eBay Board Wargame Collector’s Digest
Volume 1, Number 1
Introductions!
The idea
for this newsletter came from a series of game transactions I had with John
Bowman, one of the most prolific and best traders I’ve run into on eBay. In our email chats, we noted that board
wargame collectors and gamers on eBay are really a great group of people that we
run into and deal with time and time again as we manage our personal collections
and buy and sell games on the service.
Then it hit us – why not start an electronic newsletter devoted to our
favorite online activity!
John
started collecting the names and emails addresses of the people he’s had the
pleasure of dealing with online, and I sent out a “feeler email” to gauge the
response to something like this.
The response was in a word – incredible! In a few short days, I had received
positive emails of interest from more than 50 eBayer
wargamers!
I
originally planned to get this first issue in your hands a few weeks ago, but
had to take care of some business and work issues first before finding the time
to devote to this. This holiday
weekend was the perfect opportunity for me to work on
this!
The goal
of this newsletter is to discuss out-of-print and new board wargames, share
ideas on best to utilize the eBay service to buy and sell collectible wargames
(i.e. how to describe wargame conditions), to keep an eye on good and bad
traders, to track going rates and trends, and more.
One thing
that is clear is that we can’t do this alone, and I was thrilled to see many of
your volunteering to help track prices and write articles- we need your
help! I also want to make this a
true community newsletter – any and all ideas and suggestions would be very much
appreciated, and I expect that this newsletter will continually evolve over
time.
My
current goal is to put out a 5-10 page issue every two weeks or so, more or less
depending on the activity and interest we generate. One of my first goals will be to move
this newsletter from its current Word document format to an HTML web-based
format so everyone can read and contribute regardless of computing platform or
browser.
Many
thanks, and enjoy!
Peter T.
Szymonik
EBay =
Xorg
311+ eBay
Rating
Game Price
Tracking:
Every
week I’d like to track closing auction prices for “mint” and “punched but
excellent” wargames on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis. Over time people can use this as a guide
to gauge what they can expect to get for a particular game title before posting
it.
I realize
there are other wargame price guides out there, Mike Boone in particular has an
excellent one. However, my
experience with these price guides is that they often contain dated
information. Additionally, since
they track auction prices from conventions and sales prices from the newsgroups,
they really aren’t a great guide for auction prices on eBay, which is the goal
of this section.
Here are
the closing prices of some collectible wargames that closed during the past week
on eBay:
SPI
Highway to the Reich 2nd
MT BK
$230.03
SPI
War in Europe
EX FT
$153.51
GDW
Avalanche
MT ZP
$122.00
SPI
War Between the States
EX FT
$105.50
Marshal
La Bataille de la Moskova
MT ZP
$
76.00
COA
Home Before the Leaves Fall
MT
$
61.56
SPI
Blue & Gray II
MT FT
$
50.00
SPI
Modern Battles I & II
EX FT
$
49.00
The
Gamers Thunder at the
Crossroads
MT
$
49.00
SPI
Wellington's Victory
FT EX
$
46.00
SPI
Operation Typhoon
EX BK
$
45.95
SPI
Blue & Gray
BK MT
$
44.44
SPI
Outreach
FT MT
$
41.01
GMT
June 6th
MT
$
37.00
COA
Kolin
MT
$
34.56
GMT
Thunderbolt Apache
MT
$
31.00
SPI
Battle for Stalingrad (John Hill) MT
$
28.00
SPI
Battle of the Nations
MT BK
$
26.00
SPI
CityFight
MT BK
$
24.00
GMT
In Their Quiet Fields 1st
MT
$
20.50
West
End
Druid
MT
$
18.27
SPI
Pea Ridge
MT BK
$
16.31
Hist.
Sims
Manassas
EX
$
12.50
Guide:
MT – Described as Unpunched and Mint
EX - Described as Punched
but Excellent
FT – Flat Tray Packaging
BK – Bookcase style packaging
ZP – Ziploack packaging
( ) – No listing – game only
has one package style
What do
people think about expanding this list to include buyer’s and seller’s eBay
handles? A good way to see who is
buying and selling what, or too much of an invasion of privacy? My thoughts are that it would nice to
find out if certain bidders are only interested in SPI monster games, GDW
titles, etc.
