Q.  What are the magnets made of?

A.  My magnets are printed on flat, flexible 30mil magnetic vinyl with a protective satin-finish top coating and hand finished edges.  They are roughly twice the thickness and strength of magnetic material found at office supply and craft stores.  My average size magnet holds 1-2 sheets of paper. 

As of this writing, in nearly 1,000 sales, only one person has complained about the quality of my materials or workmanship.

Q.  What about durability?

A.  To clean, wipe with a damp cloth. Do not soak, use abrasives or apply cleaning products containing bleach or solvents.  I've run them through the dishwasher without disaster, but they'll last longer if you keep them out of puddles and the dog's mouth.

Q.  Packaging?

A.  Most magnet orders are shipped by 1st class mail, in standard business envelopes.  For moisture protection they are packed inside a poly bag.  To discourage bending, they are sandwiched between sheets of cardboard and there is a reminder message on the envelope exterior.

Q. Do you offer combined shipping?

A. Yes.  You pay shipping on the magnet with the highest shipping cost of those you purchase, and shipping is free on other magnets purchased at the same time.

Q.  How quickly do you ship?

A.  I strive to ship within 24 hours of payment but circumstances sometimes stretch that to 36-48 hours.

Q.  Will the magnet stick to my....?

A.  See what kinds of metal surfaces are magnet friendly.

Q. Can you personalize or make custom magnets?

A. Happy to.  Simple text changes to my stock magnets are free if you add your instructions to your payment.  If you want magnets made of your photos, with or without text added, email what you have in mind.  Usually custom magnets cost only $1 more than stock magnets.  Sorry, I don't make magnets of copyrighted images unless you are the copyright holder.

Q. What if I do not receive my magnet?

First off, do not assume I did not send it.  I assure you that your order isn't languishing in production. I am a one-man band and the only languisher at my house is my dog.  If I manage to create a snarl in my orders, I know it long before the buyer, and email accordingly to warn of a shipping delay.  Most people receive their magnets within 7-10 days after payment.  If you haven't received yours by 15 days, it is likely lost in the mail so please email.

If you do not receive an email response from me within 18-24 hours, check your spam filters and any other email addresses you have, as well as your messages in MyEbay.  I answer ALL emails, usually twice, once through my email host account and again through Ebay's mail system.

Q. What if I don't like my magnet?

That's ok, no hard feelings.  Some days I don't like them either.  Return it for a full refund, including return shipping (up to the shipping amount I originally spent to get it to you).   I do not issue partial refunds or refunds for items that are not returned.

Q. When do you leave feedback?

I leave feedback when the transaction is completed.  By my definition, it is not completed until the customer is satisfied.  To that end, I endeavor to perform to a standard that prevents problems in the first place.  But I cannot do it all alone and as a human, I am imperfect.  Achieving a successful transaction is a partnership, with fairness and tolerance needed from both buyer and seller.  That's not just my take on the subject, it is in keeping with Ebay's recommended and common sense approach to trading. 

Q. What do you consider to be a good Ebay seller?

Q. Enough about yourself, who's this dream buyer?

Other Ebay sellers might have a different definition of the perfect customer.  Harold is mine.

• Harold reads the entire listing and doesn't bid until he knows exactly what he's bidding on. 
  In 10 years of selling on Ebay I've tried and tried to read the buyers mind, guess what he wants, and magically transform my product into whatever that is.
  I finally gave up, can't do it. 
  So I do the next best thing.  I include big photos and all the information I can.  I answer all emailed questions. 
  Seems like that should be sufficient, but it's not. 
  A surprising number of buyers on Ebay seemingly have so much money that they don't need to read descriptions or ask questions.  They don't even need to be able to see the product well before they buy.*  Armed with zero information, they are free to imagine a fantasy product that may have little to no resemblance to the items they purchase.  And some of them then blame the seller for not having delivered their fantasy.
  
  Harold would never spend his money so foolishly or treat people so unfairly.

* On my nephew's Blackberry, my largest magnet is smaller than a pea.  None of the magnet text can be read.  It looks like a blob.  On his father's old monitor, the colors on a magnet are distorted and the detail is lost.  It looks like a bigger blob.  Neither one of them should buy anything on Ebay in which color or graphics are important.  Instead, my nephew buys shirts, then complains that he doesn't like the fabric pattern.   At least the uncle has sworn off booze.  I know of one Blackberry user who gets drunk, can't find her way around a listing, then sends nasty emails to sellers when she can't find the photos.  Blackberry's are ok for buying CDs, books, makeup, etc., in which pictures aren't important, but only an idiot would use one to buy antiques or graphic items.

If Harold had been his father, the boy would have more sense.
 

• Harold doesn't assume that all sellers are out to get him. 
  If he emails and doesn't receive a response, he first checks all the various places an email might be. If he finds nothing, Harold assumes his first email didn't reach the seller and resends it.
  It's already been stated but for the record, I'll repeat it here.  I answer all email, promptly and twice, through my email provider and through Ebay's mail system.  If I don't answer, it's because I didn't receive your email in the first place and thus have no way of knowing you're trying to contact me.  Re-send your email.  I use MSN.  They're not perfect, but the odds of two emails sent on different days not reaching me are slim to none.
  
  If not already married, I'd propose to Harold.

• Harold makes sure the address shown in his Paypal payment is confirmed, current and accurate.
  And if he slips up and gives me an old address, he expects to pay for re-shipping the item.  My bad, I pay; your bad, you pay.

• Harold follows Ebay's recommended trading practices. 
  Chief amongst them is that a buyer should contact the seller and give them a chance to resolve a problem before jumping on a horse and galloping off to leave negative or neutral feedback.  According to Ebay, poor feedback should be the LAST resort, not the first. 
  
  Harold didn't need Ebay to tell him that, of course.

• Harold pays within a couple weeks, and emails if payment will be delayed. 
  
  Note that this is the last thing mentioned about Harold the Wonderman  That's because life is short.  I do keep track of payments and report non-payers, but in my book payment is like my shipping the item -- expected.  It's all the other things that determine whether it's a fun or a sucko transaction.  Things like courtesy, honesty and mutual respect.  Without those, it's just a buck.

If you would like an easy way to find my magnets in the future, add me to your favorite sellers list.