After three, maybe four years here I have found that for the most part, when I send an invoice out for under $5 folks email me and say to wait. So to eliminate that for the most part I do and wait a month. If the tab is still under $5 I send an invoice. I have a couple that are really for pennies that I suspect will not be added to by month end so I will send out their invoices in October
Greg
I'm like Greg but EVERYBODY gets invoiced at or near the end of the month (It depends on when there is a stamp auction to attend and the money comes in handy to purchase more stamps).
Us sellers like to buy stamps too!
The only situation that bothers me, and I know it's my fault, are the sellers who assume I don't want the order that is low value and never invoice me. This happens occasionally and I have to keep better track of this. When I buy a stamp I do a crossthrough on my want list and make a mark in my book so I don't re-buy. I have quite a few marked stamps in my albums that have been there for several months (or more). I don't like to ask you sellers to wait, I know it makes your paperwork much more complicated. I vote that everyone automatically invoices once a month, more or less! Also us buyers must do our part as well!
I am flexible. If I have a few stamps for a buyer which are less than the shipping cost - I wait awhile before I invoice. If too much time goes by - I message them and give them some options including cancelling the order if for say they selected one 15 cent stamp and nothing else. I have no problem cancelling selections here since there are no fees - so if someone changes their mind - it is fine with me. Sometimes they tell me to go ahead and invoice them and sometimes they wind up looking thru my books and add a few more. I also have some buyers who find a few stamps that I have up on Hipstamp and I manually add those items to the invoice here which avoids double shipping charges for them. If I am holding a larger amount of stamps - I either invoice those faster or wait awhile Also some folks send me a message right away after they have selected some stamps because they want to pay right away. It really is a mix for me. The only time I try to close out everything by a specific date is when I know I need to change my terms (being discussed in a different thread right now !) Steve
Aye. It can be a fine line between:-
Do I invoice now? Do I leave it a day or two? Do I leave it a week or two? Do I wait a month? Which buyer has a "special arangement"?
Does the buyer have any outstanding bids in the auctions? When are these bids due off?
The seller tries to take all these things into consideration. They have to because if they get it "wrong" god help them.
Some buyers are very sensitive flowers indeed.
"and I know it's my fault"
What tends to happen to me is that I usually buy from the same group of people - they're the ones who tend to offer what I collect. But sometimes someone else will offer a few stamps I can't pass up, i.e., I want them. If I check their books and auctions there might be nothing else I want for months. That's not because they don't have great stuff, it's because they have great stuff that doesn't fit with my collection. If that happens sometimes I don't notice 'til much later, my problem, not yours! Please invoice me for those couple stamps; I still want them! From now on I'll try to notice and ask you to send the invoice, I promise to try.
Harvey:- for your outstanding purchases go to Auction, click on Buyers, scroll and click on won lots and you will see what you have won and who from and whether you have paid them. You can set how far back you want to go. You can then message the sellers individually.
Don't rely on your last message on this thread asking the sellers to invoice you as some sellers do not read the discussion board on a daily basis or at all.
Below is an example of what you will find under lots won
Name of seller:- ian Balloch
Date
14 Sep 2020 3131912 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2639D 1 0.50
13 Sep 2020 3130305 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2691A 1 1.80
12 Sep 2020 3129277 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2746D 1 0.60
12 Sep 2020 3129275 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2746C 1 0.50
08 Sep 2020 3125336 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2862A 1 1.95
08 Sep 2020 3125335 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2836 1 0.35
07 Sep 2020 3124236 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2865B/D 1 1.65
07 Sep 2020 3124235 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2862A 1 1.95
06 Sep 2020 3123320 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2935 1 0.45
30 Aug 2020 3116640 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2979 1 0.35 PayPal : 01 Sep 2020
Recvd : 08 Sep 2020
25 Aug 2020 3109889 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 937/940 1 0.40 PayPal : 01 Sep 2020
Recvd : 08 Sep 2020
23 Aug 2020 3107880 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 933/936 1 0.50 PayPal : 01 Sep 2020
Recvd : 08 Sep 2020
22 Aug 2020 3107166 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2973D 1 0.45 PayPal : 01 Sep 2020
Recvd : 08 Sep 2020
Ian - I can track down one lot this way that goes back to June. I will get in touch with this person very soon. It's three nice lots, but only adds up to just over $1 so the seller probably decided not to invoice and resell the items. As I said, I'll send a message. But I can only go back 120 days and I have a few items before that that are probably no longer available - my fault! Thanks for the help, but the moral of the story is that I'll have to be more careful!
Harvey:-
Sellers have a duty of care to their buyers.
Buyers have a duty of care to those they buy from.
Just my own opinion and I try to treat people the way I would like to be treated.