Recently
an unpunched and mint bookcase style War in Europe sold for $535 on eBay. By contacting some of the bidders after
auction, I found out that many of these people weren’t aware that War in Europe
has recently been updated and reprinted by Decision Games, and is available for
between $170-250 online or direct from Decision Games web site www.decisiongames.com
The new
version comes in an odd shaped long box, adds 480 new counters, and updates the
counter manifest to allow for more “what if” typical scenarios. The rulesbooks has been updated, as have
all of the map and counter graphics.
On the
downside, the new version has some rules problems which have been addressed in
errata, and which will be fixed in an upcoming “Gamer’s Guide to War in Europe”
that will be released later this year by Decision Games.
The new
counters are also a tad on the thin size, and many gamers prefer the older style
cardboard counters when playing this classic, which may explain the appeal of
the older and very collectible bookcase version!
PayPal is
a wonderful service, I have no clue how I did business on eBay before without
it. Recently PayPal has been
promoting upgrades to its Premium and Business Level service offerings to its
Basic Service users.
I
recently upgraded to their Premium Service and really like to ability to
download my transaction logs, but there is one change to their system that can
really catch you off guard!
I had my
PayPal account set up so that any payments I made for eBay auctions that
exceeded my PayPal balance would be charged to my Wingspan credit card. I set up the PayPal account by linking
it to my SFNB online checking account, a separate checking account that I keep
very little money in and use solely for online purchases.
However,
PayPal recently upgraded their payment screens. One change they made is that you now
have the ability to select whether payments that exceed your balance are charged
to your credit card or linked checking account. BUT, they fail to warn you that this
screen now defaults to your checking account!!
By making
this change without my authorization, PayPal posted three payments I made
towards the end of August to my checking account instead of my credit card,
causing me to bounce two checks for the first time in my life. This cost me over $75 in bank fees to
correct, never mind the embarrassment of having to contact the sellers who got
those two bounced checks.
To say I
was furious is an understatement, and PayPal is looking into the
problem.
Pay close attention to this new
screen when making PayPal payments, or you too may be in for a rude surprise!
Game Description Guidelines (My
apologies to those who have seen this before – just trying to fill some first
issue space!):
Wargame
Auctions – A Game Grading Guide
Back in
the late 1980s, hundreds of veteran board wargamers gathered together on the now
defunct GEnie online network. Over
the years they played PBEM games, discussed their favorite hobby, worked on new
games, and had a very active online auction area.
Recently
I returned to my board wargaming roots after spending most of the 1990s in the
computer gaming world, and was simply floored at all the wargame auction
activity on eBay. On any given day,
there are over 1,000 old board wargames up for grabs on this leading auction
site. Over the course of about two
months, I’ve successfully bought, sold, and traded well over 200 games using
eBay’s auction service.
I highly
recommend eBay to any gamer interested in finding great copies of rare and
long-lost wargames, or to update and manage their collections. Now, as great as eBay is, there is one
problem…
Given
that wargames are being sold on eBay by all sorts of people (including
non-gamers cleaning out their children’s closets!) the definition of a game’s
overall condition can be confusing and open to interpretation.
With this
in mind, I pulled out an old copy of the guidelines I drafted back in 1988, and
have started updating them. My goal
is to create a structured game grading guide people can refer to when buying or
trading old collectible wargames, much like baseball cards, stamps, and coins
have their standard grading systems.
Being
realistic, I don’t expect everyone on eBay or other auction sites to
automatically begin using this guide.
But if enough people do start using it and word of mouth spreads, we’ll
all benefit. The original
guide was the culmination of the work of dozens of GEnie pioneers who
contributed to the original document, and its stood of the test of time.
Hopefully, this update will be
even better than the first one! I
consider this a living document and work-in-progress, any and all feedback and
input would be greatly appreciated!
WHO
ARE YOU DEALING WITH?
Its
important to understand that there are three distinct groups of people
auctioning old collectible board wargames online. Each group has a different set of ideas
and thoughts regarding what a wargame is, what its worth, and what kind of
condition it should be in.
