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Marcus Unlimited
Enjoy!
The following information is based on our own experiences and is presented here as our estimations based on our own research and is in no way affiliated with or intended to represent the opinions of any other retial establishments or Online Auction business entities. The Summary
Base (U.S.A.) S&H Fee We Charge Per Each CD Sold At Online Auction = $3.99
What we pay on average to the postal service to ship one CD -$1.99 (NOTE: For international orders this amount is DOUBLED!)
What we get charged from the online auction house to list EACH CD -$.30
The "Final Value Fee" we get charged on average PER CD from the online auction house based on a percentage of final bid amount -$.34
What we get charged on average PER CD by PayPal to handle the transaction -$.58
What each one of our perfect tried and true rugged currogated CD mailers costs us -$.75
Remaining "Profit" remaining from our S&H fee of $3.99 = SUBTOTAL $.03 Cents!
WHOOPS! I forgot a massive list miscellaneous costs that are directly relative to the handling and shipping of this item. (- The awesome 10% OFF total order for the hundreds of "Combined Item S&H" Discounts I give out all the time! / - Countless "Item Not Sold" Fees at $.30 times several hundred per year! / - Countless trips to the USPS to ship out overseas orders / - Countless special trips to process money order and check payments / - packaging materials such as peanuts, tapes, glues, -etc. -etc. - etc!)
ARGH!
If you are one of the 99.999% of our MORE than satisfied customers who know the amazing deal you get on our CD's then I say thank you, and we will continue to deliver one of the best deals in the universe for our amazing internationally acclaimed CD's.
But...
If you are one of that negative .01% whom feel that we are charging too much for S&H on our amazing and internationally acclaimed CD's, then perhaps you could look into purchasing more common or generic CD's elsewhere at the MUCH higher typical pricing of $12.99-$19.99 PER EACH CD not including "their" S&H and Tax and etc.
and now...
The Bigger Story
When we first began selling our CD's at Online Auction we tried to sell them with the same "Fair Price / SUPER LOW S & H" pricing structure we utilize on our various Marcus Unlimited Web Site's. Which is usually (excluding our even lower special sale prices) $8.00 + $1.99 Shipping and Handling. Which is quite a bargain when compared to the prices of CD's produced by multi-million dollar records companies, which often sell their CD's for $16.99, $18.99, etc.
However, it did not take long to see we were having a lot of problems from the mass amount of other very successful Online Auction sellers who were using to the extreme "Low Price / HIGH S&H" tactic on CD's and other small products. We were shocked and frankly upset by this tactic that has apparently run rampant with what we discovered was literally the majority of more successful sellers. Want to test our data? Try looking through just about any of the listings of successful regular business sellers! (Not someone trying to get rid of junk, but any seller trying to actually survive as a business providing low cost and high quality products!) On the day that we saw someone selling a CD for the "First Bid" price of ONE CENT, with (get this...) $7.95 S&H!!! When knew we were faced with a problem. Why was this a problem for us? You see, what happens when people search or browse for products like CD's at Online Auction the first price people see for the item in a huge list of CD's up for auction usually determines whether or not the shopper will click on the ad title to go to the all important item description page. The ESSENTIAL first step to any online sales through Online Auction. With so many Online Auction sellers using the Ridiculously low "first seen" price in their ad title and then in the final notes of their description the HUGE inflated S & H fees, I knew we were being faced with a serious question, "Do we want to survive at Online Auction or not?"
It was simple we were faced with these two cut and dry options:
A. Either play the "Online Auction Game" the "Online Auction Way", which is apparently Low Price /HIGH S & H, and survive,
-- or --
B. Stick to our old fashioned "actual pricing is actual cost" pricing structure of... Fair Price / SUPER LOW S & H and face CERTAIN BUSINESS DEATH at Online Auction!
We were getting some strong sales from the web sites and were about to just say goodbye to the S & H madness that has run rampant at Online Auction and then Marcus got a phone call from an Online Auctioner whom had just purchased one of our CD's. This particular Online Auctioner was bed ridden with illness.
During the phone call the individual basically said how incredibly happy she was, and how much better she felt everyday after listening to the CD which they had only found because they just happened to be browsing around at Online Auction on day.
It was at that moment that Marcus made the decision, "We shall survive and succeed at Online Auction and bring this music of soothing beauty and empowerment to all whom seek it!"
Since then hundreds of CD's produced by Marcus Unlimited have been received with acclaim and accolades from hundreds of Online Auctioners with more being sold to VERY satisfied customers and fans everyday. So our decision to do the best we can in the Online Auction battle of "Low Prices / High S&H" has been made primarily for the benefit of...
YOU!
If you are considering a purchase of a Marcus Unlimited CD or other product please be aware of your options:
A. Purchase the CD's direct from a Marcus Unlimited Website at a VERY FAIR PRICE to VERY LOW S & H ratio, HERE!
-- or --
B. Purchase the CD's from a Marcus Unlimited Ad at Online Auction at the standard Online Auction survival pricing structure of "INSANELY Low Price / Online Auction Style High S&H"
And now...
Even MORE About Our Costs:
To go even further into this issue we will explain the biggest issue in our cost factor that you may not be aware of. When a huge multi-million dollar record company goes to a CD factory and says, "Hello this is ___ records, what will you charge us PER CD for a pressing of ten million CD's at once?, Ya' see we got this teen girl who although she can't sing to well and the songs are the most unoriginal generic junk you've ever heard, she looks pretty decent in a g-string and we think that will produce some sales." (Insert their evil laugh here.) The CD factory picturing their own Hawaiian vacations now, can apply bulk discounts to the order and set the machines up ONCE to press this massive amount of CD's often selling the final product to the huge record company for LESS THAN A DOLLAR!!!
You of course see NONE of their mass discount as they charge $16.99 + tax and up for the CD that cost them under a buck?
Meanwhile back at the "run by a creative peaceful philosophical artist" business like Marcus Unlimited, Marcus calls the CD factory and says, "Hello, if I skip a few meals collect enough tin cans I think I'll have just enough to press another one hundred CD's, what will you charge me PER CD for a pressing of one hundred CD's at once?" The CD company then about ready to laugh until they hear the amazing music goes, "well we don't normally even run that small of an order but we can put you through a short-run CD duplication house that will set you back a FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS for a stack of one-hundred CD's at professional quality" (Your first math assignment in this true story, divide 100 CD's / a few hundred dollars. This equals the BASE price per CD Marcus Unlimited is paying to get these CD's made for you.
Marcus then setting all matters of ego aside and thinking back to Walt Disney and his "Be the artist, AND the business man that protects the art!" way of doing things, then says to the CD factory, "Ok, I will focus on what I CAN do and not what I CANNOT do, factory... press them CD's not just for me... but for all the wonderful people of the world!"
The CD's come out awesome easily fittable on the shelf with those CD's the big record companies charge $16.99, $18.99 for, Marcus thinks about how he himself cannot afford $20 bucks just for one cd and instead goes even further into the realm of generosity by vowing to keep his total price of the CD to all Americans UNDER TEN BUCKS!
Now if you've been able to do the math from the above story you should be able to see what has become a growing list in COSTS of producing the (I think we can almost call it a ...) profit on the CD's.
Because Marcus believes in openness and honesty here's a recap of SOME of those costs:
List 1 :Marcus Unlimited CD costs for CD's sold direct from the Marcus Unlimited Websites
List 2 : Marcus Unlimited CD costs for CD's sold through Online Auctions at Online Auction
Marcus could easily show you quite a few more substantial costs to both lists but we want to make sure you know Marcus is not complaining! He is simply stating the facts of survival he must abide by and hopes that if you understand what he has been up against you will better understand the different pricing structures of CD's sold direct through Marcus Unlimited Websites and sales through a very erratic and uncontrollable third party, such as Online Auction.
"My friends. I know of this worlds need for this music. I see the healing and empowerment it brings to the world on a daily basis. Therefore, I will face the battle on your behalf with love in my heart for all mankind! Thank you for understanding, and I will make every effort imaginable to always have some of the most amazing music CD's and entertainment products available to you at the absolute lowest cost I can possibly manage.
Sincerely your friend through music,
-- Marcus Unlimited :)"
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