I reside in Australia (The Land Downunder)as the song says ,postage from here is not cheap I tend to hold small lots until at least the postage is covered .Thing is I have found items over a year old and have never been contacted by the buyer? I sent several messages to one buyer and never recieved a reply so I cancelled his order? overseas postage. I try to use resent stamp issues as I'm sure my buyers can attest to!
I will admit I sometimes forget that I have bid on items untl I get an email or invoice I think that's old age.
I belong to a stamp club on facebook and it is so hard trying to keep track of what you have for sale or are buying, if anyone knows an easy way to do it please let me know.
Brian
"it is so hard trying to keep track of what you have for sale or are buying, if anyone knows an easy way to do it please let me know."
I track all my purchases in StampManage by using the status field so marked "AWD" (awaiting delivery) with he sellers name. This has reduced duplicate purchases. As I inventory the received purchases I will clear the field. I had been using StampManage but thought I could keep purchases in my head...not a chance. It has helped cross check bought vs received.
I will need to do something for bid items but not in StampManage since you have to go back and clean up what you did not win. This is not as easy.
You could do something similar for items for sale.
For what it's worth. If a 35 cent purchase is going to, say, Canada I tend to keep the Item in the Buyer's Inventory Sleeve until that person Orders a couple more Items. I carefully review all Items in Buyer's Inventory Sleeves about every 1 to 2 weeks. I have a couple of Buyer's who routinely Order a lot of stamps. I tend to Invoice them when the Purchase Amount gets into the $20. range, even if they have additional Items that haven't cleared the SOR Auction as yet. That way, they receive a manageable Invoice (bill) and a manageable number of stamps.
Some good ideas, unlike most sites which have deicated lists of what you've purchased ,watching buying the facbook site has none of this.
What I may try is copying the images and keep them in a seperate folder at least I'll know what I have bid on even if I don't win.
Brian
I have bought a lot of items since I joined a year or so ago. I know that, according to the rules, I am supposed to get in touch with the seller and ask to be invoiced. But I haven't been doing this because most sellers invoice automatically after certain periods of time. I pay ASAP and everything is great - i.e. you have me spoiled. My problem is that when I see something I want, either in an auction or approval book, I buy it and then wait to be invoiced (I know that's not the procedure). Sometimes I only have a couple items with a seller, and hence sometimes they don't invoice me! I really am willing to pay the shipping for a couple items rather than not get them. I guess I have to keep track of these sales and ask to be invoiced. Do some of you sellers have a policy that you will not invoice unless the sales are more than a certain amount? I really have to start reading the information at the bottom of the item since that is where the information is kept - I guess I am just either too lazy or too excited about the items.
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
After three, maybe four years here I have found that for the most part, when I send an invoice out for under $5 folks email me and say to wait. So to eliminate that for the most part I do and wait a month. If the tab is still under $5 I send an invoice. I have a couple that are really for pennies that I suspect will not be added to by month end so I will send out their invoices in October
Greg
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
I'm like Greg but EVERYBODY gets invoiced at or near the end of the month (It depends on when there is a stamp auction to attend and the money comes in handy to purchase more stamps).
Us sellers like to buy stamps too!
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
The only situation that bothers me, and I know it's my fault, are the sellers who assume I don't want the order that is low value and never invoice me. This happens occasionally and I have to keep better track of this. When I buy a stamp I do a crossthrough on my want list and make a mark in my book so I don't re-buy. I have quite a few marked stamps in my albums that have been there for several months (or more). I don't like to ask you sellers to wait, I know it makes your paperwork much more complicated. I vote that everyone automatically invoices once a month, more or less! Also us buyers must do our part as well!
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
I am flexible. If I have a few stamps for a buyer which are less than the shipping cost - I wait awhile before I invoice. If too much time goes by - I message them and give them some options including cancelling the order if for say they selected one 15 cent stamp and nothing else. I have no problem cancelling selections here since there are no fees - so if someone changes their mind - it is fine with me. Sometimes they tell me to go ahead and invoice them and sometimes they wind up looking thru my books and add a few more. I also have some buyers who find a few stamps that I have up on Hipstamp and I manually add those items to the invoice here which avoids double shipping charges for them. If I am holding a larger amount of stamps - I either invoice those faster or wait awhile Also some folks send me a message right away after they have selected some stamps because they want to pay right away. It really is a mix for me. The only time I try to close out everything by a specific date is when I know I need to change my terms (being discussed in a different thread right now !) Steve
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
Aye. It can be a fine line between:-
Do I invoice now? Do I leave it a day or two? Do I leave it a week or two? Do I wait a month? Which buyer has a "special arangement"?
Does the buyer have any outstanding bids in the auctions? When are these bids due off?
