Customer Service Policies

General:  We believe in unquestioned customer service.  Our business is built on your satisfaction - one purchase at a time.  While you might encounter some unscrupulous sellers on eBay or other places on the Web, you are not going to meet them here.  We not only guarantee our products (unless specifically disclaimed in our ads), but we guarantee your satisfaction with each and every purchase. Below you will find our policies.  What you won't find is a bunch of rules that you must obey.  Neither will you find threats about non-paying bidders, reporting you to eBay, posting negative feedback, or anything like that.  One thing I dislike about some (too many) eBay sellers is their belief that they're somehow superior to every one else.  Their "rules" are so onerous that I refuse to bid on their auctions.  You've seen them, I'm sure.  Their "rules" are longer than their description of their item for sale and contain phrases like, "High bidder MUST pay within 5 days of auction close or negative feedback will be posted."  I dislike threats.  You will never read such rubbish from us. You are our most important customer.  It doesn't matter if we have 20 other orders pending.  When we work on your order, all of our attention is focused on making it the most pleasant transaction you've ever had.

Guarantee:  We're proud to offer a money back guarantee that your purchase will be free of any undisclosed faults or blemishes, is accurately described and that it will perform as intended.  In cases of refunds, we cannot offer a refund on packing and shipping charges or eBay fees incurred by us.  We hope you understand.

Assurances:  All photos accompanying our advertisements are of the actual item up for auction, with no retouching of faults or blemishes.  Our item descriptions contain a complete disclosure of any faults or blemishes. Book jacket protectors, of course, are brand new from our supplier.  We typically stock about 10,000 book jacket protectors of varying styles and sizes.  But sometimes we run out of stock.  Typically, we can get restocked in less than three days, delaying your purchase only slightly.

Experience: Book Related:   I've been in the book related business for over 20 years as both a collector and dealer.  Not only do I collect and sell modern First Editions, but I repair damaged books and perform appraisals of single volumes and entire collections.   Photography: I have been involved with photography for over 25 years on a semi-professional basis and for the past five years have been involved in collecting and selling Canon photographic equipment. (Semi professional simply means that I shoot professionally but don't make my living doing it.)

Shipping and Order Fulfillment: Packaging and Handling:  We strive to package everything we sell very carefully as follows: Book jacket protectors are generally packed flat.  Oversized protectors are typically shipped in mailing tubes. Books are packed in special media mailer boxes and protected via air cushioned bags or wraps inside the package.  Free space is occupied by packing peanuts. Camera equipment is packaged in protective bubble wrap and packing peanuts. Very small and non-fragile items are packed in Kraft bubble mailers.  All of this careful packaging costs money and we generally ask for $1.00 to $2.50 to help defray the cost of packing materials.  All orders are accompanied by an itemized statement. Domestic Shipping:  We prefer to use US Postal Service Priority Mail shipping together with delivery confirmation.  The reason for this choice is cost.  Parcel Post is only about $0.30 cheaper and does not offer delivery confirmation.  United Parcel Service, Federal Express, DHL and other package carriers are much more expensive.  Books are generally shipped via the US Postal Service's Media Mail rates (formerly Book Rate - Bound Printed Matter).  Small items are shipped via First Class Mail. International Shipping:  International buyers pay actual cost of shipping plus a packaging fee.  If you have won an auction and live outside the United States, it is important to inform us of that fact.  Your shipping charges will be different than those of US residents.

Notification and Payment Terms:  While eBay rules are nice (sometimes), we understand that it is sometimes difficult,  if not impossible, for buyers to confirm their purchase within 72 hours of the end of auction.  We believe that it is our responsibility to contact buyers of our products.  If you have not received any notice from us within that time, please send us an email.  Prompt payment is always appreciated.  But we are not tyrants who demand payment within 72 hours, 5 days, or whatever.  If you can't make payment quickly, just let us know so that we don't keep sending you invoices. We're very understanding and patient.  Heck, we're all human and none of us is perfect.  We'll work with you so that you come away from every transaction with a great feeling. Special Note for AOL Subscribers:  While it is certainly your option to use AOL as your Internet Service Provider, there are some drawbacks to your choice.  The most egregious is their blocking of your incoming mail. Typically, your email address with AOL contains some capitalized letters.  Unfortunately, eBay only provides us with your email address in small letters. When we send a confirming email to you using this eBay provided address, AOL often trashes it.  This also happens when multiple recipients are listed on the address line.  AOL treats the message as SPAM and simply deletes it.  And they don't tell you or us that they've done it. So if you are an AOL subscriber, it is very important that you contact us at the close of an auction. There are no guarantees whatsoever that we can contact you.  The solution of course, is for you to switch to a real ISP rather than AOL.  This would solve many problems that you no doubt have.

