Mystery scopes on eBay

I didn't visit every link on all of your pages but......not from what I saw.
Herb
AstroMart

"Brian Tung" wrote in message
...
Jon Isaacs wrote:
Herb posted a request for volunteers to be members of a group that
would make the decision whether someone was a "dealer" or not.

Now I'm curious as to whether *I'd* be a dealer.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

John Steinberg wrote:
Oh, you're a dealer all right. Just look at that sig! You're hawking so
much stuff your sig comprises more lines than your post. g

But mostly I'm giving it away! Just call me "Crazy Brian"!

It's OK, I make it up in volume.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

Brian Tung wrote in message:
Now I'm curious as to whether *I'd* be a dealer.

Based on Michael Covington's case, I'd guess you probably would be
Brian. I'm a pretty big fan of Astromart, and like/agree with much
that Herb does there, but Michael's case seems a bit unfair to me.

Chris Nicholl

"Chris Nicholl" wrote

Based on Michael Covington's case, I'd guess you probably would be
Brian.

Yes, indeed he is.

Howard "Comma Police" Lester wrote:
Based on Michael Covington's case, I'd guess you probably would be
Brian.

Yes, indeed he is.

Nothing gets by you, does it? Matter of fact, I see nothing right there
behind you.

Boo.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 09:51:46 -0500, "Michael A. Covington"
wrote:


I can't even *buy* on Astromart (respond to ads) because they've classified
me as a commercial user who must pay $25 a month for access (and I've chosen
not to subscribe). I don't know how many other potential buyers are lost to
Astromart for the same reason.

-snip-

I hear you loud and clear. I am a dealer, so my situation is
different than yours, but astornomy is still also a hobby for me.
Once in a while I see something on Astromart I would like to buy for
personal use, but it isn't worth the while.

By contrast, the Canadian based astro Buy & Sell, while it
does have dealer advertising, the owner will allow a dealer to buy
privately as an individual. If you want to sell dealer items, you
have to register and pay, but any dealer, as a private individual, if
all you want ot do is buy, you can do so without setting up a dealer
account. You can see this site at:
http://www.astrobuysell.com/

It's not as big as astromart, but you might want to try
advertising the occasional item there. as long as you are not selling
your books on masse, I don't think you'll ahve a problem


joe





http://www.oneilphoto.on.ca

"Joseph O'Neil" wrote in message
...

By contrast, the Canadian based astro Buy & Sell, while it
does have dealer advertising, the owner will allow a dealer to buy
privately as an individual. If you want to sell dealer items, you
have to register and pay, but any dealer, as a private individual, if
all you want ot do is buy, you can do so without setting up a dealer
account. You can see this site at:
http://www.astrobuysell.com/

It's not as big as astromart, but you might want to try
advertising the occasional item there. as long as you are not selling
your books on masse, I don't think you'll ahve a problem

Thanks! I presume I can list prices in US dollars and Paypal will allow
Canadians to pay in C$ and do the conversion...?

"Howard Lester" wrote in message
...

"Chris Nicholl" wrote

Based on Michael Covington's case, I'd guess you probably would be
Brian.

Yes, indeed he is.

Indeed he is Brian! A point we can all agree on!

"John Steinberg" wrote in message
...

Evidently Mr. Herb makes a distinction between those who write software
and those who write books. No wonder he didn't have to consult the
astro peers first. At $300/yr. Michael would only have to sell about a
book a day to recoup his Astromart costs. Seems eminently fair,
especially if he just wants to buy some stuff.

In order to sell a book a day via Astromart, I would of course have to place
ads regularly on Astromart, which would require attention. And even then I
have no idea whether the advertising would increase my sales enough to pay
for it. By contract, my publisher, not me, is supposed to do the
advertising.

(And bear in mind that the people would be buying the book from Herb York or
some other retailer, not from me. I'm not a retailer. He is. If I
remember the retail terms correctly, I get 8% of the selling price; the
retailer gets 30%.)

Anyhow -- Astromart has a perfect right to charge these fees. My position
is simply that I'm not wanting to get involved in paying fees and
advertising my books myself (which is supposed to be the publisher's job),
and given that I'm not wishing to do that, paying Astromart's fee *just* to
make occasional personal purchases and sales is not worth it for me.

Just how daffy are these people? Don't they realize people want to pay
more for goods and services? Don't they appreciate that value is all a
matter of perception? I bet they would happily take Michael as an
unpaid advisor and credit to their forums. Fools!

Hmmm...

But of course (as my distant relatives think) since I write books I must be
as rich as Steven Spielberg, right?

Clear skies,
Michael

"Zane" wrote in message
...

As you may know, one has to be careful in comparing advertised prices
from most discount camera sources.

"Oh, the Nikon lens is extra.
Camera case (supplied by Nikon)is extra
Batteries (supplied with the camera) are extra
Storage card (supplied) is extra
Shipping and handling is (large $)
Restocking fee is 10-15%
You believe us when we say we accept returns, right?
We have to collect State taxes.

Very good point. When buying astronomy gear one should always deal with an
experienced dealer who understands telescopes and knows about failure rates,
reasonable user support, etc.