The Lionel Guy's FAQ Page

Frequently Axed Questions
Welcome to by eBay FAQ. I've put together this information sheet for prospective buyers and winning bidders that I hope answers some of your questions about my policies. Below is a Cliffs Notes summary of the most important points. If you're not sufficiently confused, click the appropriate link:
1.	Notifying the Buyer : I send notifications within 24 hours. E-mail me if you don't get one. Please do not use eBay’s Request Total function; all information is provided in my notification.

2.	How You Should Pay : A check or money order, U.S. funds only; send cash at your own risk.

3.	Shipping Costs and Insurance : For U.S. shipments, I charge actual shipping costs; I don’t charge for handling. I might add a handling charge for overseas purchases, depending on the item. I ask the buyer to pay for insurance on items with a high bid of $50 or more. Insurance on items valued at less than $50 is optional. : A check or money order, U.S. funds only; send cash at your own risk.

4.	When I Ship : Upon receipt of your payment, within three work days.

5.	How I Ship : USPS, UPS and Fed Ex. All items packed with pride in the USA.

6.	When You Can Expect Your Item : When the post office is good and ready to deliver it.

7.	What to Do to if Your Item Doesn't Show Up : Contact me; I contact the post office; then we pray.

8.	What to Do if You're not Happy with Your Item : Return it.

9.	How I Grade My Items : As candidly and conservatively as possible.

10.	Canceling a Winning Bid : Ask me nicely.

11.	When I Can Cancel a Bid : In extreme circumstances only.

12.	Overseas Buyers : A few notes especially for you.

13.	Feedback : Provided on request after you get your package.

14.	Closing Auctions Early : No way.

15.	Photocopy Services : Sorry, I can't make photocopies of paper items I've sold.

Notifying the Buyer I usually notify all winning bidders within 24 hours of auction close. The exception is if I happen to be out of town, in which case I'll add a note to the end of my item descriptions. Notifications also might be delayed if system problems render eBay inaccessible (but, of course, we all know how outrageously remote that possibility is). If 24 hours pass and you still haven't heard from me, please send me a message. I don’t use eBay Checkout and won’t respond to e-mail sent through eBay’s Request Total function. You can click this link to view a sample of one of my notifications. back to top

How You Should Pay Check or money order only. Sorry, no credit cards, PayPal, or BillPoint. Money orders can come from the post office, Western Union, BidPay, your bank, or any other financial institution. For higher-priced items, I might request a money order, depending on your feedback. I accept cash payments, but with great reluctance. If you send cash and it doesn’t get here, we’re both placed in an awkward situation--I have no way of proving the money didn’t arrive, and you have no way of proving that I’m not lying. You send cash at your own risk. Overseas buyers, see the section below on overseas bidding. If you send cash, don't ask me for change! (Yes, it has happened.) I require payment within two weeks. However, I'm happy to extend the payment period if you notify me of extenuating circumstances (for example, if you're going to be out of town). All items are packed so that they are protected against normal postal handling. If you have special packing needs (for example, if you live on an island and your mail is dropped from a helicopter), please notify me in an e-mail message so that I can calculate any additional shipping costs. Make sure you include your instructions with your payment. back to top

Shipping Costs and Insurance For all items, I charge the estimated actual postage. That is, I estimate how much the post office is going to charge me, and that's the amount I charge you. I do not charge a handling fee. I try to offer a priority rate and an economy rate when it's practical. Economy rate varies depending on the item: Books, records, and sheet music go media rate (formerly book rate) Postcards, brochures, small catalogs, and miscellaneous ephemera go first class Large catalogs, playbills, and magazines are sent first class, parcel post, or bound printed matter, depending on the weight and the location of the buyer It's probably worth emphasizing that magazines, playbills, and other periodicals are NOT eligible for media rate. They are, however, eligible for shipping as bound printed matter, usually for a comparable cost. Quantities of paper items (for example, a stack of postcards) or mixed lots (for example, a package that includes magazines and books) also can’t be shipped media rate. In most cases, I have a pretty good idea of what an item costs to ship. I'm sometimes off by a bit one way or another, but the difference rarely is more than 25 cents to 50 cents. If I'm really off the mark--if, say, I overcharge you $2--I'll send you a refund separately. In all cases, if the shipping costs I quote you don't seem right, please e-mail me, and I will double-check my numbers. All Parcel Post packages that weigh more than two pounds are subject to zoned rates; that is, the postage varies depending on how far you are from me. I’ve put together a web page that will help you to determine how much a package will cost you to ship priority. You can go to it by clicking this link. If you have a choice between priority and book rate, I recommend priority for several reasons based on feedback from buyers: Items sent book rate can take weeks to arrive, especially if they're going long distances. Priority packages get better treatment and are less likely to get banged around. I do not insure items. I'll add the cost of insurance to your total if your high bid is $50 or more. Insurance is optional for items valued at less than $50. USPS charges $1.10 for items valued at $50 or less, $2 for items valued at $100 or less. back to top

