The high cost of selling on eBay …

Jan. 1, 2021

I packed one rig off today and preparing another for an ebay listing. My wife was off from work and volunteered to take the box to the post office. The buyer had emailed me a couple of times to check on the radio, and he even implied that he believed I was selling the radio TWICE, and was apparently ready to raise holy hell about alleged fraud of some sort.

I calmly assured him there was no fraud, and his radio would be shipped ASAP. I had casually mentioned the buyer’s anxiety, and she made a command decision to ask the postal clerk to ship the package the fastest way possible — to the West Coast!

I should NEVER have allowed her to take the package to the post office. She came back and commented on how expensive it cost to ship — she paid TWICE what I charged the buyer, and the total for shipping and insurance was within $20 of the entire purchase price of the damn radio!

As a good husband, I didn’t lose my cool; I was ready however to blow up at the dumb decision to ship it the fastest possible way. I told her for future reference, no matter how anxious a buyer was, I’ll never pay more than $10 more than the price I charge the buyer for shipping and insurance. Never!

But let this be a warning to all you husbands who have XYLs who want to do you a “favor” sometime: Don’t do it! Resist the temptation! It is ALWAYS better to ship it a day later than make the mistake of having your wife do it.

Lesson learned!

STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT. I put one of my 1936A Mac Keys on the air tonight for SKN and when I checked into my CW traffic net. I’m planning to operate more SKN later today. More to come.

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