Herb's Stuff: Ordering or contact, terms of sale, my email address

This page last edited July 142023


Advisories

Note of tariffs for non-USA customers.Since April 2023, the US Postal Service informs me, you (my customer) may have to pay your Postal Service / Customs a tariff (fee ) for items purchased from me. YOu pay that, when or before they are delivered, to your postal service or customs service.. When I buy postage to mail your order, I'll inform you if it warns me about a possible fee. This is a new circumstance in 2023. These fees started around April 2023 for my EU customers; I saw them for UK customers in July 2023.

Due to costs and Covid precautions, I generally don't ship first-class package rates within the USA. I often ship first-class package outside the USA. 1) I'm avoiding personal visits to the Post Office, US First-class needs that. 2) In the USA first-class package only saves a few dollars and is limited to well under a pound in the USA. Outside the USA, first-class is generally available to about 4 pounds weight.

early 2022: mailing outside the USA is not cheap. You can get estimates yourself, from usps.com, the US Postal Service Web site. No charge, no registration needed, just city/state/county/postcode and package size and weight. For any mailing issues per country: Check with the usps.com Web site for "international mail" and look for "current advisories" per country.

How to order or email me

If you want to buy, sell, donate, fix something, ask questions - please read the brief points below. It will save YOUR time and mine. I don't offer click-to-order services, for your benefit. And I need your general location for shipping estimates.

1)If you are buying, I need your city/state/country/postcode or ZIP code. Why? To estimate your shipping costs.
2) Please give some explanation for your order, so I can give you an informed response. I don't run a click-to-buy service for good reasons.
-- If I didn't have experience and a point of view to discuss - why would I have this kind of Web site?
2) Prices on my site don't include shipping, we'll determine a cost. We ship from central New Jersey ZIP 08618 USA
Your location, order weight and size set shipping costs. Non-USA customers might be charged inport/tariff fees.
3) List or reference what you want from my site, or what you saw. A Web link would be useful.
4) Estimates and quotes are good for seven days; please reply so I know you got my email.
5) To find information on my Web site: use Web search and add the phrase "site:retrotechnology.com".
6) If I don't reply in several days, my apologies. Use the alternative email address I provide.

I provide terms of sale when I provide a quote or estimate. Almost everyone uses PayPal now; you'll have to log into PayPal to make the payment, no PayPal invoices or "click to buy". I don't accept credit cards. We ship after payment is recieved. No "net" terms, no purchase orders. You'll get a paper reciept. And I have some common questions and answers later in this document. More details on these general terms are in this linked text document. If you want to sell to me, we'll have to sort out the details.

If you are not contacting me to buy or sell, - here's a link to more tips about contacting me.

Why all this "selling" stuff? My sales of vintage computing items, pays for my Web site and my time. Simple. Also: the items you want, I want them to arrive safely. And, I hope they are of use. These terms, above and below, follow from those considerations. If you want to comment or ask questions or inform me of your vintage computing work, I'll still likely want most of the information requested above.

With all that said, my email address is below. Common questions are answered below my email address, and summarized in the text above.



Contact me

To contact me, Email your order or inquiry to hjohnson@retrotechnology.com. If you do not get a reply in a few days, or if your email bounces, then and only then use my alternative email address at herbjohnson@comcast.net. And please, tell me your general location - city, country, postcode. I've explained why.

- Herb Johnson, in New Jersey USA.


Contacting me for non-sales purposes

If you just have a repair question or discussion about vintage computers, or things on my Web site, your own similar work or experiences with these items, that's OK. Just make that clear in your email. Most people who contact me, are repairing some vintage computer and want a part or document; that's why this "contact me" Web page discusses sales. Otherwise people often contact me about their repair work. My Web pages give examples of what I do and say, and what others do and say. Maybe I'll add your example, with your permission.

Many people contact me to ask vintage-computing questions, about some thing they are repairing or restoring, or something they want to do or acquire. So I expect a discussion. Don't expect my answer to be brief "do X" or "here's what wrong" or "Y is broken buy another Y". Please give me some clues about what's going on with your computer. I can't help you repair what I don't know. I can't make suggestions if I don't know your plans, or your skills. Vintage computers, and their repairs, are not plug-it-in and it-works. They were not built that way, that came later in time. They are not like today's computers: sorry. Also: I'm an advocate for diagnosing problems, reading manuals, using technical tools, understanding how these things work at the component level. Again - that's how they were built, time hasn't changed their nature. If you want to know what I'll say or expect - look over my Web site.

Common sales-related questions

I provide terms of sale when I provide a quote or estimate. But I have general terms, as in this brief text document.

*Briefly*: Items are as described and sold without warranty. I'll estimate costs and shipping based on your city/country/postal code, and the size and weight of items ordered. But I need your *full address*, and specific items ordered, to provide a final bill or quotation. Then with my final quote, you'll get the final costs and my payment instructions (PayPal usually). I'm working with you, to determine what you wish to order, what I can provide, your costs, and how to send it to the right location.

Common sales questions or considerations are answered below. Descriptions are linked to details on another page.

