From Russia with(out) Love.

Over the last few years, I have imposed upon many collectors, some of whom I have never met, to help me reduce the cost of adding big, heavy suspensions to my collection. I would like to take this space to try and explain why. On a few occasions it was simply an exploitation of a golden opportunity. Like when Oregonian Bill Vincent mentioned he was heading to North Carolina via Springfield. One email and he was willing to meet up with Lou Hall at a west coast show, take possession of, store, and later to transport a 10 string of them Decker green suspensions 3/4 the way across the US. to Springfield, unload, and then load up a string of 6 big porcelain discs headed back to Mid Norris in Oregon via North Carolina. I have on numerous occasions paid way more postage for a single disc than it was worth without complaint. I have also walked away from deals where only a few dollars make or break a deal. As long as the cost is justifiable, I usually have no problem, bump up the cost simply because you believe I will pay it - it ain't going to happen. I either walk away or I start looking for another way to complete the deal.

I have not bought foreign insulators for a few years now. It's been at least 10, if not 15 years since I even considered buying any Russian insulators. This was the beginning of the Russian invasion and they were remarkably cheap because most buyers were gun shy about purchasing from Russia. Most of the insulators being listed were unknown types that had no assigned CD number. Measurements and a visual comparison between the one in my hand and the one on my monitor, was the only way to determine if similar shapes were in fact different. Prices skyrocketed overnight when 3-4 other collectors decided they had to be the first on the block to get every new find, turned eBay into a Russian sellers paradise. Auctions that Doug Netzke and I had been consistently winning for less than $10, were now ending in the hundreds. As much as I desired to build a collection of Russian insulators, such a collection was not worth the inflated cost to me, just to be the first kid in town, or to have the largest collection. Now, in the summer of 2018, more than a decade later, I decided to check out the prices these insulators were currently selling for. For years I watched a never ending supply consisting of only a few CD's in the same colours being listed coming out of Eastern Europe. Not interested in buying, I seldom checked end prices. Surely by now the craze for cobalt blue's would be sated, and other prices returned to a realistic level. One notable difference are listings offering mixed lots with cheaper postage than buying one at a time. Simply unheard of 15 years ago. This completed listing shows 5 insulators postage cost was $45. That same day I checked his current auctions- he had close to 30, and chose 5 -6 that I liked with an acceptable price. Add on the $45 postage and it was doable. After too many miscommunications and assumptions on eBay over many years, I tend to ask first rather than regret later. In his auction I see where he will send 5 insulators to Canada for $45, but I go ahead and ask the 'stupid' question anyway. Stupid, because I already know the cost - what his answer should be. I ask for the combined postage for 5 insulators from separate auctions, expecting I already know his answer, but, (in your best Gomer Pyle voice), surPRISE, SURprise, the postage is almost double. Somehow I was not surprised, but certainly was disappointed . I did not buy.

For some time I sat and considered my options. I looked at the 6 listings again and picked out one that I really liked, and considered it by itself. Then I chose a second one with damage that was only a few dollars. With combined postage for two, as shown in one of his ended auctions being $30, I decided I would buy just these two from the original 5 that I wanted.

Once again I asked the 'stupid' question about combined postage - I asked the postage cost for two insulators from separate auctions. In his auction he could send two for a cost of $30. When I picked out two same CD's from separate auctions, the combined postage was now $40. I did not buy.

It is possible that a $30 insulator with damage and $10 postage is a hard sell, whereas a $10 insulator with damage and $30 postage may trick your physic into believing it's a better buy, and is therefore an easier sale. It just doesn't work for me. I do wonder if a collector showed up on the Russian's doorstep with a suitcase and said, 'I'll take all the $10 insulators you have listed on eBay right now, just how many would suddenly be unavailable at that price.

At least one seller in Russia appears to more than triple the actual postage. Checking postage cost from several sellers in the same country for the same CD, prices ranged from a low with dinoelida @ $9 up to $29 from a different seller, with several others priced in between. This inflated cost should easily cover all eBay, pay pal, and any third party costs, giving him the full price of the insulator as 100% profit. sweet. I guess you could just refer to it as a hidden 'buyers premium'.

Last summer I went online, with the intention of buying some 23 Russian insulators needed to fill my [id=549106566;Christmas tree] for the upcoming 2018 holiday season. I was wanting new to me CD's and better colours in ones I already had, of which there are dozens and dozens out there. I expected this could be expensive and had no idea what I might get for the $1500 I had allocated to the project. I was counting on combined postage to make it a little less painful. Had the postage been quoted at least closer to actual cost, it is likely we would have done a deal, maybe even for all the 23 I was looking for. I would have accepted his prices, and I would not have a Fail story.

