This is a bit lengthy, so please read carefully. This will explain how I calculate the postage on my items.

If you purchase one item then please feel free to pay immediately using the Ebay checkout and Paypal.
If you buy more than one item I urge you to wait for my personal invoice which will combine your purchases into
one invoice and may save you some money over the invoice generated by Ebay. Also, I allow the combination of
purchases over the course of 7 days time. I would prefer that you settle up with me after 7 days as I do not
like to drag payment out too long. It plays havoc with my bookkeeping.

I have been asked, many times, why my postage quotes vary from item to item. The answer is that I build into each quote, a
small handling charge. This helps to defray some of the expenses I incur while offering this great material you are bidding
on. I will estimate what a particular lot will sell for and then set the postage based on that estimate. The higher I expect
a lot to sell for the higher the postage quote will be. Also, I am not like other sellers that will just toss your purchase
into a glassine and then into an envelope and mail it. I take great care to make sure that your purchase arrives in the same
condition in which it was offered. If you have bought from me you know what I am referring to. If not, once you DO buy from me
you will see what I am referring to.

Here are the basics of how I calculate the postage for multiple purchases. For the first item, I take my base fee of $1.50
(or $2.00 for an item being mailed outside of the U.S.). For each additional item, I add 50c. If the total invoice exceeds
$100, I add $2.75 for insurance (or $12.00 for shipments being mailed outside the U.S. to cover the cost of Registration).
This allows for tracking and covers Paypal's and my insurance company's requirements for high-value shipments. If multiple
purchases are such that I have to switch to a larger, sturdier mailer, then the base fee starts at $2.50 / $5.50.
Then, I add a 3% handling fee to the total.

If you would like to know why my postage quote is a little higher than other sellers, quite simply it is that I am trying to
recoup some of the expenses imposed by Ebay on both ends of the transaction. That is, they take a commission when this item is
sold and then, if you pay using Paypal (which is owned by Ebay) I get hit with another commission. This is excessive to me. I believe
that sellers on Ebay should not have to pay an additional commission if their buyer uses Paypal. So, I had several ways in which I
could have dealt with this issue. One was, I could have set my starting bids high, like some other sellers do, and incorporated the
fees into the starting price. I tried that and found that too high a percentage of my items did not sell. And, I'm not in business to
have my items go unsold. So, the only other place I could make this up was in the postage.

Please try to understand that this is a full-time business for me. It is not a hobby. As such, I have to account for my time and
materials and I have chosen to build that into my postage quote since I cannot recoup that overhead anywhere else. The big auction
houses do that by charging both the buyer and seller a commission. I do not have that luxury. So, I had to add a few pennies into the
postage.

Also, I have had numerous inquiries as to why I charge so much postage for one or two items that are being sent outside of the U.S.
The answer is that our postal system charges ME a lot to send an oversized envelope outside the U.S. When I have to mail a souvenir
sheet or larger lot the postage amount STARTS at $3.00 and goes up from there. The heavier the envelope, the more expensive it gets.
Again, I am not trying to rip anybody off on the postage. I am just charging what the postal system charges plus I add in the few little
charges I described above. And, sometimes, if I quote an amount that ends up being quite a bit above what the actual postage is, I WILL
send a refund.

If you need clarification on any of the above statements, please feel free to ask.

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