African Well Fund photo auction starts today

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Oh no, that's not good! I think each photo comes directly from the photographer doesn't it? (The one I won last year did anyways, and it was a very good experience, he's one of the better known photographers around pleba and he was very attentive and nice to deal with.)

I would think the photographer of your photos could make new prints for you... I don't see why not. :confused:
I hope they will take care of it for you!
 
Last edited:
I went out to Michael's this afternoon and put the pictures into frames so I could see how they look. (Frames are on sale this week, btw :) ) The damage is only very noticeable in one, so I've decided it's not worth sending them back. They're not perfect, but they don't need to be--what matters is that that money is going to help people in Africa have clean drinking water.

I think the photographers send the prints to the guy who runs the auction, since I had pictures from three different photographers in one envelope. My photo last year arrived safely, so I think it was just a one-time mistake. The seller has offered me a refund, but I'm just going to write back asking that they use thicker cardboard in the padded mailers next year and let it go.
 
Ah that's good then. I'm glad your pics look nice framed. :)

My pic last year came directly from the photographer, so maybe some of the photographers keep them, others send them to the auction... or it could be different this year. Since they all came from the same seller though I am surprised they didn't combine the shipping cost. Hmmmm. I haven't received my pics yet from this year. I'm curious now!
 
I won one (Bono and Edge under the Brooklyn Bridge) and don't have it yet so I hope it arrives safely. Especially after seeing what photos went for during the Music Rising auction, I feel like I almost got a bargain.
 
They have offered to give me a full refund and to give me reprints of all of the pictures. I told them I only need reprints of three of the five, since the damage is in dark parts of the other two pictures and isn't as noticeable. They've been very communicative through this, so I'm going to participate in the auction again next year if I can afford it :up:

I was looking at that picture silvrlvr, but I recognized your name from here and didn't want to bid against you!
 
I'm glad you are in touch with them because even though the building of the wells is most important, if people are dissatisfied (and I will be if my photos are bent as there's no reason for that if well packaged) then they won't participate in the auction next year. I would opt to send in a donation the following year if that happed to me. The desire to have the photos was a motivation for me to bid as much as I did. I usually donate funds to them, but not as much as I spent on the auction. I'm just being honest. It's good and smart of them to make things right.
You did the right thing by giving them that opportunity.
 
My photo arrived today. Sadly, the mailing enveloped ripped in transit, the photo got bent and it was taped to the cardboard backing. There was also only one layer of cardboard between the photo and the inside of the packing envelope. I collect photographs, and I know this isn't the way that you prepare a photo for mailing. You have to stablize it, and you never, ever put tape on a photo, even on the back.

I wrote to them and asked for a replacement photo. I definitely don't want a refund, I'm happy to have the African Well Fund keep my money, but I wouldn't want to spend another $100 to frame this print. I hope they'll come through.
 


I was looking at that picture silvrlvr, but I recognized your name from here and didn't want to bid against you! [/B]
Click to expand...


Thank you, thank you! That photo has real meaning for me: I went to Columbia for grad school, I also lived in Park Slope, and I used to occasionally drive into Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge, which is among my favorite NY bridges (the GW being another.) My hope is to frame it and have it up in my office here to remind me of NYC.
 
:uhoh: It's really sounding bad the way these photos are being packed for shipping. What a shame, since the shipping prices I thought were higher than average.
 
I wanted to respond here and let you all know that we are really sorry about the packaging shipping issues that any of you have experienced.

We are working with the organizer of the auction to ensure that anyone who is dissatisfied with the condition of the photograph(s) when it arrived to them is provided with a replacement of that photo with free shipping. Thanks in advance for your patience. We have one great volunteer who has done everything with the auction from soliciting photographers, to collecting the photographs, to adding everything to ebay, invoicing and shipping. Obviously it's a lot of work for one person but we are committed to making sure everyone is 100% happy.

I also wanted to address the shipping cost issue. If someone won mulitple auctions, ebay automatically calculates shipping per item. So if you paid right away before you were invoiced by us, you may have been charged more shipping than needed. If you received an invoice by us and paid according to that invoice, you'll notice that the prints were shipped together thus reducing the cost of unnecessary shipping. The cost was a little higher this year because we had to add in costs for packaging. (last year the organziers paid for all packaging himself). We did try to save money to keep shipping costs down by using some different packaging. Obviously in some cases, that didn't work so well and we will be modifying our products in future auctions.