You are outside the United States.
I'm in the USA. Payment for non-US orders must be by PayPal - few use other services any more, and I don't take credit cards. Follow this link if you need more instructions. I must have your city/country/postalcode before you order. Orders to outside the USA are almost always shipped by US Mail - it works and it's cheaper. Even the smallest item mailed the cheapest way may cost more than $15 US dollars; or $25 US dollars if heavier (2020). Check with usps.com to find postage to your country from the United States. These costs are not unique to me. If you use a "forwarding company" in the USA to save on postage, read this linked note.

IN A HURRY? Need something immediately?
Generally, I can't work FAST - read how to contact me first. Fast shipping is not cheap. No credit cards, no phone orders. We only ship after payment is recieved. Check these terms for the expedited services we MAY offer, at extra cost.

Want to phone me? Email me instead. That will oblige you to collect your thoughts; and you can review what you and I discussed previously. My email address & other contact info is is linked here. If you want to order, read the brief ordering info above first. But you'll excuse me, if I don't offer phone-in services. Sorry. If you want to confirm my identity and abilities to deliver, review my Web site and check "who is Herb Johnson" above.

Where is Herb's postal and email address?
Please read my terms first, then you'll find my email address and know what I need to give you a price. You'll only get my mailing address with my quote, AFTER we confirm your order, after I get your shipping address. I'll tell you my customer where I am - privately - otherwise I'd like some privacy.

How to pay?
We do not take credit cards - most people use PayPal.. We'll accept US checks or US money orders. I charge for PayPal's fees. Don't use "friends and gifts" to avoid PayPal's fees. How do I pay with PayPal when you don't give me an invoice? You log into PayPal.com; go to your "account overview"; look for some tab-to-click about "Pay" or "send money". PayPal will ask you for the seller's PayPal email address (I'll give you that); and the amount of payment to send (it's in my quote). Proceed to make the payment. PayPal.com has help information for further and current details.

Paying for orders outside the United States? I except PayPal. It's now uncommon to use Western Union or MoneyGram, but I'll accept those too. No checks or currencies from outside the USA, no "bank transfers". Look at our payment notes for details. Follow this link for terms of payment and shipping.

Who is this Herb Johnson? I've been in business and have helped people with old digital technology for decades; and on the Web since 2000. I'm trying to preserve vintage computing hardware and technology and use, by restoration and preservation of information. I selling parts for those purposes and as income to cover costs for what I do. Many people have been pleased to get "good hardware at good prices" from me, and I have references from them accordingly. Here are references from my Apple Macintosh sales; from my S-100 computer sales; from my SGI computer system sales. Want my biography? I'm a digital engineer with a BSEE degree and many experiences - check my biography.

"I can't find anything on your messy Web site." To find things on my Web site: use a search engine or "Google" and add the phrase "site:retrotechnology.com". My site is over 20 years old. My interests and work vary over time. Something I did a decade ago, may not have a link from a Web page today. Search engines spend BILLIONS to find stuff on the Web for you; use "Google" or other search engines as I just described.

"I have to get a purchase order. I need an invoice. What's your Tax ID?" and other accounting procedures. My email quote is my invoice. I don't accept purchase orders with "net terms" after shipping - pay first then I ship. Simple. If you want a paper or faxed invoice I'll charge for that, otherwise everyone gets a paper reciept. I am not a corporation or "registered" business, I work under my own name. If your corporation can't pay with "petty cash" and send a check or PayPal payment, I probably can't help you. More information is here.

Why does Herb need my location now? Shipping depends on weight and DISTANCE, from New Jersey USA. If you don't want to give your address yet, I need your city/state/zip or city/country/postalcode, to estimate shipping costs. And I need a full address, before you get a confirmed QUOTE - prices with shipping and payment instructions. Why? So I don't ship to the wrong address! So I charge for actual shipping costs! It's not complicated.

Prices and condition of items?
Prices may be listed with item descriptions on my Web pages. Some items say "ask" or "make offers". We'll provide a price or price range, if you ask and give some information. Condition of items is in the Web page description, but most are good, used, tested; some are unused and new. We generally don't offer warranties - our prices are low because of that. Condition of items is briefly discussed at that link.

Shipping?
We ship by postal mail, or FedEx ground; AFTER we get payment. I ship from New Jersey, USA. Check our shipping notes for details.If you are ordering from outside the United States, terms of shipping are different - please check those terms.

You only want an estimate? Then tell me your city/state/ZIP or country/city/postcode, and exactly what you want. I've explained above why I ask.

Other ordering questions?
Look at the detailed ordering description or at the specific hints listed below that section.

Technical questions?
The tech section has some comments and some links to my general Web pages with some common questions.

Ordering manuals?
My manual copy service fee is typically 20 cents a page offered as PDF scans; sometimes I charge less. Nobody wants paper copies anymore - do your own printing and save postage. If you want an actual paper copy, I will add postage and some printing costs.

Want to give me or sell me something?
check this info first.

any other questions? more details?

I have another Web page with questions about ordering and related stuff

For customers outside the USA, I have a Web page of questions and answers about that.



Herb Johnson
retrotechnology.com
New Jersey, USA

Copyright © 2023 Herb Johnson