Someone once said that without rules, there is only chaos... or maybe it was only anarchy. In any case, where there is commerce, there are rules, or in this case... the Auction & eStore Policies & Guidelines.

The owner of The Marengo Mercantile has been in sales of one kind or another most of her life. Our goal is Happy Customers. Happy Customers will refer 1-2-3 other people to our auctions and eStore and help us build our business. Unhappy Customers will complain to everyone they know and a lot they don't and destroy it. Working within our Policies & Guidelines, we will try to be as flexible and accommodating to our customers as we can. We currently have a 99.9% Positive Feedback Rating. We would like to maintain that. We believe in the Golden Rule and in Kharma. So, our goal is Happy Customers.



QUESTIONS & BIDDING

PLEASE ask ALL your questions BEFORE bidding. Your e-mail will be answered as quickly as possible, normally within 24 hours, frequently within minutes. We are always happy to hear from our customers and will answer all your questions to the best of our ability.

Please review your Bid Amount BEFORE clicking the final "Place Your Bid" button. If a mistake occurs in your bid (ex., the decimal point) before the auction closes, the bid can be retracted. If the auction has ended, we will hold the buyer responsible for the full winning bid amount.

Be aware that YOUR BID IS A LEGAL BINDING CONTRACT. Please bid ONLY if you are a SERIOUS buyer. Not fulfilling the terms of this contract will result in a Non-Paying Bidder Report being filed with eBay and Negative Feedback will be left.


ACKNOWLEDGE & PAYMENT

We accept PayPal, Money Orders and Cashiers Checks

Payment is due within 7 days.

Please knowledge your winning bid by e-mail within 3 days of close of auction, particularly if you are paying by Money Order. 


COMBINED SHIPPING

We will be happy to combine multiple auctions won within a 7-day period. Please e-mail us with your intent to bid on multiple auctions, so we will not consider you as late-paying.

We will adjust the shipping and handling costs appropriately.


SHIPPING & HANDLING FEES

The majority of items are shipped by USPS Priority Mail.  The cost WILL VARY depending on the weight of the package and your zipcode.

Printed material (books, magazines, newspapers, etc) are generally shipped by USPS Media Mail. The "pro" is that it is considerably less expensive; the "con" is that it takes much longer, usually up to two weeks.

Larger items are shipped by UPS or other carrriers.

If the shipping cost is not a stipulated flat rate, you can use the Calculator at the bottom of the listing to determine the exact cost to your zipcode.  Or -- even better... email us with a request for shipping cost.  Be sure to include your zipcode.

If you would like for us to use a different shipping method than the one noted in the listing, please e-mail us with your request BEFORE bidding. We understand that you may prefer saving money to saving time and wish your item shipped by USPS Parcel Post rather than USPS Priority. It may be that in your area, FedExp or DHL delivers better or faster than UPS. When an item is listed at eBay, the seller can only choose a couple of options for shipping. We have no preference for one shipping method over another, but USPS is usually the fastest and cheapest. We will do our best to accommodate your choice. However, we MUST BE NOTIFIED PRIOR TO PAYMENT, so your eBay invoice can be changed to reflect the correct payment amount.

We charge the ACTUAL Shipping Cost. At time of payment, we charge the postage as close as we can calculate it. If that amount is off by $1.00 or more, we will return the difference to you inside the package at the time of shipping.

On most items there is a $1.00-2.00 Handling fee to cover time, gas, packing materials, and the Delivery Confirmation fee. For those items that require more costly packaging, we charge the cost of the materials plus rgw $1.00-2.00.


SHIPPING TRANSIT TIMES

Both the U.S. Post Office and eBay post specific transit times for each shipping method.  Sometimes they are right and sometimes they aren't. 

Please BE AWARE that these times are determined during non-peak time periods (i.e., NOT Christmas). They are, at best, an approximation.

Your package may take a longer (or shorter) time to arrive at its destination than those times posted.

We cannot be held responsible for the final transit time of your package.


PACKAGING & INSURANCE

We pack our items very carefully and appropriately for the item. We make every effort to insure their safe arrival.

Most fragile or breakable items -- china, glassware, pottery, etc -- are double-boxed. We: 1) carefully wrap the item in tissue paper and bubblewrap; 2) put it in a "nest" of shipping peanuts, shredded paper, etc in the inner box; 3) add a layer of shipping peanuts, shredded paper, etc on all four sides between the inner box and the outer box.

In our effort to keep our costs and thus the customer's costs as low as possible, we use clean recycled packing materials as much as we can. This is also part of our personal philosophy... our small effort to not be part of a very large problem.

We cannot be held responsible for damage or loss during shipping.

For most non-fragile, non-breakable items, insurance is available at the buyer's option.  For fragile or breakable items and some higher priced items, insurance is required.  Cost depends on what USPS or another carrier is charging at th time.

WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND INSURANCE.


SALES TAX

There will be a 5.6% Sales Tax for items shipped to Arizona.


REFUNDS

Items returned for a refund MUST BE PRE-APPROVED. Do NOT ship an item to us unless and until you have received Pre-Approval by e-mail.

We do our very best to describe our items clearly, accurately and in detail. Generally, there are multiple photos with close-ups included in the listing. We try to disclose any flaws in the item within the listing and specifically include photos thereof. It is not in our nature to be covert, deceptive, deceitful or duplicitous. However, we will allow that we are human.

Therefore... Returns will ONLY be accepted if the item received differs GREATLY from the item described.

Items must be returned within 7 days. We will allow a couple extra days if your item was initially shipped by US Parcel Post.

First, e-mail us describing the problem as accurately and detailed as you can. We will respond with any questions and comments we have.

After appropriate discussion, we will make a determination as to whether or not we will accept the return for refund.

Refunds will be given as Cash Back or Replacement (in very specific cases).


INTERNATIONAL BUYERS

If you are paying by Money Order, it MUST be payable in US Dollars (USD) on a US bank. Otherwise, it will be returned to you and correct payment requested.

Shipping, handling and insurance costs vary by country. Please e-mail us prior to bidding and we will provide you with the proper costs. Be sure to include your COMPLETE ADDRESS.

We normally ship USPS Global Priority.

Insurance is REQUIRED for ALL International shipments.

International Buyers are responsible for knowing if the item is permitted to be shipped to the country of destination.

International Buyers are responsible for ALL Customs Duties and Taxes.

Customs forms shall be completed properly. Please don't ask us to do otherwise; we won't.

Please remember that shipping internationally can take up to a month.