Auspex Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 I guess the high cost of shipping to Canada really moved the balance point of the cost/benefit equation. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 (edited) That's what it boils down to, isn't it? Shipping across the Can/US line is so much more than within the country in most cases and the prices are going up faster than you can keep track of! Let this be a warning to others. Edited November 21, 2013 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 (edited) You have to "kiss" a lot of concretion "frogs" to find your prince! Nodules of any age (mine are mostly Miss.) has a success rate about 5% for finding a fossil, and another 5% of those being worth keeping; They do look nice as "mulch" Buying bulk nodules expecting to find fossils is like buying bulk geodes and expecting to find nice hollow, crystal filled specimens. You pays your money and takes your chances. Edited December 6, 2013 by Herb "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Caveat emptor, in other words? I would think the productivity level would vary from site to site, too... that some places might have more productive nodules and other places have scarce to zero fossils (likewise with geodes, I think the success rate would depend on the locality). In any case I was led to believe there was a good chance, not a slim-to-zero chance of finding a fossil in my batch ("I'm looking forward to seeing what folks find in them. They're nice clean nodules, and should produce many" said Rob in the other thread - He also suspected I had 2 jellies and a fern in my batch). In Tim's first post in this thread he mentioned that he read 1 in 4 to 1 in 10. So suddenly it's 1 in 20 and the 'keepers' are 1 in 400 if I've done my math correctly? I would not have bought any if I thought the chances were against finding even one common fossil. I know shipping is expensive and it can be a lot of money to pay just for the experience of trying the freeze-thaw method. Around here the concretions rarely have anything in them - up Island they more often have something. If I had concretions from my area to sell, I would never sell anyone a bunch of concretions from one of my local sites with rare to nonexistent fossils in them; I would sell ones from up-Island just so that I would avoid this type of complaint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 (edited) As always, I was referring to my adventures with nodules. I am sure some areas have better success rates. I also feel that most people who offer items for sale here are honorable in their transactions and intentions. Edited December 7, 2013 by Herb "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Russell Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 (edited) Just so people of the forum understand the magnitude of your complaint, Eric, I'll explain what you've received. I believe I sold you roughly 15-20 nodules for $12 dollars. I apologize if you feel taken advantage of, because I humbly accommodated you differently than any of my other customers. You received more for less than anybody else. And only spent twelve dollars. That's $12. Perhaps in the future you may consider not spending such an exuberant amount of money on such a high risk commodity. And by no means did I guarantee you, or anybody else, anything. I, like yourself, can't see through rock. As far as trying to put an accurate percentage on fossil baring concretions vs blanks. It's feudal. Some spoil piles may have a high percentage of fossils, and the hill 200 yards away may have zero. I can only say that the nodules I collect are collected where open nodules contained fossils are found. One out of four. One out of twenty. One out of four hundred. These figures are general assumptions at best, and only generally describe very small areas within an enormous one. So to take any of these percentages to the bank would be foolish. Edited December 8, 2013 by Rob Russell Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 I am reminded of a nodule that I found recently. I was 99.99% sure it contained the largest fish head that I had ever found. Everything matched on the nodule that usually contain heads. I almost sent it to John M. for study without opening it but I changed my mind. I was really excited about this one! It opened and to my surprise and disappointment, there were only minerals inside.. None of us have X-ray vision. I sure wish we did. Buying nodules is a chance, all nodules are a chance and can reveal great surprises or none at all. I hope we can move on Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 Come on Rob...everybody knows you use your X-ray vision to find the good keepers for yourself and put aside all the duds to sell to the unsuspecting "suckers" like us. I didn't end up getting anything worthy of writing home about and do not feel the least bit cheated. There is no way you or anyone else can say for sure if there will be anything inside one of those nodules and to assume you can is absurd. OK, Wangleian feels he got a raw deal...fine, but either let it go or discus it further with you privately. This issue has gone on too long on this forum. From what I've read, he is the only one that purchased from you that was sorely disappointed. It seems to me, pretty much everyone that went into this transaction, went into it with an open mind that it was an adventurous experiment. The prices you put on the nodule groups was extremely low compared to purchasing them elsewhere. If he wants to get a sure thing, I'd suggest buying already opened nodules in the future, and will end up paying a premium price for them to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 Any further discussion would be futile. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) Just to close my end of it, I spent $36 incl. the shipping. So maybe you didn't take advantage of me Rob, but I still got burned and I thought it could serve as a warning to anyone else, at least those outside of the US. I understand that you never know what you're going to get with nodules, but it always (especially lately) seems to be me that is the unlucky one, who spends more than anyone else does and ends up with the least, when I'm probably the one who can least afford it - and so I felt the need to vent, though perhaps I get a little carried away with that at times and it's not as big a deal as I make it sound. I just hope I wasn't the only one who learned a lesson. Otherwise I might suggest to the mods that this whole episode be deleted from the Forum? Edited December 9, 2013 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 I am sorry that your expectations weren't met . This episode might warn collectors that desire can lead them to anticipate great fossils for display, despite the odds. Hope is a wonderful thing, which keeps us all striving, but we are all sometimes reminded that we should temper it with the possibility of a less-than-optimal outcome. 1 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 (edited) Eric - Don't feel too bad, I bought some from Rob as well and only one split with anything inside it. Unfortunately it was a pair of clam shells and the split went right through them so it's not worth keeping. I'm having about the same ratio of success as I did when I bought nodules off of E-bay but those ones cost me far more money. It is a live and learn kind of thing but the kicker for you was the amount it cost to ship. Maybe next time, if you have a friend over the border, you could get them sent there and save you some cash. Edited December 9, 2013 by Shamalama -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 Thanks both.. That works for me, I have thought about having an American friend do this for me but I dont see any of them that often and I'm not sure they wouldn't consider it a hassle... Anyway I do appreciate the effort you went thru to make me happy, Rob, but I do think they were hyped a bit. It does make me feel a little better when I hear that others didn't find much either, I hate to be the odd one out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 (edited) Buying fossils ((or anything),(especially sight unseen)) is like gambling. Never invest more than you can afford to lose. Edited December 10, 2013 by Herb "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Obviously! But in this case I really didn't think it was a big a gamble as it turns out it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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