When I Ship I ship upon receipt of your check or money order. I do not wait for checks to clear before shipping. I do reserve the right to hold an item if I have reason to be concerned about the check clearing, such as if your feedback page indicates a history of bounced checks or I see your photo on the post office wall. I try to ship within three work days of receipt of payment. If payment comes on Monday, the item is in the mail by Thursday afternoon. If payment arrives on Friday, the item will be gone by Wednesday afternoon. On rare occasions, I get a load of orders all at once, which might cause a extra day's delay in shipping some items. However, I can't remember the last time I didn't get an item out within three business days. Contact me if you want to know when I've received your check or shipped your item. back to top

How I Ship I use the USPS exclusively. I do not ship via UPS or Federal Express. Some record buyers have asked how I ship records. Many of them report that other eBay sellers are mailing their records in plain envelopes. I say, why bother with the envelope? Just seal the record with duct tape so the record won't fall out, write the address in marker on the jacket, slap a stamp in the corner, and drop it in the mailbox. But seriously, folks, I ship all vinyl in cardboard packing boxes designed specifically for records (I use Bags Unlimited boxes), and I also include padding. Obviously, there's no guarantee that a package won't suffer extraordinary punishment during transit, but these boxes withstand normal USPS handling. All postcards are protected in poly sleeves and placed between two pieces of cardboard for mailing. Books shipped priority go in the post office's priority boxes and mailers. Most book-rate books are mailed in cardboard boxes and protected with packing popcorn. Some softcover books and booklets are protected with cardboard and shipped in regular mailing envelopes. Personally, I don't think the post office gets as much credit as it deserves for safe and efficient delivery. In four-plus years, only two buyers have reported receiving damaged goods. That's a safe-delivery ratio of 99.9+ percent, which is better than I do carrying groceries from my car to the kitchen (in fact, I'm considering having my groceries mailed to me). We've all had bad experiences with USPS, but an item packed with normal care will most likely get to you in good shape. back to top

When You Can Expect The Item For priority items, the USPS seems to be pretty good about delivering within the promised two days, although I've had rare occasions when an item has taken up to a week. (Actually, the post office jobs out its priority deliveries to another company, so I guess we can only give the PO credit for picking the right company.) Items sent book rate are another story. The post office delivers these by circus bear on a tricycle, and I've seen books and records take close to a month to get where they're going. Buyers on the East Coast tell me they get book-rate items quickly, so perhaps this is a West Coast phenomenon. First-class items usually get to their destinations fairly quickly. There's little point to paying priority costs to ship a postcard, unless you absolutely must have the card in two days. Please don't e-mail me the day after you send your payment and wonder why you haven't gotten your item yet. We all get eager with anticipation when we buy through the mail, but some time is required for your payment to get from there to here and your item to get from here to there. back to top

What to Do if Your Item Hasn't Arrived First, don't panic. The package is somewhere in the system. Despite the horror stories we hear about crazed postal workers hoarding mail in chicken coops, lost items are rare. I've sold some 10,000 items through eBay, and only four disappeared forever into the Void. Give the item at least two weeks from the time of shipment before contacting me. If your item doesn't arrive after a reasonable period, I will fill out a USPS form to trace it. Be aware, however, that a trace takes time and probably is a pointless exercise; if a package is gone, it's gone, and the odds of a USPS employee finding it under the couch at the dead-letter center are just about one in a googooplex. back to top

What to Do if You're Unhappy with a Purchase Let me know as soon as you get it. I understand that an item sometimes doesn't meet the expectations of the buyer, for a number of reasons: The item isn't what you thought it would be You feel that the quality of the item isn't satisfactory I might have missed a defect or underestimated the importance of one The item might have fallen off the back of the USPS truck and been run over by a road grader If you're disappointed with an item, be assured that I did not deliberately misrepresent it. I'm not interested in creating more misery in the world than there already is. I'll accept a return within 30 days of receipt for a full refund, including return shipping costs (economy rate only--book rate for books and records, first class for postcards, and so forth). I do not issue partial refunds. When you return an item, please pack it properly. If you decide to keep an item that you're not completely thrilled with, I'd still like to hear from you. Your feedback will help me to more accurately grade and describe items in the future. Of course, I welcome positive feedback, too! back to top