Feedback:  How I loathe the eBay Feedback system.  But its all we have.  Our philosophy is simple.  In any transaction, the buyer's only real responsibility is to pay for the purchase in a timely manner.  Once the buyer has accomplished that, positive feedback is earned.  Its as simple as that.  We do not withhold feedback waiting for yours. Our responsibility is more complex.  Not only do we need to communicate with you clearly, but we must fulfill your order and ship it promptly and in proper packaging.  Only after you have received your order and are satisfied with all aspects of our transaction should you leave feedback.  But please, before leaving anything other than positive feedback, give us the opportunity to cure whatever problem you might have.  We will do our best to fix things to your satisfaction.   Finally, if you don't feel like posting feedback or simply forget to do so, no big deal.  We won't hound you for it.

Condition and Grading: Books:  While we always disclose a book's condition, some people are not familiar with book grading terms.  A complete discussion of book grading is available on our Web Site.  If we state that a book is a First Edition, rest assured that it is a true First Edition.  Guaranteed.  We are fairly critical of a book's cosmetic condition.  And we always disclose visual flaws.  We are always happy to answer any questions you might have even if they don't relate to the item you are bidding on.  Information and advice is freely given. Camera Equipment:  While we sometimes use words such as "excellent" and "mint" to describe items, we also try to use a numeric grading system on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being just about perfect.  All condition grades imply fully working mechanics and optics, unless explicitly stated otherwise.  As with book-related items, you are free to ask questions about camera equipment.  We have the greatest experience with Canon FD equipment but we are also pretty well versed in Canon EOS equipment.  We have some general knowledge of other 35mm camera brands such as Minolta, Mamiya, Nikon, Olympus, etc. together with aftermarket lens makers such as Tokina, Vivitar, Tamron, and Sigma.

Payment Options:  We accept several payment methods but we prefer simplicity.  If you have a PayPal account, we prefer this method due to its speed and security.  But you may certainly mail your payment by personal check or money order.  You do not have to send me a money order.  If you have a checking account, just send a check and we'll ship your purchase immediately.  If the purchase amount is greater than $100, we may wait for clearance before shipping.  Our bank generally clears funds in 3-5 days, not the 14 days that some eBay sellers so proudly advertise.  Our advice to them is to switch to a real bank.  International customers can make payment by any negotiable instrument that is denominated in US Dollars.  Canadian customers are generally best served by Canadian Postal Money Orders.  Incoming international wire transfers cost $25.00 at our bank, a fee that the buyer is responsible for paying.

My Opinions:  Everybody has an opinion about "things".  You've read some of mine.  I'll admit to being a curmudgeon sometimes.  But I will not take on an antagonistic role in any transaction.  This should be fun.  Too many rules spoil the fun.  eBay spoils the fun with lots of their stupid rules. But my greatest displeasure (as you may have already guessed) is with so many dishonest and unscrupulous eBay sellers.  In addition to the things I've previously mentioned, it really frosts my cookies to have sellers intentionally omit important information in their ads.  By way of an example, I bid-on and won a book that was described as "mint".  Upon receipt of this book, I was shocked to find that the dust jacket was ripped, the price was "clipped", the previous owner had written their name in ink on the front pastedown, and the book was a book club edition.  None of this was disclosed in the ad.  I contacted the seller who insisted that she saw the book as "mint" and that I should have specifically asked about these things before bidding.  Of course, she would accept no returns so I was out of luck.  If nothing else, I thought I should warn other eBay'ers about my experience, so I posted negative feedback. (The feedback I posted related only to the transaction - nothing negative about the seller.)  You guessed it - she immediately posted a retaliatory and slanderous negative feedback comment about me (not about the transaction) that suggested that I was a liar and a cheat.  Sheesh.  What a twit. Life Philosophies:   As Bill and Ted said in their movie, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" "Be excellent to each other!"   I guess that's my philosophy too.  And I promise to be excellent to you.