leopatti1121's Shop Policies

Welcome

Hello, welcome to our "About Me" page. We live in western North Carolina near some beautiful mountains. The sunsets are awesome!

This store is specializing in postcards right now. We didn't set out to do that, but for now, that's the way it is. We are gradually adding other collectibles and such as time goes on.

Payment

Payment Methods

Domestic: We accept Google Checkout, PayPal, Money Orders & Cashier Checks. No personal checks, please! Please pay within 24 hours or let us know when to expect payment.

Google Checkout – When making your Etsy purchase, please check “Other” for payment options and email us at: lampcrop [!at] hotmail.com . We will send you a Google Checkout Invoice you can use to quickly complete payment.
Here’s a sample invoice to show how the process works: https://checkout.google.com/seller/invoiceWalk/invoiceWalkthrough_1.html

International: PayPal only

Regarding Payment:

When making payment by PayPal, please be sure you click the "Pay With PayPal" button, and that you complete the entire shopping cart process.
If your payment is not in my PayPal account within 3 days, I will send you a gentle reminder. If I do not hear from you, or not receive payment, I will send you another reminder asking if you need assistance with the Checkout Process. You may, of course, contact me at any time. After 7 days with no payment or contact the item will be re-listed.
If you are having a problem with your payment process, please do not hesitate to contact me; we can most likely work it out together.
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MONEY ORDER:
If you need to pay with a money order, please be advised that I only accept U.S.P.S. money orders that can be bought at any U.S. Post Office.
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PAYPAL:
If paying by paypal, please make sure your etsy mailing address matches your paypal mailing address, as per the new etsy Do's and Don'ts!!!! Please convo me if they are different, so that I'm aware of this!!! Thanks!!!!!
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CREDIT CARD:
**If you choose to pay a credit or debit card, you don't need a Paypal account. Paying with Paypal is safe and secure, merchants never see your financial info! Simply pick the Paypal checkout option and look on the left side of the screen for the option to pay using a credit/debit card without a Paypal account. Paypal acts as a 'bank' for your credit card charges. If you have more questions about this option, feel free to convo me!**

Shipping

* We use only USPS. Postcards are shipped first class (or priority if specified, as when shipping a lot); books are shipped media-mail.
* All postcards are professionally packaged in a cellophane sleeve. (That is, unless they're an odd size. Then, they will be shipped with acid-free paper covering, then protected by cardboard).
* No shipping upgrades are offered.
* Our rates do not include delivery confirmation or insurance.
* All items are packaged with protective material surrounding them. Postcards are shipped in a plastic sleeve between two sheets of cardboard.
* No international shipping except on postcards and photos. The buyer is responsible for customs fees, if any.
* We ship six days a week - Monday thru Saturday.
* We ship to a "giftee's" address or any address you specify.

Postcard Shipping Rates & Policies

$1.25 flat rate for domestic shipping for the first card, all other cards on the same order shipped free (does not apply to 'lots'). Save big on multiple postcard orders.

$1.50 flat rate for international shipping for the first card, $0.25 per car for all other cards on the order. For example, if you have a non-USA address and you ordered 3 cards, the shipping charge would be $2.00.

Large lots (domestic): Shipping will usually be a flat rate, based on size of lot.

Large lots (international): Shipping for international orders will usally be calculated based on weight and shipping location. This can get VERY expensive, please be sure you are aware of the shipping rates before bidding. Some lots may be flat rate, check the listing.

I ship within one business day of receiving payment.

If Buying Multiple Cards.....

I give shipping discounts for multiple card purchases on the same order. If you're interested in more than one card, it's well worth it to buy them at the same time.

The best thing to do is wait to pay until I send you a combined invoice. The invoice will reflect the total price for the cards + the discounted shipping cost.

If I send you an invoice & you want to buy another card, go ahead - I'll simply add it to the list and send you a revised invoice.

When you've finished buying cards and once you've recieved the invoice with all the cards you've purchased, you can pay for them all at once, and get the shipping discount.

Refunds and Exchanges

Refunds will be sent for 100% of the purchase price (not shipping) if the item was misrepresented.

Additional Policies and FAQs

Rating Postcards and How Old Is That Poscard?

Rating cards is frequently a judgement call, and mine may differ from yours. The best thing to do is look at the pictures I provide. Each card listed has a picture of front and back, and can be supersized. Its best to supersize the pictures, take a close look, and make your own decision. Pay special attention to corners and edges.