With the postage costs appearing grossly excessive, even just inquiring about a bulk purchase struck me as nothing more than a waste of my time. Had I enquired, and the seller had come back with an all inclusive price for 23 insulators, I would always have that feeling of being gouged on the postage. Needless to say, I did not buy even one insulator.

20 years ago in a similar situation with a US seller, I did negotiate a cheaper postage - once. All the items arrived damaged due to careless packing. It wasn't hard to do the math on that one. Lesson learned and not to be forgotten or repeated.

An observation: I viewed listings from a number of sellers from various Eastern Europe countries over the summer of 2018. I have come to the conclusion that eBay is a clearing house for lower end pieces, the commons or better ones that have damage. The high dollar, best condition, desirable pieces going directly to the collectors. I say this because I have seen several pictures of different Russian collections that contain hundreds of pieces not sourced through eBay. I did want to add better pieces to improve my collection, but to accomplish that I would need look elsewhere, explore other options. Maybe some day I'll try again, but for now I decided they were not that important. I just changed the plans for the display to include other foreign. It worked out quite nicely.

Lets go back, to the last century, back to the early days of internet auctions . In a time when Yahoo and eBay were head-to-head for internet auctions. Back when my eBay rating was higher than Rick Soller's. 50 listings - two pages, on either site was a busy week. Everything sold, even aqua hemi 42's . Many completed sales were less than a dollar in those days, postage was about $4 for each. A seller in California, whose name I have long since forgot, (probably a good thing), had about 20 listings, almost 1/2 of the total listings on Yahoo at the time. I noticed postage on his auctions was higher, at $6. Expensive enough in those days for one, but combined postage would certainly reduce that. Before bidding I took the time to check the USPS website and calculated the combined postage for a dozen insulators to be about $16 and based my bids accordingly. I won 11 auctions in one week from that seller.

I had done my homework, I had calculated the estimated postage cost before buying: my Fail was I didn't go far enough and confirm it. At that point in time and with a Yahoo feedback rating of 6, such a thought had never occurred to me.

Next day I get an invoice from the seller for a total. I believe it was $48 for the insulators, and $66 for postage.

Too late now, I asked about combined postage..................

Seller stated his auctions did not offer combined postage.

Realizing I was about to get screwed, my reply was ' Ok, then send them separately.'

They arrived in one box with affixed postage of $13.80.

Life lesson. I may ask questions that to many sellers seem obvious, but I do have my reasons. If they do not answer - I do not bid. If I don't ask, it comes back on me.

To this day, postage is an issue for me. For me it can, and has been, an actual deal-breaker. Whether I am alone, or whether it rankles other buyers to the same degree, I do not know.

I find an insulator in an antique store- $100. I like it, I buy it.

I find the same insulator on eBay, postage is $10 - I win the auction for $90 . I'm good.

I find the same insulator on eBay, buyitnow for $10 with $90 postage. I will not buy it.

If X number of dollars for an insulator delivered to my house is an acceptable price, then how much is postage and how much is insulator should not make any difference. For me it is an issue I can not get my head around.

I am the first to admit, this is TOTALLY illogical. In all three sales for the same insulator, the seller makes the same profit; the cost to me is the same. This Fail is all mine, no one to point to but myself - and I get it. My guess, if this affliction had to be pigeon-holed and given a name, it would be costaextreamanus ; more commonly know as galloping gouging. (Seller gives you a quick ride and you don't feel it until later.)

caveat emptor.. Thanks for listening.

Archival tidbit -In my online collecting infancy, pre 2000, I did not know much about insulators - still have much to learn and not just about insulators. There was an eBay listing from NJ of what was called a Harlow claw porcelain insulator with the side embossing on it. Minimal damage to one claw. I thought about it each time it was relisted, three times or maybe even four. Really weird looking piece I assumed was foreign, simply just too ugly for me to be interested in. Each time I looked at it, I was left with the impression it was a broken, incomplete or a lower half of a specimen insulator . There were no sources of information available online to check, to see what it was. Online resources were in their infancy. I was just a few months into collecting; if there were books I doubt I even knew about them, let alone had any. Eventually it did receive a bid and sold for the opening price of $15. Knowing what little I do now, I do not know why it took nearly a month for this insulator to sell. It could have been because it was one of the most expensive listings on eBay at that time. [id=564738434;next episode]