Eyes Please: Ebay Listing Help

[rolanni]

Below is the draft of the listing we'll be publishing to Ebay. What have we forgotten to say? What other information would you, as a bidder, want? Yes, there will be photos. Taking pictures of piles of paper is hard.

* * * *
You are bidding on the contents of two letter-size manilla folders.

Folder Number One includes:

1. The submission manuscript of the novel AGENT OF CHANGE, by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee, published by Del Rey Books in 1988. The manuscript is 366 pages, on burst paper out-putted from what appears to be a 9-pin dot matrix printer, and includes a prologue later excised during editing. It bears a 1984 copyright notice.

2. A carbon copy of the original submission letter to Judy-Lynn del Rey, dated December 1, 1985

3. A revision letter from editor Shelly Shapiro at Del Rey, dated November 10, 1986

4. A "welcome" letter from editor Shelly Shapiro, dated February 24, 1987

5. The coffee-stained envelope in which #4 was mailed

6. A letter from Sharon Lee to Shelly Shapiro, dated February 27, 1987


Folder Number Two includes:

1. A cover flat for the Del Rey paperback of Agent of Change

2. A photocopy of the original cover concept drawn by artist Stephen Hickman

3. A letter from Kim Kuhlmann of Del Rey Books, dated 18 September 1987, covering authors' proofs of the manuscript. The corrected pages have been photocopied and reinserted into the set, so that it is intact.

These papers have been kept in a file drawer for 25 years; there is some crumpling of the edges, and minor wrinkling; the carbon paper is especially fragile.

You are bidding for the paper and only for the paper. The copyright to this work remains with the authors. Permission to publish is not granted in this sale.

Edited to add: The winning bidder will be required to sign a letter provided by the authors, indicating their agreement with the terms stated above.

Winning bidder pays postage. The authors will sign the manuscript, if the bidder desires.

Comments

[drammar.livejournal.com]

AS both an eBay sell and buyer, I think you've got plenty of detail here about the items up for bid. You had mentioned in previous posts that the winner will be required to sign an acknowledgment of the copyright issue.

If that still holds true, and if that will need to be done before you send the manuscript to the winning bidder, then I would suggest that you put that information in the listing as well.

eBay has become...not very seller-oriented lately, and resolutions tend to go in the direction of the buyer, especially in cases where details have been left out of listings.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

You might want to say something about what forms of payment you'll accept. I don't know if eBay asks that when you put something up for sale.

[disassembly_rsn]

So they win, you contact them with the letter, they send the letter with the payment?

Bad head cold interfering with ability to think here - just checking that you've got it set up to get them the text of what they need to sign to minimize exchanges of physical mail. Are you sending them a PDF of what to sign, something like that?

[grassrose.livejournal.com]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I'd sprinkle key search words through the listing - "Liad," "Liaden," and "Korval" leap to mind. Folks searching for your stuff might search on those terms.

The listing looks good. The only other thing I'd watch out for is eBay scam artists trying various ploys to get money or free goods out of you, and I think y'all are just a wee bit too smart to fall for that.

[psw456.livejournal.com]

As a frequent buyer on eBay - agree that you need to include the keywords Liaden Universe, Liad and Korval - possibly putting some in the listing title.

It should be easy to confirm that this can be shipped in a flat rate Priority Mail box if in the US -helps when exact postage is known... you may or may not want to estimate shipping overseas.

Have you considered what category to list under? Collectibles Paper? Books Collectible? I'm not an expert here, maybe other sellers might comment.

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

As a not-eBay savvy person -- would a weight and size estimate be out of line? At least I'm not sure how big this is? Although I guess folder hints at it -- regular letter size folder or legal?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

And remind me to get my eyes examined -- it's the first line -- manila letter size. Forget that.

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Hum -- would a letter from the authors attesting authenticity of these materials increase the value? I'm not familiar with collectors and provenance and all that stuff, but it might be worthwhile?

[painoarvokas.livejournal.com]

My literal mind wants to rephrase the acknowledgment letter clause as follows: "The winning bidder will be required to provide to the sellers a signed letter, worded to the satisfaction of the sellers, indicating their agreement with the terms stated above."

Key differences: not just sign it, but to provide it to you; and allow them to word it themselves, as long as the wording satisfies you.

If you want to provide the exact wording of the letter, I think it would be better to the bidders that the required wording is disclosed before the auction begins.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

The last point is the one of which I was thinking: provide the wording up front, and that it has to be received and approved by the authors before they will complete the transaction. Also something about selling the materials being forbidden without the same conditions being placed on the buyer (otherwise they could buy them and sell them to someone who publishes them or sticks scans of them on the web).

a request??

[(Anonymous)]

Could I pay you $50 for a copy of just the prologue?

Craig Reed
tharkun860@yahoo.com