How I Grade Items I try to grade conservatively. I also try to give as much detail as possible about the defects of an item. However, it's often impractical to describe every single little ding and smudge, so I sometimes resort to general statements such as, "light roughing on the top edge of the dust jacket." However, if my description and the accompanying image don't answer all of your questions about an item's condition, feel free to ask me for more details. I try to grade records according to the standard Goldmine/Osborne guidelines. See my separate page on grading records for more details. I like to provide a picture of each item, no matter what its appearance, so that you have at least a sense of what it looks like. I either photograph the item with a digital camera or scan it. Both technologies have their limitations: The colors aren't always true, and items sometimes appear lighter or darker than they really are. I try to note when there's a serious difference between the image and the actual item. You should ask me if you have doubts about something you see (or don't see) in the picture. back to top

Canceling a Winning Bid If you're the high bidder on an item and you decide you don't want it, then notify me immediately that you wish to void the transaction. I would like the chance to offer the item to the next-highest bidder, and eBay saves bidding histories for only a short time. My policy differs from eBay's, which states that winning bids can't be canceled and are legally binding. I allow cancellations for two main reasons: I don't want to sell an item to someone who doesn't want it, and I don't want to waste time nagging people to pay up. (Also, it doesn't make much sense to allow returns but not allow bid cancellations.) I can readily accept a buyer's change of mind; what irritates me is a buyer's failure to tell me that he has changed his mind or to give me a reason why. Failing to respond to my e-mails or giving me unfulfilled promises to pay get an automatic F on the buyer's eBay report card. I will submit negative feedback for a non-payer if I feel that the bidder is acting capriciously or maliciously (regrettably, I have encountered bidders who abuse the system with malice aforethought). Should a buyer exhibit a pattern of irresponsible bidding, I also will notify eBay, which has the authority to suspend the account of any user who continually reneges on bids, and I will communicate with other sellers in whose auctions the person is bidding. I don't like taking these steps (and, in fact, have done so only a couple of times), but legal remedies for sellers are few and impractical, and we must use whatever tools are available to us to ensure that eBay remains a clean and well-lighted place. back to top

When I Can Cancel a Winning Bid I reserve the right to refuse a winning bid for the following reasons: If the bidder has not paid within two weeks AND has not sent me an e-mail stating his or her intent to pay. If I believe that the buyer is a bad risk. I might determine this if I see an overabundance of negative comments on the person's feedback page, have received warnings about the buyer directly from other sellers, have had previous problems getting payment from the buyer, or can't reach the buyer because of a bad e-mail address. back to top

Notes for Overseas Buyers If you wish to bid from overseas, please keep the following points in mind: I accept only U.S. funds, preferably in the form of a money order. If you want to avoid currency conversion costs, you may send cash, but it’s at your risk. At the very least, I urge you to send cash by air and request a return receipt. If you send cash, don't ask me for change. Be aware that shipping costs can be exorbitant, depending on where you are and what the item is. Check with me first if you're uncertain about shipping rates. I don't require insurance on overseas packages. You may choose to insure your package, but you should check with me first about cost. Only parcel-post packages can be insured, and parcel-post rates are considerably higher than small-packet and book rates. (For example, a book that costs $1.85 to ship book-rate to Canada will cost $11.33 to ship parcel post.) I won't issue a refund for damaged or lost packages; you accept the financial risks. I will add 60 cents to all overseas orders to cover the cost of a certificate of mailing. I reserve the right to charge a handling fee if an overseas package requires special treatment or extra packing materials. If you have questions about such fees, contact me before you bid. When you consider how much you're going to bid on an item, don't forget to factor in any duties or taxes you might have to pay. Please note that I won't declare the value of an item at less than its purchase price, and I won't declare an item as a gift. back to top

Feedback After we've finished our transaction, I'll be happy to provide feedback; just send me an e-mail with a request. Make sure you include your bidder name or your eBay e-mail address; my schedule doesn't permit me to research bidder names that aren't provided. I do my feedbacks in batches every few weeks, so you might see a short delay between your request and the time your feedback appears. back to top

Closing Auctions Early I won’t close an auction early to facilitate a private sale, so please don't ask me to do so. It's unfair to bidders who have bookmarked the auction with the intent of bidding later. I also won’t add a Buy It Now option to an auction after the auction has begun. (If you don’t like either of these policies, keep it to yourself; I’m tired of getting venomous e-mail from nasty people who feel compelled to tell me how stupid I am because I won’t take their money and run.) I reserve the right to close an auction early under extraordinary circumstances, such as if I find out the item is misrepresented in the description. back to top

Photocopying Items I've Sold I get regular requests from people to photocopy books, brochures, sheet music, and other ephemera on which they were outbid or that they couldn't afford. Sorry--I don't have the time to honor such requests, nor do I have ready access to a photocopy machine. I suggest you contact the winning bidder and ask him or her. If the item is a book, you also might try the interlibrary loan services of your local library. back to top

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Frequently Axed Questions