One of
the first steps to take when bidding on any wargame online is to understand who
you are dealing with. More than
anything, this one step can prevent many misunderstandings and conflicts. Ask the person questions in email, check
their feedback on eBay, and read their game descriptions very
carefully.
The Collectors: These are people who bid on wargames
because of their intrinsic value as highly collectible works of intelligence and
art. Each historical board wargame
title represents an incredible research, design, and production effort.
In order
to make a playable yet historically realistic wargame, reams of research has to
be done, piles of documentation has to be created, and months of effort has to
be expended by designers, testers and producers.
Collectors treat board wargames as
like rare books, and well they should.
Many wargames had print runs in the low thousands, if not hundreds of
copies. Factor in their age (most
SPI titles are now 20-30 years old), and the rarity of a particular game title
becomes a serious issue affecting a wargame’s overall value to a
Collector.
Most
Collectors are only interested in wargames that are in the very best condition,
and they will pay top dollar for them.
They are a finicky bunch – Collector’s who are willing to drop upwards of
$200+ on an individual monster game title want to know exactly what they are
buying. As with any collectible,
any imperfections or alterations can have a dramatic impact on a game’s value in
a Collector’s eyes.
The Gamers: Gamers buy wargames to play them –
pure and simple. While they may
also collect games, their primary goal is to acquire games so they can lay them
out on a table and recreate a battle either playing solitaire or with a local
gaming buddy. (Many Collectors
started as Gamers, and may still play an occasional game or
two.)
Gamers
are generally interested in wargames that have been used, but not abused. Most Gamers will not pay top dollar for
a mint out-of-print wargame. It’s
simply not worth it to them because it’s far easier to find punched and played
copies of the games they want at far lower prices than mint copies at collector
prices.
Unlike
Collectors, Gamers are generally willing to overlook minor flaws and
alterations, as long as the game is generally intact and in good condition. One or two missing counters, or minor
rules or map notations generally don’t bother Gamers as long as the game can be
played. In return, Gamers expect a
wargame’s pricing to be realistic and affordable.
The Non-Wargamers: This is a relatively new and small
group, I only started running into these people when I started using eBay. These are people who have come across
wargames at estate sales, in bookstores, or are cleaning out a son or daughter’s
closet.
Most of
the time, these people don’t even know what wargames are, and they treat them
just like any other board game such as Risk or Monopoly. While there can be bargains to be had
with this group, these people are also the ones most likely to misrepresent a
game’s condition – ask lots of questions of these folks!
GAME
GRADING GUIDELINES:
So what
exactly is a “mint condition” wargame?
To some people, “mint” means that a game is like new, looks the same way
it did 20-30 years old, even if it has a minor production flaw such as an
off-center row of counters.
To
others, this original and minor printing flaw with disqualify the game from the
“mint” rating, even though the game was otherwise like
new.
Finally,
some people list “mint” condition games that are “punched and unplayed.” While this may seem an odd concept,
apparently many wargamers took the time to carefully corner clip their
countersheets when they bought their games, but never actually laid the maps
flat and played the game. Is this a
“mint” condition game?
Its
because of these widely varying concepts that this Game Grading Guideline was
originally created, and here it is!
MINT:
A game in
like-new condition, unpunched and never played. The game's box may show very light wear
from storage only. No rips, tears,
stains or markings of any kind on any component. The game's original packaging must be
complete and intact, this includes the original coversheet for flat box
games. Minor production flaws are
acceptable if they are original to the game and clearly noted in the
description.
This is
the condition a Collector wants to see the game in. Only games in this condition would bring
top dollar at auction.
NEAR-MINT:
Only one
type of game fits this description, a game that would be in MINT condition,
except for one minor flaw. As an
example, a game may have a few rows of counters punched out to play in
introductory scenario. Or the maps
were laid flat to examine them. No
tears, pinholes, stains, or markings of any kind on any component, a game that
would be otherwise perfect.
Most
Collectors would be happy to acquire a game in this condition. A game at 90-95% of its MINT condition
value.
EXCELLENT:
A game
that would be otherwise MINT or NEAR MINT, except that it has been played a one
or two times. Some minor wear is
allowed, but no rips, tears, or stains or markings can exist on any of the
components. No edits, writing,
highlighting or coloring anywhere on the rules or map. Must be 100% complete and the original
packaging must be in excellent condition.
