Back to the topic of on line auctions.  I just received a bill from DHL (the
new worldwide shipper competing with UPS and FedEx) for a US Fish & Game
inspection of four shells I won at a recent auction.  This $25 fee increased
my $10 shells by enough to make such a venture not worthwhile if this
continues.  In a similar vein, a shipment last month arrived with the shells
all loose and unprotected in the box.  It had been opened by customs who
destroyed "packages of live snails," and then threw the rest back in the box
without benefit of putting them back into the bubble wrap or even the zip
lock bags in some cases!  The "live snails" they destroyed were some smelly
nerites that had been collected and soaked in alcohol so I could confirm the
opercs that went with the shells.  They were shipped "dry" and had begun to
smell, as dead snails will.  A very irritating development...

Tom E.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------