The seller tries to take all these things into consideration. They have to because if they get it "wrong" god help them.
Some buyers are very sensitive flowers indeed.
"and I know it's my fault"
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
What tends to happen to me is that I usually buy from the same group of people - they're the ones who tend to offer what I collect. But sometimes someone else will offer a few stamps I can't pass up, i.e., I want them. If I check their books and auctions there might be nothing else I want for months. That's not because they don't have great stuff, it's because they have great stuff that doesn't fit with my collection. If that happens sometimes I don't notice 'til much later, my problem, not yours! Please invoice me for those couple stamps; I still want them! From now on I'll try to notice and ask you to send the invoice, I promise to try.
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
Harvey:- for your outstanding purchases go to Auction, click on Buyers, scroll and click on won lots and you will see what you have won and who from and whether you have paid them. You can set how far back you want to go. You can then message the sellers individually.
Don't rely on your last message on this thread asking the sellers to invoice you as some sellers do not read the discussion board on a daily basis or at all.
Below is an example of what you will find under lots won
Name of seller:- ian Balloch
Date
14 Sep 2020 3131912 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2639D 1 0.50
13 Sep 2020 3130305 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2691A 1 1.80
12 Sep 2020 3129277 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2746D 1 0.60
12 Sep 2020 3129275 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2746C 1 0.50
08 Sep 2020 3125336 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2862A 1 1.95
08 Sep 2020 3125335 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2836 1 0.35
07 Sep 2020 3124236 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2865B/D 1 1.65
07 Sep 2020 3124235 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2862A 1 1.95
06 Sep 2020 3123320 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2935 1 0.45
30 Aug 2020 3116640 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2979 1 0.35 PayPal : 01 Sep 2020
Recvd : 08 Sep 2020
25 Aug 2020 3109889 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 937/940 1 0.40 PayPal : 01 Sep 2020
Recvd : 08 Sep 2020
23 Aug 2020 3107880 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 933/936 1 0.50 PayPal : 01 Sep 2020
Recvd : 08 Sep 2020
22 Aug 2020 3107166 GREAT BRITAIN MNH SCOTT 2973D 1 0.45 PayPal : 01 Sep 2020
Recvd : 08 Sep 2020
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
Ian - I can track down one lot this way that goes back to June. I will get in touch with this person very soon. It's three nice lots, but only adds up to just over $1 so the seller probably decided not to invoice and resell the items. As I said, I'll send a message. But I can only go back 120 days and I have a few items before that that are probably no longer available - my fault! Thanks for the help, but the moral of the story is that I'll have to be more careful!
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
Harvey:-
Sellers have a duty of care to their buyers.
Buyers have a duty of care to those they buy from.
Just my own opinion and I try to treat people the way I would like to be treated.
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
I reside in Australia (The Land Downunder)as the song says ,postage from here is not cheap I tend to hold small lots until at least the postage is covered .Thing is I have found items over a year old and have never been contacted by the buyer? I sent several messages to one buyer and never recieved a reply so I cancelled his order? overseas postage. I try to use resent stamp issues as I'm sure my buyers can attest to!
I will admit I sometimes forget that I have bid on items untl I get an email or invoice I think that's old age.
I belong to a stamp club on facebook and it is so hard trying to keep track of what you have for sale or are buying, if anyone knows an easy way to do it please let me know.
Brian
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
"it is so hard trying to keep track of what you have for sale or are buying, if anyone knows an easy way to do it please let me know."
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
I track all my purchases in StampManage by using the status field so marked "AWD" (awaiting delivery) with he sellers name. This has reduced duplicate purchases. As I inventory the received purchases I will clear the field. I had been using StampManage but thought I could keep purchases in my head...not a chance. It has helped cross check bought vs received.
I will need to do something for bid items but not in StampManage since you have to go back and clean up what you did not win. This is not as easy.
You could do something similar for items for sale.
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
For what it's worth. If a 35 cent purchase is going to, say, Canada I tend to keep the Item in the Buyer's Inventory Sleeve until that person Orders a couple more Items. I carefully review all Items in Buyer's Inventory Sleeves about every 1 to 2 weeks. I have a couple of Buyer's who routinely Order a lot of stamps. I tend to Invoice them when the Purchase Amount gets into the $20. range, even if they have additional Items that haven't cleared the SOR Auction as yet. That way, they receive a manageable Invoice (bill) and a manageable number of stamps.
re: I know I'm doing this wrong, but ...
Some good ideas, unlike most sites which have deicated lists of what you've purchased ,watching buying the facbook site has none of this.
What I may try is copying the images and keep them in a seperate folder at least I'll know what I have bid on even if I don't win.
Brian