Using a nail polisher to polish pens

[KCat]

Yeah - I brought this thread to life again - but only briefly.

 

I ordered some muslin buffs - haven't received them yet but am looking forward to it. Will update on my impression of them when I get a chance to actually use them.

 

What amazed me was the cost - well, specifically, the shipping. This is one of the few on-line companies I've dealt with that charges shipping based on well, how much it costs to ship! We do (my hubby and I) and so does the company I order vials from. But it's not that common. So... they've already impressed me with that.

[Cam]

It's such a breath of fresh air, isn't it? I hate the fact that some companies (or eBayers) get a little extra out of me in the form of shipping and 'handling'. Blah!

[KCat]

It's such a breath of fresh air, isn't it? I hate the fact that some companies (or eBayers) get a little extra out of me in the form of shipping and 'handling'. Blah!

indeed - there have been a couple of auctions I was glad I didn't win (before I learned to read auction listings better) because a $5 item would have cost $10 to ship!

[Cam]

Damn. Just won an auction. $30-odd for the pen, and just received the invoice - $37 shipping. Last time I buy from them, simple as that.

[KCat]

OWCH! goodness, where's it being shipped from, Antarctica?

[Guest Denis Richard]

Damn. Just won an auction. $30-odd for the pen, and just received the invoice - $37 shipping. Last time I buy from them, simple as that.

If not stated explicitely in the auction, I always ask the seller a quote on shipping before bidding. It keeps that kind of surprises away from you.

[Maja]

Don't even get me started on shipping and "handling" charges...I dealt with a guy who charged me $14.99 USD to send an item that cost him $3.75 USD to ship. I knew about the cost, but I paid for a form of expedited shipping and he sent it by regular airmail.

 

He then claimed that he pays his employees $15 USD/hour to pack the 20-odd items a day his full-time business (!) sends out. By my calculations, I paid for 45 minutes of someone's time to: roll my small item in one sheet of bubble wrap, plonk it into a old cardboard box, tape it, and slap a pre-printed label on the box. Yeah right.....I forgot about gasoline for someone to take it to the post office, but c'mon

[Cam]

Damn. Just won an auction. $30-odd for the pen, and just received the invoice - $37 shipping. Last time I buy from them, simple as that.

If not stated explicitely in the auction, I always ask the seller a quote on shipping before bidding. It keeps that kind of surprises away from you.

Yeah, I usually do. However, this was a last minute spot so there was no time ...

[Gerry]

I think that it's time people exposed traders with this type of S&H practice. I for one would like to know who to put on my 'do not bid' list.

 

I don't think that eBay supports this either, but they are not known for protecting the rights of the consumer.

 

If you don't want to identify the seller explicitly, then at least identify the auction. We can draw our own conclusions.

 

Gerry

[KendallJ]

I never bid on an item that doesn't have shipping already called out. no reason for it. Shipping and handling can be known on any single item ahead of time (or at least a reasonable enough estimate that the seller can take the risk).

[Gerry]

Kendall, the situation is always a little more complicated for non-US bidders. Although the shipping can be very similar to Canada, some sellers charge exhorbitant fees, others advertize the same postage. By far the most don't mention it at all, and it is pretty tiring to have to question them all, one by one before bidding. Sometimes they take a couple of days to respond and that may be beyond the auction.

 

It's a real pain...

 

Gerry

 

Worst I encountered was a $35.00 surcharge over the US postage quoted, best was a seller who notified me it would be $1.35 total, and since his US rate was $1.50 in the checkout - included 15 cents refund in the shipment. Does that give you an idea of the discrepancies that exist out there?

[KCat]

well, i'm bummed. in the email notification of the order they said they were charging me the amount for actual shipment.

 

apprently they decided to ship priority mail and charge me $6.

 

so it goes..

[Maja]

The worst thing is that PayPal (which I used to pay for my auction) won't do a thing when it comes to "service" problems like overcharging on shipping (someone please correct me if I am wrong!)....If the item arrives intact (which it did), I have no recourse, as far as I know....I did alert Ebay to this sellers practice, though....Still waiting to see what happens re: my feedback from him. It's sort of a Mexican standoff now----neither one of us wants to be the first to leave feedback for the other At least the item arrived in good condition; I can be grateful for that (and for not paying customs duties---whew!!!)

[Maja]

Ok, now to swing this discussion back to nail polishers....

 

I went to my local drugstore and asked about nail polishers and I got the same look I got when I asked about silicone grease at the hardware store

 

The cosmetician knew about nail "buffers" and showed me a kit with a nail buffer and some attachments but it was in a fancy box along with a ton of other cosmetic suppies... Price: $49.99 Canadian

 

What brand of nail polishers/buffers did y'all buy in the United States?

Edited February 18, 2005 by Maja

[KendallJ]

You know I went and bought one at a costmetics shop in the US (for my dog - we have leather furniture and freshly cut nails are SHARP!), and paid similar for it, and it was pretty cheap mfg. My wife went to our hairdresser, and she said she just buys a 25$ rechargable Dremel at Lowes. Go figure.

[KCat]

this is the one I got. It does limit me to wheels I can attach to the three attachments you can see in the front of the package.

 

http://www.ulta.com/control/product/~categ...duct_id=2072431

 

I don't regret it though - it's lightweight and easy to use though not ideal. I had to use Alene's to glue on the felt buffs. A bit of a kluge. I think somewhere above, Wim mentioned a heavy-dute double-sided tape he uses.

 

I did order a router speed control today though so I can use the muslin buffs on the Dremel. We'll see how much control I can really take of the Dremel - at it's current speed it gets away from me easily.

[Gerry]

Ok, now to swing this discussion back to nail polishers....

 

I went to my local drugstore and asked about nail polishers and I got the same look I got when I asked about silicone grease at the hardware store

 

The cosmetician knew about nail "buffers" and showed me a kit with a nail buffer and some attachments but it was in a fancy box along with a ton of other cosmetic suppies... Price: $49.99 Canadian

 

What brand of nail polishers/buffers did y'all buy in the United States?

 

On the Buffers...

See KCat's post for the URL

http://www.ulta.com/control/product/~categ...duct_id=2072431

Watch the S&H though...

 

On the shipping...

Offer him a compromise of a couple of dollars for handling costs - more than $3.00 and he is not efficient enough to remain in the business. You may have to be prepared to sacrifice your 100% rep to give him a neg for his business practices, but it happens. I have seen people that have a single retaliatory neg posted - believe me, the person posting the retaliatory neg is pretty obvious. You could try to wait until the very last minute to post the feedback in the hope that he will not see it in time to retaliate.

 

You could also suggest that his failure to ship in the contracted manner is a breach of contract that is one that eBay might action.

 

The biggest drawback to eBaying is, unfortunately the $25.00 charge for dispute resolution - making it generally uneconomical to pursue a case with them. You can always register a complaint, but that has absolutely no effect on the seller that I know of.

 

I still recommend a word of mouth campaign identifying unethical sellers so that further victims aren't subject to the same treatment.

 

Gerry

[KCat]

On the Buffers...

See KCat's post for the URL

http://www.ulta.com/control/product/~categ...duct_id=2072431

Watch the S&H though...

yes - I should point out, i bought mine in the store which is all of 1.5 miles away. The price in-store is the same as the price on-line. So adding the Shipping makes for a bad deal IMO. I was just using the URL to point out the sort of thing I bought.

[Maja]

Thanks, KCat for the nail buffer info...and Gerry for the advice! Will let you know what happens re: both...