One other issue I wanted to bring up that it is come to our attention that there is an ebay scammer (his ebay ID is muchb but he signed his email with the ebay logo and the AWF ebay ID of theafricanwellfund.) out there preying on some bidders from our latest auction. I, personally received one of those emails telling me that the original winner of a photo I bid on was disqualified for security reasons and that I was now the winner and instructions for payment. I contacted the organizer of the auction (mdu2boy) and he confirmed that what I had received in my inbox was was indeed a fake email, ID and a scam. PLEASE be vigilant if you receive such an email and let us know, as well as sending the email directly to spoof@ebay.com

I guess it is the way things go with ebay auctions that the more successful they get the higher the chances are that someone unscrupulous will be out there trying to make a profit off from it.

Thank you again to all you guys for the bids and the donations for this year's fundraiser. I think we are over $7700 from just the auction! We still have a couple of weeks left for direct donations :)

Again, if anyone else has quality issue with the condition of their photograph, please let us know. Just know that if you don't receive a reply right away, we are not ignoring you. We're all volunteers here, (even on the board) and we are working to make sure that all donors are satisfied and STAY donors. You are all VERY important to the future success of AWF.


Julie
jcook@africanwellfund.org
or info@africanwellfund.org
 
Last edited:
silvrlvr said:
My photo arrived today. Sadly, the mailing enveloped ripped in transit, the photo got bent and it was taped to the cardboard backing. There was also only one layer of cardboard between the photo and the inside of the packing envelope. I collect photographs, and I know this isn't the way that you prepare a photo for mailing. You have to stablize it, and you never, ever put tape on a photo, even on the back.
Click to expand...

Oh no :( I was really hoping my packing was an isolated problem, that they'd just run out of stronger cardboard. Mine didn't have any tape, though.

They've been very communicative with me, so I know you'll be able to get another copy no problem. Make sure you keep all your packing materials, as UPS might need them to reimburse you (I think I'm getting reimbursed from UPS, as I've told the AWF to please keep my donation regardless).

I'm a little irked about the shipping. There should've been a note on the auctions saying that if you win more than one auction, you should wait for an invoice. I was trying to make things easier for them by paying right away, and I don't like that I paid $24 when I didn't need to.
 
I received my package and the free poster was bent on the edges. One photo does have a crease on the lower portion of the photo. I missed it at first. The other one has an imprint were I peeled off the tape on the corners.
silvrlvr, in your experience, will the imprint from the tape turn yellow like glue does? It isn't sticky.
thanks
 
Last edited:
I hope that some photographers having to do reprints isn't going to make them reluctant to donate their photos next year. Writing "Do Not Bend" isn't going to stop a package from being bent if it's not reinforced with thick cardboard. I do feel bad for them that this must be causing so many headaches, but it could've easily been prevented. If last year's packing (which they paid for themselves then) was so good, they should've known to go with that packing again this year.

The creases on two of my pictures were in dark areas, so they aren't as visible, especially once I framed them. My picture from last year looks gorgeous in just a simple $8 black frame and a white mat. It's quickly become my favorite U2 item that I have. I've got an Edge looking down at me right now!

I want a Dallas picture next year :shifty:
 
Val said:

silvrlvr, in your experience, will the imprint from the tape turn yellow like glue does? It isn't sticky.
thanks
Click to expand...

I hope it won't but anything on a glossy surface -- tape, water, oil, etc. -- runs the risk of leaving a mark. A matte surface isn't as much of a problem.

I really appreciate the apology and I know it wasn't intentional. There's an art to shipping photos and the key is to keep them as flat as possible. I buy photos on Ebay fairly often, and usually they are shipped in either photo mailers or Express Mail envelopes with a piece of cardboard on either side of the photo. Never any tape directly across a photo surface, either.
 
The organizers of this important project have rectified the shipping problem for the future.

I thank the volunteers and photographers, and hope that the extra time and effort they used to make good on this years auctions won't discourage their participation next year.

I absolutely will bid on next years auction and look forward to it.
 
Val said:
The organizers of this important project have rectified the shipping problem for the future.

I thank the volunteers and photographers, and hope that the extra time and effort they used to make good on this years auctions won't discourage their participation next year.

