Be Very Careful With Buying From All Nations Stamps & Coin - Vancouver, BC

Brief rundown.

I have purchased from them off and on and had some minor issue but thought I would give them another chance.

Mailing of auction winnings have become slower and slower over the last few months.

I bought some souvenir sheets totaling $42.00 on March 26 auction and got Brian's notification today of the mailing and it had a tracking number which was unusual.

I emailed him and was told all parcels come tracked now.

I emailed him back with the terms on his website which states:

"Stamp orders under $100 will be shipped by regular air mail, $2.00"

He emails me back and I quote:

"Stamp mailings are based on size and weight. Something that will fit in our small mailers goes for $2 and up. Parcels cost more. Thanks, Brian"

This is of course is a total contradiction to what is on the site.

I think this dealer and auctioneer is very unethical and underhanded with this type of change which is going to add about $12.00 or more to a $42.00 order with no prior notification or posting on his site, especially from a purchase made almost a month ago.

It does very little for people's faith in auctions or dealers and I will be reporting him to the BBB.

I would really like other people's views and opinions.

Thanks

John


*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

I`d just cancel the order if you can and refuse delivery. It doesn`t seem fair to tack on 10 dollars without some warning.

Unless, he has just changed his terms, it is quite clear on his website what the charges are for oversized items within Canada and the United States.

From the website...

I am in Canada, not in the US.

Small souvenir sheets are not oversize like full sheets, nor are they heavy.

I can't cancel the order as I was told after it was mailed.

I would rather not refuse delivery as it can lead to many other issues.

I don't know about you, but the shipping is pretty self explanatory to me. Singles and small sets are regular mail. Everything else there is an up charge for shipping. Whether it is to Canada, the USA or Timbuktu. Souvenir sheets are not a single stamp or a small set. So therefore according to his terms, there is an up charge. At least he is not charging you for his time, or selling fees like the guys on ebay do.

I would have interpreted the shipping the same as John. Here is the full shipping breakdown on their website, formatted to match their breakpoints:




His order was under $100, and I don't consider a S/S to be a full sheet (or comparable oversize item). Therefore I would have expected it to be in the CDN$2 category.

I, too, would have been annoyed to be charged $10+ just to ship $42 worth of S/S's.

I've mailed S/S lots before, including larger ones that I had to put in a larger envelope. Within the US, it never cost me more than US$2, and that included the weight of the stiffeners. If you choose to mail such a small item/lot priority mail, of course it will run you US$6+, but it is totally unnecessary and simply charging the customer extra for the seller's personal convenience. Don't know the rates in Canada, but it sounds like that's what the seller was doing.

That being said, they are also an auction house. I pretty much assume that anything I buy from an auction house will cost me $10+ shipping because they deal in volume and many won't waste time doing a simple envelope shipping at the lowest first-class rate. So if I don't bid/buy enough to warrant $10+ shipping charge, I don't bother with that seller, regardless of how good that auction house might be. JMO.

Now he is telling me they came in a book, which is not how the stamps were advertised. I think I know now what it was, and would never have bid on it if it would have been described properly and fully.

He is going around and around with me, telling me to wait until I get the order, and then sending me more and more emails, and then telling me he will refund shipping or I can return the order for a refund.

Not sure how to take him any more but seems things are going downhill at the auction.

Irregardless of what will happen with this order. I will not buy there again.

Just too many problems for $42.00 items.

Well, that makes it more understandable. Please give him credit for offering to refund shipping or offering refund of the lot. That is good customer relations.

I've run into sellers who gave me hard time when I complained the lot I purchased contained barely 50% of the stamps claimed, and wouldn't refund shipping (I ended up paying shipping both ways to get the refund). Needless to say, I never purchased from those sellers again.

On the other hand, even the best sellers make mistakes. Those who own up to it and offer full refunds, are always worth reconsidering. Some of my favorite sellers have always afforded me a "no questions asked" refund policy -- when it's their mistake, they refund my shipping as well!

Ideally, any seller that sees that the shipping cost is going to comprise of >20%-25% of the order total would inform the buyer before shipping. Not only does this avoid frustrated customers, but provides an opportunity for the seller to offer additional 'tie-in' sales. Tacking on a few supplies of other items to round out an order can help justify the shipping cost.
Don
APS #094826

Dutchman, I feel with you. But I also agree with one item - wait until you get the shipment.

Peter

It would be nice, but most auction houses I know don't bother giving that warning. Like the OP's auction house, they ship first and deal with problems later.

Given the seller has basically a tiered flat-rate shipping charge, it looks like the seller is trying to deter "small amount" buyers.

The $2 shipping for under $100 is not unreasonable. The OP makes a legitimate point that it was unclear that the lot was part of a booklet, rather than single stamp items. A more clear lot description would have prevented this problem. It appears that the auction house recognizes this now, hence the offer to refund shipping or entire lot.

Just letting everyone know that this issue has been resolve to both our satisfaction