posted 05-22-2007 10:29 PM                  

I don't want anyone that ordered purple or yellow cars to miss out. I have 23 unpaid cases as of today. Everyone that ordered has received a payment notice and a follow up reminder. Any cases unpaid by June 1st will be offered for sale. A few people have indicated that they are interested and I will rotate through them based upon when they expressed an interest.

The orange cars are ordered after a very long delay. Maisto is advising an August first estimated delivery date. If they do arrive before Dream Cruise I will allow anyone attending the opportunity to pickup their cars at our house for the pickup price if they'd like.

posted 05-22-2007 10:33 PM                  

Thanks !

Let me know if I should pay you now or wait till the Dreamcruise etc.

Sincerely,

John

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posted 05-24-2007 09:30 AM                  

With some luck, which I could use, the orange cars should arrive before Dream Cruise. If they do, I will offer the option of picking up ordered cars at my house during the event. This will save shipping.

The FedEx charges, which was the least expensive way to ship this round of cars, went up unexpectedly based on fuel prices from January when I priced the cars until last week when I shipped them.

I have a number of cases of purple and yellow cars which remain unpaid. I will send out the third and final payment reminder. On June 1st they go back on sale. If you're interested, please let me know. I have a few people that have expressed what they would like.

posted 05-24-2007 03:29 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by galaxie:
Bob, I'm sure I can speak for the majority of us in the P.O.A. No one should have to loose money when they (you) are providing a service to us. I'm sure when all is done, & the person doing the service, comes out on the short end he or she will tell the people involved & we as a group can make up the shortage. Anyone with me on this? JMO.

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posted 05-24-2007 03:30 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by galaxie:
Bob, I'm sure I can speak for the majority of us in the P.O.A. No one should have to loose money when they (you) are providing a service to us. I'm sure when all is done, & the person doing the service, comes out on the short end he or she will tell the people involved & we as a group can make up the shortage. Anyone with me on this? JMO.

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I'm with you.

Bob, I will be mailing you a check to help cover the extra expenses.

posted 05-24-2007 04:12 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by galaxie:
Bob, I'm sure I can speak for the majority of us in the P.O.A. No one should have to loose money when they (you) are providing a service to us. I'm sure when all is done, & the person doing the service, comes out on the short end he or she will tell the people involved & we as a group can make up the shortage. Anyone with me on this? JMO.

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posted 05-24-2007 06:46 PM                  

The first purchase was the dark blue cars about 18 months ago. Maisto's pricing increasing since then to the orange cars is up 44%. The case price has risen only 21% from $55 to $66.50. We saved money when most people paid via check avoiding PayPal fees, more work but a cost savings. There was a further savings moving from US Priority Mail to FedEx Ground but handling tripled. Heck the postage was generated along with the shipping label on my computer and the Post Office sent a truck and people out to pick the load up from the house.

When I priced the purple and yellow cars in January I was embarrassed that Maisto had raised their price 23% from the previous order. Assuming savings from receiving mostly checks and switching to FedEx Ground, I was able to hold the pricing to $62. Even at that, I had to go to $66.50 for the orange because Maisto demanded another 9% over the purple and yellow order.

After I receive final payment for the purple and yellow cars, I'll be force to reevaluate the final pricing on the orange cars. I'll have the facts from this round of shipping. One redeeming opportunity would be if Maisto actual meets its estimated arrival date of August 1st. Then anyone coming to Woodward that has room could elect to pick up their cars avoiding the shipping costs altogether.

posted 05-25-2007 08:51 AM                  

Thanks Bob for doing this.

posted 05-25-2007 09:21 AM                  

The problem with the Maisto cars is that they don't typically produce a quantity of the same cars in the same color and package them in a single case. The vast majority of their business is mixed cars in various colors produced when they want and then sold to merchandisers in mixed cases. Our cars are special orders that have to be built after they procure the appropriate paint, packaged with our stickers, boxed, containerized, shipped to Long Beach, the container broken down, pallets built up and shipped to Detroit. It all takes time.

Despite the FedEx Ground increase from January, it would have been much worse had I continued using US Mail as I had in prior shipments. That would have killed me.

Talk to anyone that has hosted one of the larger events. Ever see one of them make money? The object is to minimize cash out of pocket. If you've ever attended one of CJ's events, you'll remember the event book, name tags and etc. What has she ever charged? The cost for the last night's dinner. Figure out what these have cost me.

I don't mind doing the Maisto group purchases. I've got it down to a manageable process. The most difficult and time consuming part is multiple follow ups required to obtain shipping addresses, coordinating screen names with real names, second and third payment notices. I appreciate it every time a check comes in promptly with the name, screen name and shipping address. People change their minds and circumstances change is the five months from posting a group purchase until the cars actually arrive. I understand that. I appreciate it when someone simply lets me know that they don't want the cars or changed their mind. I can resell them to people that realize that they had not ordered any, ordered enough or new owners.

Worst case, I may have to adjust the delivered price for the orange cars based on my average shipping cost on the purple and yellow cars.

posted 05-26-2007 02:26 AM                  

THANKS

posted 05-26-2007 08:15 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by kat hunter:
If you need additional $ on the yellow and purple cars due to shipping costs just let us know per case price and I believe you will find the checks in the mail.

We appreciate all the work you put into the diecast project and everything else you do for the owners. You do not need to be losing money providing this service.

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