mellowT

Thanks. I used it to purchase the Stan Getz - People Time box set on-line for $47 with tax and free shipping. Not bad.

I think the shipping charges are built into the Amazon "front-end"/store. half.com is different in that the multi-item, discounted shipping is built-in. I s'pose that keeps some sellers away. I agree with you. I think that Amazon was being less than truthful or at least being a bit evasive when they replied to the earlier poster's query regarding shipping discounts. It's not built in as an option with their selling format. Right, it's not built-in to the payment system, which is why the seller must refund money after the fact, if they are so willing.

Almost all of those Buy-It-Now auctions are outrageously priced. Some are being offered for prices never seen before, so that is why you don't see much action there. You could offer a mixture of bid/BIN or BIN/Best Offer. If the former and you don't set a reserve price, then the first bid will cancel the BIN option. Otherwise, the BIN will stay active until someone meets your reserve. I've always offered a low starting price and let the market decide, but that was before this crappy economy. It's an art form however you play it.

I asked this question about a year ago when I was trying to combine Newbury orders. Amazon claims it's up to the Marketplace seller to institute a combined shipping discount policy, so it's okay with them if the seller refunds a few $ on a combined order. I then forwarded the message to Newbury, but they politely declined.

Would it though? The vinyl, for sure...but the cd set? We all know that there are numerous oop sets that command high prices......but is this the case with every single oop set? Don't know. Mosaic has sold at least 5,000 CD sets. I know because my set is numbered in that range and I bought it 4 years ago. The fact that Mosaic has had such trouble getting to the 7,500 mark indicates to me the market for this set is tapped out. Since it's been for sale for so long, I doubt it will command premium prices once it finally goes OOP. It will probably mimic the J.J. Johnson set, which also was available for an extended period of time and seldom fetches more than 50% beyond its original price.

The seller must think the Gerry Mulligan is OOP. It costs more than the Dexter Gordon.

Playing Jack Teagarden - Complete Roulette Sessions, one of my top 5 black box Mosaics. :tup

mellowT, I like your idea. for my next trial auction, I will experiment with having six photos. Well, now I need your help again. I've just started a third auction, the purpose of which was to display a number of photos as mellowT suggested. But instead of getting the photos displayed below the text, which I have seen in other auctions, the photos are all over by the main photo, and you have to click on them to see them. Please take a look at this, and tell me what you think. I suppose it's not asking too much of a Mosaic buyer to click on a photo, but I would prefer the photos to be right there where you can't miss them. Does anyone know how to do this? http://cgi.ebay.com/3-AA-BATTERY-CASES-EACH-HOLDS-UP-4-COLORS-/130385635459?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e5b96e883 I'm sorry I didn't catch this until now. I think the way you have your photos located is fine. When people click on the first photo for a closeup, they get a window that contains the others. All they have to do is click or hover over the remaining photos to see everything. Perfect! eBay may offer other tools for embedding the photos within the description, I'm not sure. Most of the time when you see a different configuration, folks have used 3rd party applications to create their listing page, like GarageSale or Auctiva.

Thanks, Ron! It's going on my wish list.

Does anybody know the difference between these two box sets? http://www.amazon.com/People-Time-Stan-Kenny-Barron/dp/B003A0619G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271995192&sr=1-3 http://www.amazon.com/People-Time-Stan-Kenny-Barron/dp/B002R7SCOK/ref=pd_cp_m_0 The former was just released two days ago by Sunny Side Records, the latter 5 months ago by 101 Distribution. Looks like ImportCDs sells either for roughly the same price (+- $3). I do like the audio clips.

