From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Deer Park, WI

Disclaimer: I absolutely abhor the socio/political BS that transpires on these forums during the relentless months of winter.

However, I feel compelled to make a couple statements on behalf of the SCGA to acknowledge some mistakes, clear any ambiguities, and move forward in a positive manner.

Foremost, I apologize on behalf of the SCGA for instituting an international shipping charge to our auction lots secured by international bidders. Had we been aware of the negative impact this ultimately had on our event, we would not have choosen to go down this path.

To those of you who prematurely made the assumption/judgement that we were charging the fee to simply put more money in our pocket, despite the fact that international packages do not cost significantly more, I ask you to consider the larger picture before publicly spewing your venom. The fee was intended as a means to justify the significant amount of time, effort, and additional expense that go into completing multiple customs forms, insurance policies, paypal fees and unique packaging that ensure the delivery of international orders. As more and more international bidders claim seed lots, the "extras" that go into timely delivery need to be considered. If you look at almost any other circumstance where transactions between buyers and sellers occur, S&H fees are the rule, not the exception. Sure, we exist in a unique culture where generosity and compassion are primary drivers, but there comes a point where voluntary time, effort, and expense should be justified.

continued....

2/23/2010 8:08:19 PM

Deer Park, WI

Secondly, we apologize for publicly mentioning a proxy bid limit. It was an unintentional and honest mistake that we regret. Despite the unfortunate fact that some participants intentionally bid up the lot to the upper limit, we chose to honor a price-point for our proxy bidder where legitimate bidders backed out.

We've learned from our mistakes and hope to preserve the integrity and respect we've earned from the pumpkin growing community. Thank you again to the generous contributors to our efforts. Without your support, we wouldnt have a face to wipe the egg off of...

2/23/2010 8:08:32 PM

[email protected]

Joze
I'd like to add a point of view from an international person.

As soon as I win the lot, I have already given you more than a local (lack of a better term) bidder. Sometimes it may only be $5.00. but in some cases where I am bidding against a bidder from, let's say Europe, we could be giving you $100.00 more for that lot.

Next point, I buy a lot for $100.00 and add exchange rates, I've now spent close to $110.00 for the item. So we have extra charges already. It was a lot worse a while back, but it can and does add up.


Also I will be posting on another thread as soon as I can get through all the emails I received, some very good ideas and questions that should be asked and shared with all clubs.

We'll call these the silver lining EH!!!

2/23/2010 11:30:21 PM

Colorado Springs.Co

The exchange rate does come into play. When I lived up north in Gods country a Canadian dollar was equal to 80 cents US currency.The tax rates are brutal and a six pack of decent beer cost 9.00. I think we can give them a break.

2/24/2010 2:08:07 AM

Deer Park WA

Joze, no need to apoligize, you folks are promoting the ever increasing competitive sport of growing giant punkins. This means prize money by auctioning off the best genetics on the planet to all corners of it, plain & simple this costs money and time. The issue of added postage/surcharges simply has to do with the cost of doing business in our global economy. Dont know about all of you other folks but I just handed pink slips to 22 employees and still have to reconcile a 1.7 million dollar budget reduction in my division...

2/24/2010 2:34:10 AM

Colorado Springs.Co

That's rough R-S. sorry to hear that.

2/24/2010 2:59:45 AM

Belgium Europe

Don't know what this discussion is all about.
I live in Europe.I can check the conditions for joining a club before i join , and than decide if it's interesting for me to join or not.
Also i can check auction rules before i bid.
Ofcourse for us europeans it's more tempting to bid on auctions where they offer free paypall , proxybidding etc.
It's up to a club if they want to attract many overseas bidders or not.
More and more clubs are trying to make it easier for overseas growers , so no problems i think.

2/24/2010 6:08:31 AM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

I'd like to add, too, if it hasn't already been mentioned, that an auction here on BP.com costs $100.00 with advertising. We have no problem paying it, as Ken runs an exemplary site and it's really the only place in town. But it would be nice to recover the money. Clubs such as ours are really struggling, exemplified by the THREE auctions we will have held. We're not greedy, we're just trying to make ends meet and attract more competitors to our weighoff with increased prize monies.

While I am not addressing specifically the surcharge to out-of-country bidders, I can understand a club trying to offset costs. Sometimes one or even two auctions doesn't cover the cost of a weighoff.

2/24/2010 6:20:58 AM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

I think what some are forgetting is that each club is part of a community, not a for profit business where jobs hang in the balance. Dude, you make a good point, however, with our club the weigh off prizes are determined by the amount of revenue brought in. Now really, is the amount of revenue created by surcharges so significant that it will adversely affect your weigh off? Did anyone stop to think that by imposing a surcharge you may actually make less money at your auction.

I don't know Joze, but he seems like a pretty smart guy who has addressed this issue thoughtfully after much consideration.

2/24/2010 6:38:33 AM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

Again, I'm not addressing the surcharge issue and whether it was or wasn't a good idea. Every dollar counts when it comes to raising club funds however. As a club secretary, it is my goal and responsibilty to make ours one of the premier sites in the country and the only way I know to do that is to raise money.

And I agree. Joze handled things very thoughtfully and diplomatically.

2/24/2010 7:19:16 AM

Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia

Joze
I must applaud you for making a public apology. Well done and well said, but I still have issues for your reasoning behind the surcharge.
1. Customs forms are free, and take a matter of seconds to fill out, no worse than someone with a long address.
2.Insurance should be covered by the individual auction winner not by international growers.
3. Paypal fees can be charged at source, but the way you have written this suggests that international auction winners are subsidising Paypal fees for USA auction winners.
4. Packaging for international winners should be no different to USA winners and therfore cost no more.

2/24/2010 2:50:33 PM

Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia

Cont.
5. your comment about S&H fees may well be correct, but surely if you are going to charge them it should be across the board.
6. You appear to have lost sight of the fact that, some if not all of the seeds you sell have been donated and have cost your club nothing, did those genourous growers charge you a S&H Fee? or charge you for the customs forms, or the packaging?

2/24/2010 2:54:42 PM

Long Island,New York

I like the disclaimer that says its all BS before he apologizes.

2/24/2010 5:33:09 PM

Litchfield N. H. 03052

I think it is short sighted to charge a surcharge to international sales. Don't talk about profits, the sale is all profit. You are given the seeds for free, volunteer work, by club members, and the time to fill out a customs card take less than 1/2 min. Just think of it as an extra 5 to 25 dollars for the seed over a domestic sale.

2/24/2010 8:00:51 PM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

BR hit the nail on the head. In my previous life I was a manager in a grocery store. A common tactic to boost sales was a "lost leader". Take an item, let's say paper towel marked down to 49 cents for a two roll. We knew full well that most folks would leave the store with many more items leaving the store with a net profit. The extra postage/S/H is your club's lost leader. What you gain in return is repeat customers, more customers means potentially more sales which means potentially more profit for your club.

2/24/2010 9:33:57 PM

Is it impossible for people here to clear this hurdle and move on? If any of you attended the auction you would recognize they moved swiftly to remove the charge. So there really isn't need to pound it into the ground.

2/24/2010 10:59:42 PM

Rhode Island

is it spring yet ?????????

2/25/2010 9:52:20 AM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

Close Pap, the stir crazy : post ratio has peaked.

2/25/2010 2:44:55 PM

Gold Hill, Oregon

i understand mistakes happen. so be it. i make mistakes and learn from them.i know i'm a little slow and sometimes make the same mistake 2 or 3 times. lol. we learn from our mistakes and move on!!! if were not learning from our mistakes were not learnin'!!!

2/26/2010 8:39:52 AM

Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada

and I know that we'd all like this post to go away - but I'd like to point out that besides exchange rate and postage to mail the money order and the fee for buying the money order - today (different auction) - my $125 purchase turned into $142.50 purchase without considering a $5.00 surcharge

2/26/2010 9:44:33 PM

Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada

forgot to mention the time it takes to go to the bank and buy the money order and then go to the post office to mail the payment

2/26/2010 9:45:47 PM