These are games that have been extremely well cared for, even though they
may have been played a few times.
Still
some Collector value, but this is the condition a Gamer would love. 75% of its MINT condition
value.
VERY
GOOD:
The next
step down from excellent, wargames in this category have been played a few
times, but are still well taken care of.
Minor rips, tears, or stains are allowed and must be clearly noted. The game shows signs of wear, but
nothing that would adversely affect game play.
The maps
may have some pinholes or small tape tears on the corners, but absolutely no
damage to the map area itself.
Counters and the game box may show signs of handling wear. Minor dents on the game box or minor
cracks on flat box are allowed, but no split corners, the box must be
intact.
Games in
this condition are clearly Gamer’s copies with little Collector value. These games can fetch between 25-50% of
their MINT condition value.
GOOD:
Valuable
only for gaming purposes. Rips,
tears, stains or markings allowed and the game's packaging may be well
worn. Some counters or other
original components may be missing, but the game still contains everything
needed to play it. There may be a
couple of substitute counters, a xeroxed copy of the original rulesbook,
etc. A game you wouldn't mind
tossing in the back of a car.
Games in
this condition have no Collector value at all, and most Gamers would consider a
game in this condition barely acceptable.
10-25% of its MINT condition value.
FAIR:
A game
that’s in really bad shape. Played
dozens of times, pieces missing, box is trashed. It’s dirty and may even smell bad. Enough may be missing to prevent the
game from being played and it might only be good for spare parts. A game you wouldn't mind throwing across
the room.
Games in
this condition have almost no value.
POOR:
You
wonder how a game could have ever gotten into this condition. Mere shards of the original game remain,
lots of missing components, the box is in tatters and has mold growing on
it. A game you wouldn't mind
letting your dog play with.
Needless
to say, this game shouldn’t even be listed for auction out of shame.
EXCEPTIONS AND
NOTATIONS:
There
will always be exceptions to these guidelines. For instance, how to rate a game that is
in excellent condition all around, but those rules have been highlighted? Rate the game as excellent, but CLEARLY
note the imperfection in the game description.
ALWAYS
put yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer – how would you rate the game if
YOU were shelling out hard earned cash for it? If the game is not truly in like new
condition, do not list the game has MINT or NEAR MINT. If the game is worn, say so. If it smells like smoke, let the buyers
know.
The most
critical component of any successful auction is COMMUNICATION. There is no such thing as too much
information, there is definitely a problem when a game is simply listed
as:
“SPI –
The Conquerors. Good
shape.”
If you
see one of these, buyer beware!
The very
best way to grade a game is to grade each individual component separately. These components
are:
Game Box
Game Maps
Game Rules and Charts
Game Counters
SPECIAL
CONSIDERATIONS:
SPI
FLATBOXES:
SPI's
plastic flat boxes are notorious for falling apart and cracking. In general, it’s exceptional to find an
SPI flat box that does not have at least one minor crack on the plastic box
top. A good test is to shake the
flat box side-to-side. If the top
falls off, it deserves special mention.
The
bottoms of SPI's flat box trays can also become unglued. This is a simple fix, just carefully
re-glue the bottom, or wrap a few large rubber bands around the entire box. DO NOT staple the bottom back onto
tray!! The staples will damage
other flat boxes when stacked. DO
NOT tape the bottom back on, collector’s hate taped flat
trays.
As with
any collectible, most Collectors frown on any type of attempted
repair.
MAPS:
Over the
years people have developed a number of methods to make large wargame maps lie
flat. By far the best method is to
buy a cheap sheet of plexiglass and put on top of the mapboard. Another is to pin the maps down onto
some corkboard.
The
absolute worst thing to do is to tape the maps down – this applies to clear
tape, “magic” tape, or masking tape.
Tape sticks map boards and will tear them when you try to pull it
off.
Maps with
small pinholes can be listed as excellent, those with stuck tape cannot. ANY damage to a wargame’s map boards
must be listed in the condition description.
GAME
COUNTERS:
A lot of
careful wargamers will use Xacto knives to get counters out of a
countersheet. Some also go the
extra mile and use a nail-clipper to clip the edges off the counters. Both methods are fine and recommended,
especially for newer games with highly detailed counter
art.
