If you were to have read the complete posting you would have noticed that the shipping was based on the furthest city from my location and that for most people it will be much cheaper. What I think most people dont know is that even though the sign only weighs about 30 pounds or so, because of the size the actually billing weight changes. There are additional charges because of that and I have no control of that. Also the insurance on this sign alone is going to be 45.00 also not set by myself. I also very clearly stated that any remaining balance would be returned to the buyer. Clueless? Im well aware of what shipping rates are and will not make a dime on shipping. What you may also be clueless about is that in order for a transaction to be protected through paypal for both the buyer and seller the seller most use a priority or ups service, it has to be insured, and the seller most also purchase both delivery conformation and a signature is required as well. All those are additional services that are additional charges. If you want to see how clueless I am why dont you check it for yourself. I only ship out around 250 packages a month so Im sure I have no clue what Im doing. There is no way to figure out the actual shipping cost until you have a zip code and I dont do calculated shipping on eBay cause its never correct for items of this nature. Most serious buyers will most likely actually read the complete listing instead of just glancing at it like you obviously did.

and not to mention an expert!

It's a VERY rare sign.

She's obviously excited about it. She's started three threads about it, listed it twice on eBay, and talked with the president of Marathon about it.

Let her have fun with the whole process.

Condition is going to hold this one back though from some serious money.

Still BURNS my *** that sellers have the ***** [or Lack of *****] to Charge Buyer for the Shipping Insurance [whether included in shipping or added to], when they have NO CONTROL over how shoddy/cheap a seller will package something, AND then state that Buyer has to File the Claim!

Picture below is of a 1qt can I received in a Padded Envelope!

I know noreservegirl didn't post this to get critiqued and I passed judgment before I read her eBay auction, but after reading it I hope she takes all the constructive criticism to heart. Personally, I couldn't even read the whole ad continuously as I felt like I was trapped in a room getting sold a timeshare.

"The wait is over"
"The only time this will be offered"
"This is an amazing opportunity"
"This is an extremely rare Transcontinental Oil Co.(Marathon Oil) sign and believed to be the only one of its kind"
"The design and writing style on this just blows me away"
"a real treasure to find"
"looks amazing"
"passionate about his work"
"This is going to be an exciting ride!!"

Sorry noreservegirl, but you may want to think about toning down the jubilation over allowing others the chance to purchase the sign.
As Joe says, "just the facts ma'am".

Yes I am very excited about it Ohio and I in no way want to offend anyone. Everyone has a right to there opinion for sure and I have no problem with that but there are several who are trying to down play the sign. Yes it does have some condition issues that will hold it back. I just cant sit back and watch anyone post things and try to think I dont know what Im doing. I didnt have any clue about the sign itself and without the help of some site members I wouldnt know half as much as I do now and Im thankful for that. I am a top rated power seller for a reason. I got there by being honest, describing my listings as accurate as I can, taking good clear pictures and being very clear about the terms of sale and etc, I also go out of my way to insure that my shipping is done properly and that the rates are the actual charge meaning cost of shipping and any materials needed to insure the items is packaged properly. I do expect people to bid accordingly and most def expectt them to read the listing completely through. I dont hide anything and I dont mis lead my buyers because I dont want to have to go through a return process for anything and I want my buyers to feel like they got a deal. What I wont do is allow anyone to insult my intelligence without defending myself. This is fun, exciting, and has all the suspense of a great treasure hunt. Just want everyone to know Im not trying to sound insulting so I hope no one is offended.

Yea that is a little overboard with the wording. As I did go back and read it again this time not being n a caffene high at 3am and have to say it is a how should I put it redundant. When I found the sign I really didnt expect any attention over it at all.

I totally understand your excitement, I guess what a few of us were trying to get thru is although rare it is definately not a One of a Kind as stations all had signs. Good Luck with the sale.

I know how you feel DBennett about not having any control over how a seller packages your winning item and have seen for myself as a buyer some pretty crappy packaging. The rules of the game have to apply to evryone involved. I recently just changed my policy about this issue after having multiple issues with fraud overseas and being stuck with nothing in the end because I had a return policy. Unfortunatly there are bad buyers and sellers. I do adjust my terms for buyers who have a positive buying record and will always offer refunds when something arrives broken after I recieve the item back. One of the problems is that you can not recieve negative feedback as a buyer even if you dont pay or are a scammer or for ny reson eBay just doesnt have negative feedback for buyers. I have not once had an issue with domistic buyers regarding shipping. Not saying in the thousands of packages over the years my team and I have sent nothing as gotten damaged but it amounts to only about 2% at most. There is a lot more cost invloved in shipping than people take into consideration. And one more thing your right that oil can should have never been sent like that but Ive seen worse.

LOL now thats funny you must be talking from experience!

Where on your auction page does it say/have your Power Seller status?

eBay is giving away Gold Stars [Power Seller Ribbons] like they do in elementary school!
In the last couple of weeks WE have been told how hard it is to reach that Status & both have had less than 700 items in sales!

Exactly!!! You got it!! Maybe you should try bing next time or if you have an iphone ask siri how rare your sign is....she can even help you with a google search.

Richard Amistadi has one listed in his book, so that means that he has owned one at some time or another and he values a real good one at $900 to $2000 and his valuations are usually high. We know yours isn't the only one and I'm sure there are others but you do have a fairly rare sign in below average condition. What it will bring on eBay is anyones guess!! Good luck with it!

I was thinking the starting bid was more than the sign is worth. Only so many collectors wiling to pony up for a sign that is in such horrible condition

Exactly what I was thinking...I was quite surprised it got a bid.

You guys never got the important concept across to her that condition trumps rareity.

Maybe some decorators will step up and go for it's "Pitina"...because it's got plenty of that!

Jim