The following is how I go about rating postcards. I have no kind of training in doing this, I simply looked online to find some guidelines, saw how others did it & took it from there. One site I used was www.postcardy.com. There are several others.

Here is what I mean by my card ratings:

Mint - card is new or looks like it is fresh from the postcard factory, where they are made by elves. Perfect picture with bright colors & bright back, sharp corners, unused, no flaws. As of this writing, and most other of my writings, I have no mint cards.
Near Mint - card may be in mint condition, but I don't quite have the confidence to say so. I have a few of these.
Excellent - card has sharp corners, bright, clear picture, may be postally used or have writing on the back. No writing on front.
Very Good - card will have minor corner and/or edge wear, may have small creases but nothing that interferes with the picture. It may have writing on the back & be postally used, there will be no writing on front.
Good - card will have noticeable corner and edge wear. Corners may be rounded or blunt, there may be larger corner creases. It may be postally used, and it may have a small amount of writing on front. None of this will interfere with the overall picture.
Fair - These cards will be intact, but may have large creases, excess soiling, staining or other defects, and these may interfere with the picture. I don't normally sell cards which I think are in less than good conditon. If I do list one, I make it abundantly clear.

How Old Is That Postcard?

I rarely try to determine an exact age, but I can usually can come up with a good date range estimate. I mostly sell USA State/Town view standard sized post cards, and following is some things you can do to try to guestimate the age of a card.

Standard/Chrome - Typically range from 1950s-1970s, and were usually made from glossy photos & are the standard 3 1/2 X 5 1/2 inch size. They don't all fall into this date range, I've seen them as early as 1939 & and I've also seen newer ones. But the vast majority fall into the decades of the 1950s, 60s & 70s.

Linen - these were typically produced from about 1933 to the early 1950s, and are printed on rough card stock with a linen texture.

White Border - produced around 1919 to 1932. These cards have a white border, and generally low contrast pale colors.
Early 20th Century (or Antique) - Cards produced before 1919.

RPPC - Real Photo Post Card; These are frequently (tho not necessarily) one of a kind photgraphs with a postcard back. Many are from early in the 20th century, but they can also be fairly recent. I estimate the age of these cards by the stamp box on back (if possible), the subjects, and if it's postally used, the postmark. Usually when I call something an RPPC, in my opinion it is not a massed produced card.

Other things you can look for:

Cards before 1907 had undivided backs
If an address (manufacturer, publisher or distributer) has a two digit city code, (such as Hollywood 38, Calif) that dates it between 1943 & 1963
If an address has a zip code, it dates 1963 or later
If an address has a zip code + 4, then it dates 1983 or later
Phone numbers can give a clue. For example, something like HUdson 2 - 5555 is an old number, early 1960s at the latest
If its a just a 4 digit phone number (or less), then its really old
If a card has a postmark date, it was obviously created some time prior to that date. However, cards are sometimes mailed years (or decades) after they were created.
If the card has a stamp box which says "Place 1 cent stamp here" - then it was created before 1952. Rates were permanently raised to 2 cents on Jan 1, 1952.
If the stamp box says 1 cent USA, Canada, Mexico & Cuba, 2 cents Foreign (or something like that) it's probably early 20th century.
If addresses have non-standard state abbreviations (such as S. DAK. for South Dakota), it's generally an older card.
Sometimes cards have a copyright date.
You can also guestimate by clothing styles, cars, city sky-lines, roads, street scenes, signs, and and many other things.
You can investigate the publisher, distributer, etc to see what dates they were in business.
Many cards have catalogue numbers on them, if you can figure those out it'll tell you exactly when a card was created. At the moment I don't have access to them.
Sometimes the captions or subject write-ups will give dates.

ABBREVIATIONS

Und/B-Undivided Back 1901-1907
DB-Divided Back 1907-1915
WB-White Border 1916-1930
L-Linen era 1930-1945
C-Chromes 1945 to 1970s
Cont. sz - 4"x6" chromes 1970s up
b/w-black and white
cof-cancel on face
crs-crease
cnr-corner
emb-embossed
lt-light
m/t-margin tear
o/w-otherwise
p/ or pub - publisher
pm-postmarked
RP-Real Photo
s/ or sgn - artist signed
s/m-stamp missing
u-used
unu-unused
wob-writing on back
wof-writing on face
a number within parenthesis indicates quantity of cards in lot

Last Updated November 02, 2008

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