I absolutely will bid on next years auction and look forward to it.
Click to expand...

thank you for your words of support
we have all been very distressed about the reports of damaged photos and are doing everything we can to make sure everyone's problems are addressed

and as with everything we do, we are taking notes and learning lessons as we go

as Julie said - AWF is entirely volunteer-run - none of us are pros

I think the biggest lesson we have learned this year is that the auction has grown too big to remain a one-man show - it is just too much work for one volunteer. Next year we will be looking for others who would like to get involved and help out.

If any of you think you might be interested, drop me a line at dyoder@africanwellfund.org

and again thanks to everyone for their patience, support and donations!
 
I haven't received my prints yet, but I did still plan on participating every year regardless. It's the cause and the donation that's important and the photos are an extra bonus. Plus it's fun and a great idea, photos are a relatively simple thing to provide, but they are very beautiful and some have special importance to the bidders. Please know that we appreciate all the volunteers that have made it possible and thank you for all the time and effort you are doing to fix the problems. You guys are awesome. I can't wait for my photos. :)
 
Hey I'm just checking in, I haven't received my photos yet and there's been no update on my orders' progress on the UPS site since April 30, so I just wondered if that is normal or if I should worry. Does anyone know? Has everyone received their pics? I hope you are all enjoying them! Ok thanks :)
 
Hi bonocomet.

I sent an email, and got a reply right away from a staff member at AWF that they are waiting on the photographers who are making copies. She assured me that the replacements will be sent out asap.
 
Oh ok thanks. I still haven't received my original pics tho. I think I paid the day the auction ended, I realize they've been busy. I just really can't wait to see my photos!


I am wondering if anyone is familiar with the UPS tracking system. Is it normal to see no progress on the package for 10 days now?
 
Last edited:
oh, I miss understood... perhaps you had better send an email to the AWF site telling them just that.
 
bonocomet said:
Oh ok thanks. I still haven't received my original pics tho. I think I paid the day the auction ended, I realize they've been busy. I just really can't wait to see my photos!


I am wondering if anyone is familiar with the UPS tracking system. Is it normal to see no progress on the package for 10 days now?
Click to expand...

You can contact the seller, but if you have the tracking information, you can contact UPS yourself at 1 800 PICK UPS.
Explain that you are the receiver, and there's been no package progress and that you need a tracer placed on the shipment. It could be lost. If you are in the U.S., normal delivery time shouldn't exceed one week, barring any natural disasters, accidents, etc. They may ask you to contact the sender to initiate the trace, but you should be able to have something done. Sometimes their systems are a little more current/updated than the website. And sometimes the sender enters the item into their system but never actually ships the package (rarely, but it can happen). Good luck!
 
Thanks so much, you guys have all been really helpful. I tried that phone # Lila and it said it was in transit, which is good I guess, but it has said that on the website since Apr. 30th as well, and nothing since then so that's why I was concerned. I also contacted the seller thru ebay and hopefully will hear back soon. Hopefully it's just late and is still on the way! Thanks again everyone!
 
)all assuming you are shipping within the U.S.)

Well if it shipped from point A on 4/30, in theory it should have been to point B by now if you are in the U.S. You need to call back and get further information. Ask them where it was when last tracked, and if they don't have anything since 4/30, you tell them you want to initiate a tracer, as you are worried it may be lost. PM me if you have more questions.
 
I am in the US so I guess I should have received it by now then. :(
The seller did just contact me and he contacted ups who asked if someone else might have received it, but if they delivered it to the wrong house there's no way I would know that. I'll ask him about the tracer. Thanks so much for your offer to help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Janet H
  • Sticky
Forum Update - We're back! Ask your questions here.
2
Replies
36
Views
2K
Popmartijn
Popmartijn
cobl04
Kiss the Future documentary
Replies
11
Views
3K
MrsSpringsteen
MrsSpringsteen
Headache in a Suitcase
  • Locked
Songs of Songs, Books & Fat Puns - New Album Discussion #8
33 34 35
Replies
1K
Views
53K
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
N
NBA 2023-24 Thread
12 13 14
Replies
401
Views
11K
Headache in a Suitcase
Headache in a Suitcase
N
  • Locked
NBA 2022-23 Thread
46 47 48
Replies
1K
Views
45K
U2inUtah
U2inUtah

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom