Gregory Hecht
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Posts posted by Gregory Hecht
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On the Atomic Avenue website, check to be sure that only a single database is the source of your AA inventory.
My Account pulldown menu --> select My Store --> click on "Store Setup" (the link next to the gear)
On the resulting page, you should be able to scroll down and verify that you have only one database as the source of your AA inventory in the "Currently Posted Items" section.
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I honestly don't know how easy it is for buyers right now to see sets for sale when browsing on AA. Sets on AA kind of have the reputation of being a place where inventory goes to languish. But I know that this issue is on the radar and that a series of upgrades are in the works for Atomic Avenue... so I am hopeful that this will be addressed somewhat soonish.
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IMO, the implication that the burden is on buyers prior to making a purchase to investigate whether sellers pocket extra money from improperly using media mail sounds kind of like, "hey, if the sellers can get away with it, then so be it."
Since Atomic Avenue takes the approach of determining shipping charges to the buyer rather than allowing the seller to do so, it should be possible for Atomic Avenue to explicitly tell the buyer and the seller the shipping method used for that calculation. If at that point the seller elects to chisel a few extra bucks out of the system by using media mail, then the buyer can call them out in feedback etc... and claims that a seller is improperly using media mail that can be fact-checked using the tracking number that the seller is required to enter when they mark an order as 'shipped."
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I think it would be helpful if AA made it more explicit to sellers that they are responsible for following postal regulations, i.e., periodical comics that contain advertising should not be sent via Media Mail: "Media Mail packages may not contain advertising. Comic books do not meet this standard."
This is not a new issue, it was suggested some time back by other AA users.
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And I will take this opportunity to repeat some things that I have stated multiple times:
What mailing service types are recommended/permitted is not fully clear to sellers for several reasons:
(1) The Atomic Avenue shipping calculator does not tell sellers what shipping method it used to calculate the shipping reimbursement to the seller. Sometimes it is easy to tell, but sometimes the number that comes out is a real head-scratcher. More transparency there would help sellers, I think.
(2) I suspect that sometimes the AA shipping calculator isn't savvy about USPS insurance thresholds or charges. When shipping via Priority Mail, insurance is free for package value up to $50... but the charges can add up once you get up above that $50 mark. IMO exactly zero AA packages should be shipped via USPS Priority Mail without being fully insured.
(3) The Atomic Avenue help pages need an update. For example, the AA help pages refer to Parcel Post mailing when we were told some time ago that Parcel Post wasn't an option any more.As a seller, I can tell you that sometimes (especially with orders that are large both in terms of high $$$ and physical size) the shipping calculator undershoots by a decent amount. In those cases, I typically elect to just eat the extra postage costs. It is poor form to go to AA and ask them to bug the customer for a postage adjustment after that customer thinks that they completed their full order... and three-way email conversations (me, AA, and the customer) take time to resolve themselves, and I make it a point to get my packages in the hands of the USPS by the next business day.
I will say, however, that once in a while AA substantially overshoots the shipping reimbursement. I just filled an order last night that cost me ~$20 to ship including full insurance... but the AA calculator billed the customer $36. I asked AA to make the adjustment at their end. But not all sellers do that, some will just pocket that difference and that's just uncool.
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12 hours ago, Steve Dahms said:
I think the cost for mailing needs to be looked at overall. I would like to see it established that books have to be shipped at least First Class and Media Mail not be used at all.
I've been under the impression that comics aren't supposed to be sent via Media Mail anyway. I just paid almost $14 to get 4 books shipped (two transactions, my own fault.) and the seller has sent them Media Mail. Kind of bad form, when you think about it.
For what it is worth, I hear what you are saying, and I cannot disagree with you. It is indeed very bad form on two fronts: you were charged much more for shipping than the seller's cost, and you received a slower shipping service than what you paid for.
You are correct that periodical comics are not supposed to be sent via Media Mail b/c of the advertising contained in them. Books without advertising can be shipped via Media Mail. Occasionally there will be a story of a postal clerk who denies a Marvel omnibus' eligibility for Media Mail, but those are supposed to be allowed. I assume that magazines (which are now sold on AA) cannot ship via Media Mail, but prose books (which are also sold on AA ) can still go via Media Mail.*
Sellers may not know (or care) that when USPS inspects the contents of a Media Mail package (doesn't happen often, but it doesn't *never* happen), if the inspector determines that the contents do not qualify for Media Mail the *recipient* of the package gets charged the additional postage that is due. So a seller that sends periodical comics via Media Mail is asking the buyer to assume some risk of additional postage costs. Also bad form.
IMO if you feel that an AA seller shipped at a substantially lower shipping service than what AA requires so that they could pocket the cost difference (which is what it sounds like for your situation), you can (and should!) indicate this when you leave feedback on AA for the transaction. If you *really* feel like you got badly overcharged for shipping relative to the shipping service that the seller actually used, you can also contact AA support via email and politely tell them the specifics of your experience. If this is a recurring problem related to a specific seller(s), then AA needs to know.
*Another nudge to the folks at Human Computing that it sure would be helpful for buyers and sellers if books and magazines were browsable in sellers' store inventory pages on AA. This should have been in place when magazine and book sales first went "live" on AA.
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Ah-hah, I see what you are referring to.
Yes, Atomic Avenue is alphabetizing the issues so that any issue marked as "Version ##" gets placed between "Variant V" and "Variant W". That would be a web display function since Comicbase orders the issues differently. I will ping Pete on the Slack.
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This sounds more like a ComicBase content/data correction issue rather than an Atomic Avenue problem. I suggest posting this over on the CB message boards.
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1 hour ago, Carolyn J. Bickford said:
We've found making sure you have the latest update to ComicBase fixes the issue for most sellers. Also, make sure your Atomic Avenue user ID is the same as the user ID in your Internet settings in ComicBase. Otherwise, contact ComicBase.
The lag in Atomic Avenue inventory being posted has been a global issue over the last few weeks. But during this week's ComicBase Livestream, @Peter R. Bickford indicated that new servers that have been pressed into service should solve (among other things) the AA inventory posting issue.
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I just got a ping from AA yesterday evening (1/17) that my inventory was posted... and I think that I last sent inventory in about a week ago. So I am assuming that somebody at AA rebooted "Jimmy" and he is now chewing through his backlog of tasks.
If your inventory hasn't already updated, try it again today. If you don't get the confirmatory email relatively promptly (i.e., 30 minutes or less) then email support@atomicavenue.com *and* post here.
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It is possible that a seller posted fresh inventory, but then shifted their store to "on vacation." Or possibly the book sold before you visited Atomic Avenue to follow up on the wish list notification. Or maybe a seller accidentally uploaded inventory that they hadn't really meant to sell (I keep separate databases for my personal "keepers" collection and my "for sale" comics... and always double-check myself to be sure that I don't accidentally put new store inventory into the wrong database and then post that database onto Atomic Avenue! 😬 )
Do you have some issues as examples of "available but not available" wish list items? The folks at AA might be able to figure out what's going on if they have some specific issues to investigate.
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1. As a seller, when I get an AA order that will ship via USPS Priority Mail, I normally use the "Click n Ship" function on the USPS site to generate a paid shipping label. When entering the tracking number onto the AA order page, I typically copy and paste the tracking number from the shipping label PDF into the appropriate box then mark the order as shipped.
However, I have discovered that this results in the first four digits of the tracking number getting cut off. This should be corrected as "copy and paste" should be faster and more accurate than requiring a seller to manually type the tracking number.
2. After I mark an order as shipped, I am unable to correct the tracking number if it is missing those first few digits. I can type in the numbers and hit the "Update" button on the order page, but that doesn't result in the tracking number getting corrected.
3. I have no way of putting in multiple tracking numbers for an order that requires multiple packages, nor do I have a way of indicating which items are in which package when I have to put things into multiple boxes. This is something that should be addressed, although I admit that I don't have a good feeling as to how that should be done.
4. And, just because I am a noodge (or even just a PITA, if you like), a reminder that there needs to be more transparency to sellers as to what shipping service and container the AA shipping calculator settled on.
• I still don't think that AA is calculating insurance correctly for shipments with retail value >$50 (the old limit of free insurance for $75 value was lowered some time ago).
• When I get orders for thick books (for example: Marvel and DC omnibus books, also Showcase and Essential "phone books"), I don't think that the calculator necessarily accounts for the fact that the interior of the flat rate Priority boxes is a shade less than six inches deep.
• And books with a larger than usual trimsize (Marvel and DC omnibus books, again) really need to go in a LARGE flat rate Priority box because a medium flat rate box doesn't provide any cushioning space. (Penguin Random House learned the hard way that shipping comics in boxes without cushioning space results in increased likelihood of damage.) I'm not entirely convinced that the AA shipping calculator takes this into account, either. -
On 1/1/2022 at 8:00 PM, CJ Rodrigues said:
I am also experiencing this with 1 item. I listed two, both marked for sale, got confirmation email with no errors and only 1 item shows up. However when I check the store setup, it says I have two listed, but again in that drop down only 1 is shown.
Do your two items have the same condition and price?
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It would be helpful for sellers if Atomic Avenue stated what shipping method was used by the AA servers to calculate the shipping cost. Sometimes it is obvious, and sometimes (as in your case) it really is not. This is especially true for large orders that require multiple boxes. It is also not always clear to me that AA calculates the cost of insurance correctly for packages containing merchandise of more than $50 retail value.
It is also confusing that the AA help pages refer to Parcel Post mailing when we were told some time ago that Parcel Post wasn't an option any more.
Frankly, none of this should be a mystery. AA presumably knows what kind of shipping parameters were used by their calculator, it isn't spitting out a random number. A little transparency would make seller's lives easier without any negative impact on buyers. (And the AA help pages need a review to make sure that they are all up to date.)
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Are you certain that you have the "For Sale" box checked for each of the items that you want to sell?
Also: How are you determining whether your items have uploaded to your store? Do you receive a confirmation email after your upload, and then visit your store and see no items? Or do you just not receive any confirmation email at all?
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Hi Ron --
That question is probably best asked over on the ComicBase message boards since that is frequented more often by the folks who are in charge of database updates and fielding data submissions and corrections.
But to answer your question: Human Computing rarely -- if ever -- receives retailer incentive issues so they are dependent on ComicBase users to submit those particular items. Have you submitted your Batman Fortnite 6 variant to the database? If not, it is possible that HC simply hasn't received a submission from anybody else, either.
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A reminder that the Atomic Avenue help page on this topic (plus the PDFs of fee comparison tables that are linked to that page) needs to be updated to reflect the current fee schedule.
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I tried updating my Atomic Avenue inventory this morning twice, but a couple of hours later my store hasn't updated nor have I received any of the usual confirmatory emails.
Is there any chance that Jimmy The Server needs a nudge?
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9 hours ago, Mark Chapman said:
I'm in the process of setting up a store. I have 2100+ comics to sell, but not all have been fully graded yet. Most only have preliminary/approximate grades, so I want to post only specific books or series of books for now. I know I can mark certain ones and upload them to my store, but then how do I see them without them being visible to the public before I'm ready? I have the store marked as On Vacation for now, but I can't see anything in my store. Not a single book. Is that how it works for On Vacation, or am I encountering a problem? ComicBase reports that my store is live.
That is how "On Vacation" is supposed to work. There is (at present) not a method for a seller to view the contents of their store via the AA site when they are on vacation. If you can see your AA inventory on AA, then everybody else can, too. (Long, long ago, "On Vacation" meant that your store inventory was visible to everybody but customers could not complete transactions with your inventory... which was very frustrating to customers and that is why the current set-up was implemented.)
Note also that, as mentioned in last week's CB LIvestream episode (at approx. 29:50), it is a known issue in the AA site that browsing the inventory of a single store only shows comic books (items from the magazine and and book categories of CB can only be viewed by customers if they do specific searches rather than browsing in a single store). So if any of your inventory consists of magazines or books, that is an additional complicating factor. (It's a pretty fundamental issue, so I am hoping that it gets fixed soon, even if it temporarily takes some of the focus away from preparations of the release of the next CB version.)
9 hours ago, Mark Chapman said:If that's normal behavior, then how do I keep the store offline yet visible to me while I set it up? (I know I have to make all changes inside ComicBase, but I'd like to see what the public will see, so I can spot any problems before the books go public.)
When I go to Setup for my store, it reports that there are 15 books with a value of $13700+. There should be more like 92 books so far, and they are probably worth less than that amount. (I haven't tried to come up with a total yet.) I uploaded 77 books today and CB reported that they were posted successfully. I have no idea what's going on. I imagine I did something wrong, but I'm not seeing anything helpful in the user's guides and FAQs. Any suggestions?
You have a couple of options, but only through the ComicBase program and not via the Atomic Avenue website.
When you go to post your inventory for sale, the pop up window should give you a tally of how many comics are marked as "For Sale" and their total value based on the prices that you have set. It isn't an issue-by-issue view, of course, but it still gives you an overall picture.
You can also do advanced searches that will get a list of all comics that have quantity ≥ 1 *and* have the "For Sale" box checked. Advanced Search info is available over in the ComicBase message boards in two places: @Steven L. Dasinger has started an extremely helpful Advanced Find syntax thread and there is another thread where people have posted their favorite/most useful Advanced Find protocols.
Not suggesting that the above is the most ideal solution to what you want to do, but hopefully it will give yo some ability to monitor your progress towards curating your store inventory.
One other item to be aware of in regards to your 15 item count vs. 92 item count: double check your AA confirmation emails (the ones you should get after you post inventory to AA) to see if there is a list of unrecognized items in your store inventory.
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9 minutes ago, Richard Hobold said:
A buyer cancelling should not count against a seller since the seller is not cancelling specially since they can rate us and get us banded that way if a seller is a bad actor.
But this shouldn't be too big of a concern if you ship within the two business day window since as Carolyn states (emphasis mine):
On 8/25/2021 at 11:08 AM, Carolyn J. Bickford said:If this is the buyer's decision, sellers should cancel the items or the order at the buyer's request. Sellers can forward the buyer's cancellation request and note that they have completed the cancellation to support@atomicavenue.com and Atomic Avenue can mark the order as non-scoring. Sellers won't get penalized for the cancellations, but they also won't get credit for having shipped any remaining items on time.
If the transaction was cancelled at the buyer's request and you have documented that with AA as described above, then you should also be able to discuss with AA support any negative feedback posted by the buyer regarding that particular attempted transaction. If the whole order was cancelled, I would assume AA would be able to negate any feedback regarding that order.
Yes, it is a little awkward, but my experience has been that this kind of situation is not very common. Cancellations that are caused wholly by the buyer (i.e., NOT precipitated by the seller misgrading an item or listing an out-of-stock item for sale) are a rare occurrence.
The bigger issue from the seller's POV is if you ship an order after the two business day window. But AA's rules for sellers indicate that you are required to ship within two business days anyway, so if you are following the AA rules, then orders cancelled after that window shouldn't be a concern.
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Hi Yale --
Go to atomicavenue.com and log yourself in. Go to My Account --> Recent Activity. You should see a list of your recent purchases. Click on the AA Order # and you should get a screen that allows you to leave feedback.
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Hi Ronald --
This is a great question, but it is more pertinent to the ComicBase message boards rather than the Atomic Avenue message boards. I suggest posting over there in the Tech Support forum. You might also consider posting in the ComicBase Livestream thread to request @Peter R. Bickford discuss and demo this in the weekly CB Livestream (happens on almost every Wednesday at 4pm Central US time).
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Hi Richard --
My experience has been that if a buyer requests an item or order cancellation for reasons beyond the seller's control*, you can email AA support, provide them with copies of the email communication for the order, and they will manually adjust your score so that you are not getting negative points for the situation. (If I am incorrect on this, I am sure that @Carolyn J. Bickford can chime in and set the record straight.)
*situations where an item was incorrectly graded or not available in the seller's inventory would of course be things considered to be under the seller's control
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Hi Yale --
The message that you sent to the seller will include the email address associated with your AA account, so you should expect to hear back from the seller via email.
Magazines not showing up in My Store
in Technical Issues
Posted
It is a known issue that items from the Books and Magazines categories do not show up in sellers' store pages, they can only be found via a search. I know that this has been mentioned several times to @Peter R. Bickford (including in the weekly ComicBase Livestream chat) and it is my understanding that there are some Atomic Avenue updates that are in the works. Hopefully this means that the problem will be addressed soon.