On Thu, 08 Jan 2004 18:42:09 -0800, in rec.crafts.jewelry "lgreene"
wrote:

If you can't agree on a fee, let me know. My nephew lives in SF and would
be happy to do it for you fee free. For heaven's sake...walk past the man,
throw the money at him, put in a box in a padded envelope, put 3 stamps on
envelope, drop in mail box. Phew..handling "all that" is likely to cost a
fortune.

It's just time, of course. But I'd have to say that at least IMHO, Abrasha is
not in the least bit out of line to expect to be paid at least a modest fee, or
commission, for going to the trouble to take care of this. While such errands
sound, and are simple enough, when actually done, it can easily add up to an
hour or two, what with time communicating with the client, then having to find
the seller again in the first place, locate a suitable replacement ring, and
bother with the mailing. Sure, it may not sound like tons of work, but I'd be
surprised if in the end it takes less than two hours of his time. And even
padded envelopes cost money. Should he do that for a total stranger, not one
likely to ever be a customer, personal friend, or otherwise closer than a total
stranger, for free? Especially considering that the business concerns jewelry,
and Abrasha is a professional in the jewelery field? If you go to a
legal/lawyers newsgroup and ask for a bit of help filing some simple court
documents somewhere, and some lawyer mentions they work near that court and
could handle the filing for you, do you think THAT would be free too? Not
likely. And nowhere in Abrasha's offer, or reply to the above post, did he
say it would be a fortune. All he said was "mutually agreed upon fee." What
could be fairer. If the guy looking for the ring is impoverished enough that
such a fee is a problem, he's free to ask for a discount, or even some free
help, and then Abrasha is free, if he wishes, to either do it or decline. No
problem. The asumption implied in the above post that this is somehow out of
line seems to me to itself be a bit self rightious, and oblivious to the nature,
economics, and conventions of normal business practice.

And while we're at it, does this nephew who'd be so happy to do this for free
yet know about his generous offer? And would he, if he weren't eager to jump
through these hoops, also for an unknown total stranger in a different city,
feel free enough with his aunt or uncle who'd already made the offer of his
help, to then decline to do it? Hmmm.

Just my late night two cents..

Peter