However,
if the counters were simply pulled out of the countersheet and some of the
counters are ripped or damaged, the game cannot be listed as near mint or
excellent. Because most wargamers
do careful punch or cut out counters, most counters should be in excellent
condition.
RULES
& CHARTS:
These two
components will often show the first signs of wear and abuse. Charts are often altered, rules are
highlighted, and coffee and beer mug stains are evident. In these cases, the game can no longer
be listed as mint or excellent.
Nothing will infuriate a Collector more than a game with highlighted
rules.
Most
careful wargamers will make copies of the original rules and charts and
work
off the
copies rather than the originals.
MAGAZINES:
Magazine
ratings follow the same basic guidelines regarding condition, but special
attention should be placed on any special inserts the magazine may have. Some
magazines
had mini-games or scenario sheets inside them that disappear too often.
Be very
careful to note whether or not those inserts or games still exist when selling
magazines.
Again,
these are only guidelines!
Potential problems can be all but eliminated through communication. If everyone follows the guidelines above
and the two parties communicate, there is no reason for misunderstandings to
exist. If there is ever any doubt
as to a game's condition, ASK!
OTHER
CONSIDERATIONS:
PAYMENT:
There are
lots of ways to pay someone for a wargame, and a lot of misconceptions regarding
various forms of payment. This is
also one area that has changed dramatically over the past ten years, primarily
because of the Internet.
Cash:
The very
WORST way to pay anyone for anything purchased online. Period. NEVER, EVER, SEND MONEY THROUGH THE
MAIL. I've had baseball cards
stolen out of envelopes in the mail, imagine how long a few greenbacks would
last...
Checks:
A lot of
people have misconceptions about personal checks. Due to new Federal regulations, all
checks have to be cleared by a bank within three days after being presented for
payment. If your bank takes longer
than that to clear a check, something is wrong with your
bank.
Sending a
bad check through the mail and across state lines is a Federal offense. This means that anyone receiving a bad
check in the mail can file a complaint with the United States Postal Service and
the FBI. The FBI now handles online
fraud cases through their web site.
These agencies *will* investigate, and the offending party can be
prosecuted, levied a hefty fine, or jailed. This is serious
stuff!
Money
Orders:
Regardless of what anyone may tell
you, money orders are NOT a cash equivalent, and are really no safer than
personal checks. A stop payment can
be placed on a money order just as easily as it can on a check. The only real advantage to paying with a
money order is that the recipient can cash it immediately instead of waiting
three days. The big disadvantage is
that money orders cost money, and the buyer has to go to the bank to get one - a
major hassle.
PayPal/BillPoint:
Several
new electronic payment systems have appeared on the Internet over the past year,
and PayPal is by far one of the best for completing online transactions. I found out about this service a few
weeks after I started on eBay, and now I have no clue how I used to conduct
trades online before without it.
Here is
how it works:
After
registering with PayPal, you can link your PayPal account with any checking
account or credit card. From that
point on, anyone who owes you money for an online auction can pay you instantly
online.
When
someone sends you payment, the amount is automatically deducted from thier
PayPal account, billed to their credit card, or deducted from their checking
account.
You
receive the funds instantly into your PayPal account, and can either leave it
there for other online purchases, have PayPal send you a check any time you
wish, or transfer the amount to a linked checking account.
This is
ridiculously convenient and incredibly fast. I’ve had people pay me minutes after an
auction has closed, allowing me to ship their game the same day without having
to wait for a check or money to arrive!
PayPal also lets me pay for my auction purchases the same way, so I get
my wargames much faster.
Best of
all, PayPal is complete free. (www.paypal.com)
BillPoint
is eBay’s way of competing with PayPal, but I find it more difficult to use, and
eBay unfortunately charges a premium for this service. (www.billpoint.com)
The
bottom line is that any kind of online transaction boils down to a certain level
of mutual trust and honesty. I can
report that in the 14+ years I’ve been trading wargames online, and out of the
hundreds of people I’ve dealt with, only one transaction has ever gone bad, and
even that one was resolved after a stop-payment on a $500 money order got the
guy's attention.
