[rescue] Re: No Pickup

[rescue at sunhelp.org]

> > I tend to agree with the ideas that the "no pick up" people 
> > are pulling something unsavory by either trying to pass off
> > something that's less than advertised, or (equally despicable)
> > charging you an extra 'handling' fee beyond what the shipping
> > charges (plus reasonable packing costs) are.
> 
> I recently bought a few machines from an ebay seller that 
> routinely charges a 'packing' charge of like $10 over the
> cost of shipping. When I let them know I was going to be
> picking up the machines their response was that they're already
> packed for shipping, so I would still have to pay the 
> packaging charge...
[[SNIP observations on large seller]]

I've done pickups from a couple of largish sellers (BPAI and
PCRetro specifically) in the local area, and in each case it
turned into a chance for them to try to sell me some other
items not listed yet.  I called ahead and showed up on time,
but I could definitely see some sellers not wanting to allow
pickup because they end up waiting around for people who
can't keep to a schedule.  In the case of BPAI, I walked out
with three or four monitors instead of the the one I had
originally come for.

I've also had the "it's pre-packaged" thing work out okay in
the case of at least one eBay seller (Hard Drive Outlet)--who had
quoted $10 per disk for shipping for 3 9GB disks.  When I asked
if there was any way to combine shipping, they stated that the
items were already packaged for shipping--so I paid up.  I
was pleasantly surprised when a single package arrived, containing
*4* 9GB disks instead--so I ended up with a better deal (essentially
getting the fourth disk for ~$15 or less).  Of course, I probably
just caught them on a good day, but I'll buy from them again.

  --Rip