This is what i received when I responded to a Bartertown ad about Foundry AWI figs:Jim,
I can't remember the last time I wrote asking what you were selling or
vice versa. Greetings.
Here is the situation, so you know I won't mislead you. I contacted a
guy, via E-bay, last winter – name is Dennis Lunde. I can look up the
call sign if required. I corresponded with him for months, developing a
friendship over the Internet of sorts. It all started because he was
posting Foundry/Front Rank figures (Napoleonic) for ridiculously
stupidly low prices. Rather than just buying things, I wrote to clarify
his ad was accurate. I also offered advice on putting his prices at
about $1 USD U.S. per figure (foot, rider, horse <— without realizing that
the horses really have gone up a lot in price). I also suggested that
rather than sell cavalry in batches of 500 or so, that he break it up
along historical organization lines. My understanding is that he is not
a gamer but a painter that has little knowledge of historical
organizational structures, doing dioramas and commission work instead.
It took a bit of effort to convince him that nobody wanted to buy 250
Cuirassier figures at once, and if they did, they'd resell most in
smaller batches for a tidy sum shortly thereafter.
So, being appreciative of the advice, he offered to sell figures
directly to me for my suggested price. I sent off a money order for
$750, followed by a paypal transfer for $370 USD (3-way deal) through
another B-town trader in New Zealand. I can provide contacts if you
want to chat with any of them.
The end result is he went into the hospital for surgery (he's about 60)
near the beginning of March, before I got my figures. He indicated he
had 20-30,000 figures without truly knowing how many. Most of these are
Front Rank/Foundry. At this point, I didn't hear from him for a while,
and after writing to his e-mail address, received a response from his
wife. He was in a coma due to complications. She eventually refunded
my $750 USD without hassles, not knowing about the PayPal transfer. Her
husband died a couple months ago.
She has since written offering to send the other $370 USD I asked to get
back, or in lieu of this, the figures I wanted. I have been receptive
to getting the figures instead, either was fine by me if she couldn't
deal with it. So after hundreds of e-mails, she has been willing to let
me represent the family and try to sell the figures. She was contacted
by a buyer on the west coast who was willing to take everything but for
a much lower price than what I felt I could do for her over the next few
years. Yes, she has offered me free figures, commission etc. I don't
need it. If you're around 49 (like me) then you probably have a
painting room closet with 5,000 or more unpainted figures waiting for
the next "project" or "campaign". At $1 USD each, I'll do fine
painting/buying what she has. I look at it this way, although free
figures are great, that I can only paint 1,200 or so per year maximum
depending on how well I want them painted. At 49, I'm thinking I'll
paint about 7,000 by the time I'm 60, by which point, me eyes and
patience will be different, switching to 40mm or 54mm pieces for fun.
The locals have all the armies they need and only paint to fill in gaps.
Logistically, she is living on the west coast – Washington State. I
live in Canada, somewhat towards the center, about 8 hours north of
Minneapolis so I can't just drive to her place, pick up things and
identify what people need/want.
After my initial posts (34 responses so far, including myself), I was
contacted by 1 inquiry who noticed that 2 years ago, there was some
information posted on TMP as regards Dennis Lunde (the husband) and
Miniature World. Most of the comments were less than flattering. I was
obliged to share this information as I do not withhold anything from our
compatriots. For most traders, I have indicated that there is some
information that has come to light, that casts a bad shadow on Susan and
her husband Dennis, and that if people want to send money to them,
proceed with caution. The problem I have is that I shared this same
information with Susan, who is still grieving and recovering. She
reacted in a very strong way, indicating that from now on, they only
start packing stuff after they receive payment, orders should be $150 USD or
more so as not to waste their time, and they don't want specifics such
as 3 of this pose, 2 of that etc. since time is precious and the packers
(husband's friend and her younger son) will only pack on weekends. This
really puts them in an awkward situation as 98% of our compatriots are
looking to fill in gaps in the collection with concerns about what they
get. E-bay is really the only forum for her to sell lots without
questions, but when confronted with this information and explanation,
she indicated she could not/would not deal with E-bay. This somewhat
surprises me either because of the bad press her husband's call sign got
when he didn't deliver after payments were received. She assures me
that this has all been cleaned up.
So, since my reputation as an honest trader is paramount, followed by
giving everyone an opportunity to acquire quality materials at the best
price, I have offered my on-going assistance to Susan to help sell
portions of her husband's collection. Yeah, it could be a lengthy and
laborious exercise but I sincerely think I can help a lot of our
compatriots get the best deals going. She has indicated for months,
that her intent is to drive from Washington State to Illinois, around
the end of September or early October, so as to visit her other son in
Illinois. She has, many times, indicated that she is willing to drop
off the entire collection of whatever hasn't sold, at my friend's place
in North Dakota, and let me sell it in trust for the family. I am
willing to do this, but will have to spend a weekend (Grand Forks North
Dakota) going through the collection, and hosting a game for my friend
whose house will be a mailing depot. I couldn't bring most of this back
to Canada without getting burdened by unnecessary fees by Canada
Customs.
At this time, a couple of our compatriots are willing to send her a
payment, anticipating that everything is honest/true. Once I take
possession of the rest of the figures, I will contact everyone, albeit,
I can't sort through 64,000+ figures at one time, so I will likely deal
with the stuff, one period at a time. 90%+ is Napoleonic so it will
likely be last to really get my attention although it will generate the
most sales. The AWI and western stuff got a lot of inquiries. The
Tex-Mex stuff hasn't had a single inquiry yet.
If you want more detail about the TMP postings, some of the guys who
have talked with Susan via e-mail etc., I can forward some information.
I'm respecting her as being honest, having invested hundreds of e-mails
back to me, along with returning my $750 USD so I am taking her seriously.
You must admit though, that 60,000+ figures is mind boggling.
My intent, getting to your question, is to sell the foot, riders and
horses for $1 USD U.S. each. Other things such as stage coaches,
buckboards, chuck wagons etc. would be 1/2 price. It's about 50-60%
value depending on the manufacturer. Artillery prices vary because the
retail price varies but guess about $5 USD or $6 USD for a field piece if it
normally sells for $10 USD U.S.
If you want to deal directly with Susan at this time, I can provide her
e-mail, but she's still upset about the recent e-mail exchange over
accusations about her husband AND she doesn't want to waste a lot of
time packing orders that require detailed searches in the boxes. My
take on it, and I suggested this to her, is to not deal with any net new
inquiries, as there is little time to pack more than 3-5 parcels during
the next 2 weekends, with the understanding that she is loading the rest
and bringing it east. I expressed a concern that there is no point
having anyone send money to the west coast, if the figures were no
longer there, and I had to coordinate packing from North Dakota.
I hope the "speech" helps you understand the awkward position I'm in,
for the next couple of weeks anyways. A couple of the guys who
initially inquired, want more than $1,000 each, but have indicated
because of some e-mail exchanges with Susan, that they would rather wait
now, and send money to me once I take possession of the stuff in early
October.
Give it some thought and assume that everything is still available in
large quantities. The web site posted the numbers available, and as of
today, nothing has been packed and shipped to anyone. I'm likely going
to try and reduce the number of parcels, by sending the biggest orders
first. First, it cleans stock out of my buddies house, and second, if I
satisfy an order (e.g. Hal Thinglum) for $500-$1,000 then it may mean a
handful of small $30 USD (30 figure) orders will change their mind. I'm
okay with this as it will really reduce the number of parcels. The guys
looking for 20-40 figures will still get a shot at the left overs when I
can specifically post the figure codes as a sub set list at a later
date.
Cheers,
Michael
This has red flag written all over it!!!!!