EBAY’s
FEEDBACK SYSTEM:
Unfortunately, a lot of bidders
don’t pay enough attention to a seller’s online feedback profile. While eBay’s rating system is far from
perfect and a lot of articles have been written recently in the Wall Street
Journal and other publications regarding potential abuses, eBay’s feedback
system DOES in fact work quite well.
It all
comes down to common sense and knowing who you are dealing with online. I believe quite strongly that a lot of
people who have been burned in online transactions are the same people who would
get ripped off by “get rich quick” schemes or by street corner vendors. They get caught up in the emotion of
buying a rare wargame and the thrill of bidding, and fail to pay enough
attention to what will happen after the auction is over and who the seller
is.
If you
see a wargame you really want offered on eBay, the very first step is to
carefully read the game’s description to see if it lists everything you want to
know about the game, then check the seller’s feedback
rating.
Here are
some questions to ponder….
What is
the seller’s overall rating? It’s a
safe bet that anyone who has a rating of 50 or higher with no negative feedback
is trustworthy character and veteran of the system. Over 100, even
better.
Second,
how frequent and current are those ratings? Is the seller auctioning off games on a
constant basis (a very good sign) or has it been months since they last had
something to offer (potential red flag.)
Third,
who is giving the seller feedback?
Are the feedback comments from distinct individual buyers, or does it
look like the same small group of individuals are offering lots of feedback in a
short period of time (a very strong red flag here.) It’s pretty easy to spot sellers who
create false IDs solely to give themselves higher feedback ratings.
Fourth,
what else is the seller auctioning off?
If you see a seller offering multiple wargames at once, that’s usually a
good sign, people often sell off collections. If this is the only wargame listed and
rest of the auction items are baseball cards, you’re probably not dealing with a
wargamer, which may be a problem.
Finally,
how much time and effort has gone into the seller’s auction listings? Again, a game listed
as:
“SPI – The Conquerors. Good shape.”
Is not a
good sign. Either the person
doesn’t care, or they can’t be bothered with detailing the condition of a 20+
year old potentially collectible game.
If they won’t put any effort into their own auction listing, how much
concern do you think they will have to address your concerns as a bidder or
buyer? Listings with digital
pictures are a good sign.
If you
have the slightest suspicions, check the seller’s references before making any bids or sending any
money.
SHIPPING &
PACKAGING:
Due
credit is given to a great wargamer, Roger Eastep, for all that follows. Ever since I bought and received my
first wargame from Roger, I’ve followed his outstanding guidelines for packaging
collectible wargames.
The
Insides:
As a
first step in packaging a wargame for shipment, carefully inspect the wargame
for any damage or problems you may have missed the first time around. The most critical step involves making
every effort to keep the counters secure in their counter trays without damaging
the game itself in any way.
For SPI
flat trays, use clear removable
Scotch Magic brand tape or an equivalent to hold down the counter lids. Do not use masking tape – it’s next to
impossible to remove! If the box
doesn’t have rules or maps to fill the space between the box top and the tray
bottom, place a heavy computer magazine or a few layers of bubble wrap on top of
the trays. For bookcase boxed
games, the same principles apply.
Bubble
wrap can be purchased in bulk at almost any office supply store or at www.staples.com, www.officemax.com, or www.officedepot.com. A 150-foot roll goes for around $25-30,
and is well worth the investment for other household uses (cats love
it!)
After
securing everything inside the game, wrap each game in separate plastic garbage
bags and seal it with a twist-tie.
This protects the games from the weather if the package happens to be
left outside by a delivery person, and it keeps all the pieces inside the bag
should the counters fall out due to rough handling.
Finally,
use at least one layer of bubble wrap to wrap the game, and some elastics to
hold the box tops on – especially important for SPI flat trays. Place games in a box large enough to
have at least one inch of padding between the wargames and the box. Surround the wargames securely with
crushed newspaper or recycled stryofoam chips, which can also be found in bulk
at the sites listed above.
The
Outsides:
Most game
boxes are damaged during processing.
Behind the walls of the friendly neighborhood Post Office or UPS depot
are countless heavy machines that sort, drop, and throw boxes to their
destinations. Unless wargames are
cushioned in some way, they will be damaged in transit.
