A bit of fun, I am making a virtual trip to the Phalanx wargame show that should have been on today. A bit of buying, selling, chatting, putting on a demo game etc and more to the point, a celebration of our show scene.
Blog link
http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2020/06/not-wargame-show-part-2.html
Excellent, Norm !! :-bd
Yours was, by far and away, the best table.
Cheers - Phil :)
Great report Norm and it made me reflect upon my view of wargames shows.
Excellent idea
Brilliant Norm! ;D
I enjoyed that Norm, thanks for sharing.
I too would normally have been heading off to Phalanx today. With the need to ferry children around, I would often get there around lunch time, which would tend to be when it was a bit quieter - but usually still hard to find anywhere to park.
What I tend to buy at shows are those odd interesting bits, that are quite hard to find online, as you aren't quite sure quite what you need until you see it. And of course those impulse buys when you see something to good to pass by. But by happy co-incidence I may well have my Pendraken Samurai arriving today - as a staple of any Phalanx visit is a Pendraken pre-order!
Thanks all - the AB WWII just arrived, so that perfectly rounds everything out.
Given that I have a free rail pass and it's next to a station I go on the train - usually early.
Heh, fun read. Of course a virtual show removes the problem of gamer "funk" . . .
Re: eBay charges - I believe in the early days people were avoiding the eBay "cut" by charging £1 for the item, and £48.99 for the postage. So eBay included postage costs in the total selling price.
That sounds about right, Martyn. ;)
But......I won't use eBay or Paypal since one of the sellers I bought something off (years ago) got hacked, and the hackers got my credit card details and eBay a/cs from him.
Bless Mastercard.....They spotted it instantly.....and stopped three transactions 'toot sweet'.
I deleted both Paypal & eBay accounts that same day.....and I'd never want to ever use them again.
Cheers - Phil
Very rarley use ebay, but paypal - no way round it ! :'( :'(
Quote from: ianrs54 on 20 June 2020, 12:57:22 PM
Very rarley use ebay, but paypal - no way round it
Rarley ?
What's that then ? You complete muppet.
No way around PayPal ?
In despair - Phil
Phil, if you by from Pendraken, Plastic Soldier, etc etc and usea credit card you use paypal.
Thanks Norm, a brilliant idea well executed :-bd =D> :-bd =D>
The smaller demo game idea at a show is a really good way to show what is possible for beginners :)
Quote from: ianrs54 on 20 June 2020, 03:37:32 PM
Phil, if you by from Pendraken, Plastic Soldier, etc etc and usea credit card you use paypal.
Yes.....ish.....But my credit card uses
their paypal a/c.....rather than
me having to have a paypal a/c myself.
I always used to think that their charges were exorbitant, if anyone paid me for making any wee men....That really was a rip-off, back then.
(And when did I ever BUY anything from Sir ? ;D ;D ;D)
Cheers - Phil....Now go away...I've got to try and mend my glasses.....There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.....and a lot of bad language !
And failure !
Nope.....They haven't fallen apart again yet !
(That won't last long, though.)
Specsavers better be open tomorrow....Otherwise I'll be even stroppier than usual.
Cheers - Phil
Quote from: Techno on 21 June 2020, 12:03:51 PM
Otherwise I'll be even stroppier than usual.
Quite IMPOSSIBLE !
This was a nice read Norm, it sounds like you had a good day at the show! I hope you took a few lightbulbs out in your house to accurately reflect the Phalanx lighting...!
The eBay fees are a real nuisance and I've been surprised that they've not had to reduce them to compete better. We pay an average 15% fees on the sales through our eBay Store per month, plus another 3% to PayPal as well, which is a ridiculous amount to lose. It's one of the reasons we only sell selected items on there, as we don't have the margin on most of the ranges to make it work.
Thanks Leon, I should have just painted my camera lens an orange / yellow colour :-). I remember buying a specific blue paint I needed from your Vallejo stand and when I got outside into the real daylight, it was clearly the wrong blue, of course you kindly exchanged it for me.
I am quite shocked by those fees for a shop, I would have thought they would have given a shop a bit of preference to help with and encourage volume (which helps them) - as it stands, those fees must destroy margins.
The thing I really dislike is the soulless nature of the thing. I typically contact the buyer within minutes of the sale and state that on payment I will post at the next post office opening opportunity and I confirm the address I will send to. I then get payment and again e-mail to confirm I will send the following morning. I always do their feedback at the same time. Next morning I post the parcel and again contact the buyer to say it is mailed and to give them the postal number (I always use second class signed for service). Invariably I usually stick a small extra in there as a small gift, a sort of wargamer to wargamer thing ....... and that is the last I hear, I only seem to get feed back off sellers, not buyers and if it was not for the fact that after several weeks I have not had a complaint that the parcel has not turned up, I would never know that it had arrived. It just seems very one way, thankless traffic, there is no joy to it, in the way that there is when dealing with 'real' people.
In truth my e-bay sale on this occasion was simply to support and honest story line behind the blog post - I am becoming increasingly dissuaded from using it.
That's the reason I don't sell on E-bay, rather I try and sell at my local show twice a year, or private sales with friends etc.
Nice report Norm.
Personally I do use ebay as I don't often get the chance to go to shows, but usually wait till I get a chance to use the maximum seller fees offers.
I try to usually buy direct from companies rather than use ebay as I know the fees are high so I'd rather use Pendraken's site directly.
I've bought over 40 things off of eBay in almost 20 twenty years.
I have never, ever had a seller leave feedback for me until after I have left feedback for them. And I always leave feedback. And sometimes they don't, which is why I only have 39 feedbacks.
Never had a problem either with any transaction. Maybe I've been lucky.
Bought lots of stuff on EBay and had a few problems, all swiftly and satisfactorily resolved, occasionally leaving me with more than I paid for.
Quote from: Norm on 22 June 2020, 05:30:42 AM
Thanks Leon, I should have just painted my camera lens an orange / yellow colour :-). I remember buying a specific blue paint I needed from your Vallejo stand and when I got outside into the real daylight, it was clearly the wrong blue, of course you kindly exchanged it for me.
Yeah we get that a lot at Phalanx!
Quote from: Raider4 on 22 June 2020, 11:49:05 AM
I have never, ever had a seller leave feedback for me until after I have left feedback for them. And I always leave feedback. And sometimes they don't, which is why I only have 39 feedbacks.
That's odd, I always leave feedback at the same time as confirming that we've posted their items. To me they've upheld their side of it by that point, they've made the purchase, completed the payment, etc. so there's no reason for me to wait before leaving feedback. If they choose to leave it for me in return then that's a bonus.
The last load of stuff I sold was probably a year ago, when I cleared out a load of vintage action man stuff. I got feedback on about half the items - which leaves you waiting to know if they have received the items.
I think ebay has changed from lots of individuals selling bits and pieces to a mix of commercially and a lot of collectors buying and selling semi-commercially. My teenage daughter's view of ebay is 'no-one uses that anymore'
I think sellers not leaving feedback until the buyer has left feedback is part of the lottery of the system, where buyers can claim almost anything now, to get a paypal refund. I've had few problems with ebay mainly buying and selling hobby stuff - but talking to friends who have sold electronic stuff that seems a whole other thing!