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Topic: A Day In The Life Of A Dealer...
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Ian O'Reilly
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 737
From: London
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted September 19, 2005 03:27 PM
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A DEALER.............Goes something like this, Rise at 7am,
make sure my 96 year old elderly mother is not late to start her paper round, set the
dogs on my wife for not having my breakfast ready.
8am eagerly await the postman for my usual sack of film orders, put all the bills in the
bin, answer all e-mails that have arrived from around the world overnight, apologise
for not answering them sooner.
8.01am Check E-Bay.
9.00am Take my seat in the office of to await the bank of phones to ring.
9.30am The Dog has just walked in with a copy of "THE ROSE" in it's mouth hinting
that it would like to be taken for a walk.
9.31am Check E-Bay.
10.00am Parcel and pack all outstanding orders and get the wife to drag the sack to
the post office 2 miles away.
10.30am Coffee break.
11.am Explain to customer that it is not viable to travel 180 miles to purchase his silent
501 Eumig.
12.00 Lunch.
13.00 Plan my next holiday.
13.30 The dogs just bit the man from DHL who was trying to make a delivery, distract
the dog with a copy of "Dynamo Doc" apologise to the nice man from DHLand ask
him if he's ever thought of taking up film collecting.
14.00 Check obituaries in local papers to see if there is any film collections in the
offering.
15.00 Tea Break
15.30 Check e-bay and GT40 forum
16.00 Don technical hat, and try to explain to phone caller who has just found a shoe
box full of films in the attic the difference between super 8 & std8 assure her that the
copy of Mickey's 1st fifty in not worth sending to Sotheby's
17.00 Best part of the day Switch on the tele and watch American Hotrod.
17.30 Switch on the answer phone, grab a beer and think what a stressful day it's been.
Roll On Tomorrow
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Barry Attwood
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1411
From: Enfield, U.K.
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted September 20, 2005 03:25 AM
Dear Simon,
My normal (if you can call ANY DAY normal) day usually starts with helping Mum, as I am her official carer, as believe it or not, my 8mm business is run in between looking after her, she's 78 and disabled, and unfortunately she had a heart attack 3 weeks ago, although on the mend, you can gather from this looking after the 8mm side had to go on the back burner a bit, but happily I am now thinking about my next film lists, which should be out in the 1st or 2nd week of October. When a list is imminent I usually pull everything together in about a week, the checking of films (every film on my list has a few feet, or more checked through a projector), the typing up of the lists, and then sending them to be photo copied (for my customers who still prefer a paper hard copy booklet), and at the same time I send a copy of my lists over to John Clancy (a very nice man), who kindly uploads them onto the BFCC site, where all you cyber space followers can peruse them at your pleasure. Then you just have to sit back and let the telephone ring, or email sound, and the money rolls in (Oh how I wish this was true) , well it would be like that 10 years ago, but to be truthful it's a bit of a struggle these days, especially the Summer months, but I've been struggling now for over 10 years, and I doubt if I'll give up the struggle anytime soon, as believe it or not, I'm still hooked on this hobby, and its mad collectors (MAD, in the nicest sense of the word, that is!) .
Each day, each week varies, but my main motto is customer service, as soon as I receive payment, I try and send it out that particular day, by the quickest method possible, each with a tracking number, even abroard, as the Royal Mail is not what it used to be, and at least you can track your goods if they go missing (and it's a lot easier if you have to claim compensation).
So each day is pretty hectic, one way or the other, and this year is just shooting by, but I've got my little holiday coming up in Blackpool in November, Hmmmm, isn't that where a film convention is being held by a certain W. Midlands dealer, it must be a coincidence, nothing more!
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Jan Bister
Darth 8mm
Posts: 2629
From: Ohio, USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted September 20, 2005 05:54 PM
I've seen a Chinon SP-350 projector sold on eBay for a buy-it-now price of $29. Only missed it by minutes, too, or I would've been the buyer. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) This was back when I was just rediscovering super-8 and needed a new projector besides my aging Bauer T450 machine... now the SP-350 would've given me twin-track capability, dedicated line-outs for stereo playback and a nice 1.2 lens. Bummer ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I'll let you know if I come across more insanely good deals... but it's very, very rare that you see clueless owners sell stuff underpriced (they don't always make the mistake of setting low buy-it-now prices on eBay, anyway)...
Actually, I recently heard a story of someone buying a GS1200 at a yard sale for $50! Sadly, when that machine was fired up, that's exactly what happened - it went up in flames and was destroyed beyond repair in the process. Even more sadly, it then got thrown away before I could get my hands on it for spare parts. ARGH!
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Call me Phoenix. *dusts off the ashes*
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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God
Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted September 20, 2005 06:14 PM
Jan,
If an insane transaction like what you just told, I have one and my self was the buyer (but I am not a dealer).
I once bought Sankyo Stereo 800 for (eqv.) US$ 15. Moreover, it was boxed, brand new, unused, mint....whatever you mention. Where I got it ..... just see where I live now.
Follow to the old threads, you will know that only myself is colllecting this mad hobby in this country.
Unfortunatelly, the ex collonial powers never brought the GS as a part of their deal with locals. (I was just crossing my finger that Japan through its aid body, JICA, had ever donated GS to an instution in Fiji, so I will check this possibility).
I was once in the island of Tuvalu (this is a very tiny country where is only 10.000 people live, not even more than people in your district). I saw an Elmo was lying on the ground, it was big and owned by the Woman Association. Since the video era they never used it again. Unfortunatelly, when I open the cover, it was ELMO 16L which was not my subject. They even asked me to take it for free, but I did not want to fill my house with something I don't like (or I can be tempted to start collecting 16mm....oohhh no!)
But don't ask me for the prints...I never acquired even a single piece. I always bought it from Australia. Good price...but reddish print ![[Mad]](mad.gif) !!
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Winbert
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UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
. Put The car on EBay then watch some dosh roll in. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
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