accident (internet out; wife sick; cat ate the keyboard) or the general forgetfulness associated with folks of an age to be interested in philately. For them, a mistake is an annoyance, but excusable.... once. For those who fully partake of our contracts and then go on extended walkabout, I sick the dingoes on 'em and send them on the other side of the rabbit proof fence.
As to fraud and thievery, we are very lucky to have escaped it with few visitors and less harm. You can thank policies that Perry, our former membership guy, and Tim, our guardian of the cyber gate, have put in place and executed with great diligence. They've walked a fine line with grace and good luck in equal measure.
Perry's not on much these days, but should you see him, be sure to thank him for the invisible job he's done for many years that allows me to make that above statement truthfully.
David, 1/2 the auctioneer team
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 15 Sep 2015 09:07:02pm
re: I will NOT be ignored
This thread has been split, moving 1 posts onto a new Thread titled:"I've been ripped off!!!"
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"
Lol, when I was selling in the auction, I was always a cash or mint stamps for payment seller. There was one person who started regularly winning my stuff. They would send me uncancelled SA stamps that were already used. When I told them this was unacceptable, their response was that all I needed was a little glue to use them. It is lol funny, but this person continued to send me uncancelled SA stamps as payment. I quit listing anything I thought they would bid on.
Doe, those are the types of people that need an electrode upside the head and should be reported to the auctioneers, PDQ. As long as people continue with this type of behavior they will just progress into that type of behavior with other sellers and soon we will just be just like eBay, or worse. When you make the rules, others must follow them or they don't get the stamps they bid on and won. This is just another type of "growing pain" and we don't need this type of person here, at lest IMHO.
Mike
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"It's been three years now, since I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet..."
"Lol, when I was selling in the auction, I was always a cash or mint stamps for payment seller. There was one person who started regularly winning my stuff. They would send me uncancelled SA stamps that were already used. When I told them this was unacceptable, their response was that all I needed was a little glue to use them. It is lol funny, but this person continued to send me uncancelled SA stamps as payment. I quit listing anything I thought they would bid on. Silly"
I'd send his phony stamps back, and I'd really like to know who this is just in case I list something he/she likes
"Doe, those are the types of people that need an electrode upside the head and should be reported to the auctioneers"
It was reported, and David did intervene, but it made no difference to this buyer who continued doing as they pleased, it got kind of ugly and was definitely frustrating. When I was selling, I wished I could block this person from seeing my lots. (As a buyer I often wish I could cancel out certain sellers from my viewing of lots, you know.. if I feel their shipping cost is too high for me, or they only accept certain kinds of payments, or they live in Timbuktu etc..) -I quit selling not long after. I don't do confrontation without it troubling me, and selling just isn't worth that trouble.
Anywho, I was kinda saying that even when you get the 'other party' to read the messages, sometimes we are still ignored.
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