To be honest I shake my head when I see a 10-day auction on a Mosaic set. I think, I don't have the time or inclination to watch this that long. Serious buyers watch the eBay listings daily, and get email updates. I suppose if you were trying to catch someone who's only a periodic shopper, having your listing spread out over 2 weekends is better. However, I've seen 1- and 3-day listings get just as much as 7- and 10-day listings, sometimes more. I think shorter listings make happier buyers, and that eventually drives the end price up. I don't use a sniping tool, mostly because (1) it used to be against eBay policy (so I guess you could call me a purist), and (2) I used to whine about others doing it (not anymore, it's so widespread). Good idea, Brad. At Sandy's suggestion, I have spent $50 at Bags, Unltd. for packing materials, which I intend to pass on in the form of handling charges. Yes, that's an excellent idea. I think it's especially important to batten down the big booklet. I've gotten booklets brand new from Mosaic and after a year of handling the shipping box in and out of my closet, there will be a wear mark on the back when coming into contact with the edges of the jewel cases. Looks like strap marks. I now take a 12x12 sheet of the small bubble wrap and use it to separate the two. I usually can still easily close the box (depending on the thickness of the booklet). This keeps the booklet from banging around the inside of the box.

If I could give a bit of advice in so far as selling Mosaics is concerned. I've been watching Mosaic auctions daily for nearly 4 years straight, and I have my own set of preferences. Take as many pictures as possible. It never ceases to amaze me when someone wants several hundreds of dollars as a starting price but then only has one picture of the item. Each picture is only a dime extra. I'd even pay extra for the zoomed in version. One thing I really like to see is a photo dedicated to the booklet. That doesn't happen very often. I look for any wear (page turning dimples or spine creases). If someone is claiming Mint condition (Like New in eBay parlance), looking at the booklet tells me how serious they are. Mint/Like New should mean no wear evident anywhere, like it practically just got unwrapped from Mosaic Records itself. I also appreciate when someone claims no scratches on the CDs and has looked under a bright light to prove it. I hate surprises on my end. (I'm nearsighted so I guess I have a different perspective than most with my glasses off ) I collect only Mosaics where the music interests me (e.g., I'm not into big band--yet--so there's quite a few auctions I ignore). But I try to find the best possible condition out there, and then handle them gingerly, so as to not damage their resale value if I ever grow tired of them (or, God forbid, need to sell them to make ends meet). Just my 2 cents, probably more information than you were looking for. (BTW, I also dislike 10-day auctions)

This morning I'm spinning Curtis Amy. I'm good as long as I avoid that first disc. Something about this set reminds me of the Jazz Crusaders.

Received Friday and watched last night. In fine shape. Thanks, Dan!

PM sent on the Horace Parlan.

Shelly Manne - Complete Live at the Black Hawk (101 Distribution) After reading about how this collection of albums was on many members' "desert island" lists in this thread, I decided I must be missing out. The hard part was deciding what format to buy it: separate OJC releases or all at once. Here's hoping the sound quality of the compilation is at least as good as, if not better, than the OJC releases.

Isn't that the truth? It seems like it's much more exciting for me to explore for new music, find a good deal on the ones I want and then eagerly anticipate receiving them in the mail. Thankfully, I've been hitting the wall on new music. I've been finding it difficult to find new things I like enough to bother spending money on them. Of the last 3 bargain buys I've made, I liked one a lot, was so-so on on the second and the third I didn't really like at all. Maybe I'm finally to the point where I can stop buying and start rediscovering things I already own. Ready to sell those three $24 Bill Evans box sets already?

Ordered the Mulligan Select and Bud Freeman and Charles Lloyd singles.

I guess I could say riverrat turned me on to The Three Sounds. I bought like 5 mini-LP CDs from him and love them all!

Hans is right. Mosaic sells individual CDs for the same retail price ($17) as if bundled with the box and booklet (e.g., 7 CDs x $17 = $119/set). However, I've seen enough eBay sellers who regularly sell individual CDs or partial sets for far lower than retail, I figure Mosaic is handing out discounts to some people.

Mosaic will sell the most complete partial set they have right after one goes OOP. Some people, I guess, make a habit of buying these, probably because they get discounted (?) off the standard per CD/LP price.

I cannot believe they had to put the Joe Pass on sale. I can understand the other ones, especially the Stitt.

The last time I ordered from Mosaic (1st week in Feb), I received the shipping notice on Monday, but the package wasn't postmarked until that Friday. That kind of threw me off with my expectations of USPS Priority Mail (which is the same price as UPS Ground).

Thad Jones - Complete Blue Note/UA/Roulette Recordings I love this set!