The Post
Office:
The Post
Office has managed to grab a lot of business away from UPS for a number of
reasons. First, the Post Office is
generally cheaper than UPS. Second,
the Post Office is far easier to deal with when processing a claim for
insurance. Third, the Post Office
offers FREE Priority Mail supplies – including FREE
boxes!
Free
Priority Mail boxes can be found in your Post Office, but better yet, link to
www.usps.gov and place an order for FREE
supplies online and they will be delivered to your door at no cost within 3-5
business days.
Priority
Mail boxes are wonderful because they come in many sizes. A Medium Priority Mail box is a perfect
fit for any standard SPI or Avalon Hill bookcase wargame. SPI flat tray boxes and GDW/GRD wargames
fit nicely in large size Priority Mail boxes, and SPI monster games are a
perfect fit for Size 7 Priority Mail boxes. Each Priority Mail box will have enough
room to safely package a wargame with added space for
cushioning.
UPS:
UPS is
often the shipper of choice for people sending games from a workplace or
office. While UPS is convenient
from these locations, sellers have to provide their own packaging.
One very
important step when sending wargames via UPS in recycled and previously used
cardboard boxes is to check for UPS codes that look like this on the side of the
box:
161 : 12
--------
32 :
07
These
codes are often written by hand, and they mean something – namely, which truck
the box is supposed to go in. If
you don't black these out, the package could be seriously delayed, or even be
delivered right back to the sender!
In
General:
Keep in
mind that packages are no longer sorted by hand, but by machines.
NEVER
send a wargame or any other kind of package wrapped in twine or just a brown
shopping bag – this is asking for disaster, and most carriers will now refuse
your package if you send it in this condition.
ALWAYS
wrap the wargame in plenty of cushioning, regardless of whether you use
styrofoam chips, newspaper, or bubble wrap. Without cushioning, it’s all but
guaranteed that the wargame will arrive damaged, resulting in a very angry
buyer.
The last
step before sealing a box is to include a card or letter with the buyer's name
and address, in case the box is damaged during shipment. Securely tape every edge of the box and
clearly write your name and address and that of the buyer on the top.
Magazines
are best sent in padded mailers available at any office supply or drug
store. To keep Mr. Postman from
bending them, clearly label them "DO NOT BEND", then surround the magazine with
heavy cardboard.
Finally,
if shipping an expensive item over $100, don’t be cheap - spend the extra 35
cents and have the package insured.
Most of
this may seem like common sense, but the horror stories are out there. Remember that someone is paying good
money for your wargame and considers it valuable. All it takes is a little time and effort
to make sure that the game arrives in the same condition as it was
sent.
Be
considerate. Treat the people the
same way you would want to be treated.
Don't
cash the check or money order and then wait two weeks to send the game. If you know a check is coming, have the
wargame all packed up and ready to go BEFORE it arrives.
Pack up
the game and leave it un-addressed, noting the buyer's name in the corner of the
box. When payment arrives, all you
have to do is address the package.
If the
check never shows, the game is already packed up for the next person who wants
to buy it.
If you're
selling a large number of games and expect that it will take a few days to ship
them all, let the buyers know their payments have arrived and give them a
realistic shipping date.
PROBLEMS?:
Communicate. Communicate. Then communicate some more. And be realistic and flexible. If the buyer isn't happy, find out
why. If the concern is legitimate,
offer a solution.
There is
never a need for hostility or stonewalling, 99% of all problems can be resolved
by offering potential solutions. If
a game is missing a chart, offer to copy one for the buyer. If you can’t copy one, offer to give
some money back. If you bought a
game that was in worse condition than you thought it would be, tell the seller,
and be prepared to accept something to make up for it.
In the
worst case, and unless the sale was clearly listed as “final”, both parties
should be prepared to return the item and accept a refund. But only as a last resort or if game’s
condition was clearly not what it was presented to be.
It goes
without saying that "I didn't like the game once I got it" or "It's not the game
I thought it was" are NOT legitimate reasons for asking for a
refund!
THE
END:
99% of
all online transactions have happy buyers and sellers. By using these guidelines, maybe we get
that figure closer to 100%!
Disclaimer:
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thoughts, ideas, and comments presented in this newsletter are nothing more than
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