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                                                    About Us and F.A.Q.s
 


               

       My name is Scott Kraska. As a Dealer and Collector in the Militaria marketplace, I feel it is important that clients know the attitudes and opinions of whom they buy from. I will NEVER sell an object, whose authenticity I am uncomfortable with. Bottom line. No excuses or exceptions. My items also carry a 100% Authenticity Guarantee. Rather than work harder to get more material, many dealers opt for questionable materials that are easy to obtain. If the person you are buying from will not give you my guarantee, you should not be shopping with them.

      I have been buying and selling Militaria for over 35 years. My clients are collectors, veterans, museums and people just like you. Collecting militaria is a matter of patience. Not jumping at things- but waiting for authentic items to bubble out of the attics and basements of America, and emerge into the marketplace. Remember, "If it looks too good to be true", it is!". Know whom you are dealing with and ask a LOT of questions. You are investing hard earned money- do it wisely.

      The bulk of the items I will be presenting will be from the 1898-1971 time frame. US items will dominate the catalog, but the souvenirs of these soldiers and the various countries and armies they were exposed to will be shown through their "bring backs" and souvenirs.

      Items will be added to this site weekly, so check back often. We will update this site every Wednesday at 8PM Eastern Standard Time. You can purchase items, on a first-come, first-served basis, through phone or email. Confirm the availability of your item before attempting to pay for it with Paypal, to save fees. Items will be held for five days following a phone call, or acknowledged email. If they are not paid from within the agreed time they will be put back in inventory. We accept payment via Check, Money Order, Credit Card (Mastercard or Visa) or Paypal. Our Paypal account is scottkraska@comcast.net  Items usually ship within 48 hours of Payment, via Money Order or Paypal.  Personal Checks will be held until they clear. (usually 48 hours). Per Paypal requirement we must state that we do not sell any items of items of Cuban, Sudanese, North Korean or Iranian origin. We don't do this anyway, but we want them to be happy!

All items will be shipped USPS Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation. See shipping for detailed information.

 

Frequently Asked Questions-

      1. "Do you accept Credit Cards?"   We do through Paypal. In an effort to keep prices down we accept Paypal, Checks and Money Orders.

      2. "Do you accept trades?"  We work very hard to find items of interest for the web site. So items you want to "Get rid of" are probably not what we are going to be looking for. There are exceptions, but we would rather sell our items for cash, and take that money and seek out targeted items.

     3. "Will you take "Want Lists?"  Sorry, we used to, but it is just too complicated to maintain 1000+ want lists and is unfair to the bulk of our customers. We have adopted a policy similar to our buddies at AGM, so 99.9% of the time we put items on the web site to give everyone an equal opportunity.

     4. "Why can't you ship my item for your cost of postage!!!"   Well... if we didn't have to buy packaging, hire people to wrap and pack the item, label it and apply customs or Delivery Confirmation docs, drive to the Post Office and wait in line to ship it ..we probably could. This is a business. We sell items for 10-20% less than most dealers and we need to cover our expenses. Our shipping is fair. We ship almost everything Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. This means minimum shipping is $8. Not our choice!! So if you buy a 8 X 10 photo for $20 and want it shipped in a plain envelope for 50 Cents the answer is "No". We will make some exceptions for certain rugged items, but we have been on the receiving end of many mangled items and will not skimp on packaging. So far we have delivered almost 100% of our packages damage free!!!

     5. "I want my item shipped via UPS, can you do that"    Unless your item exceeds size and weight of USPS we will not ship UPS. We like the care that USPS takes, most of the time. Believe it or not if things are packaged correctly and securely they are great to work with.

     6. "Can you deliver and item to a show for me?"    Usually that is fine provided the item is paid in full, before we leave for the show.  If we can't do because of space limitation, or it gets left behind, we will ship it when we get back.

     7. "Do you do Lay-Aways?"   With 50% down, we will hold an item for 14 days. Sorry, but we run a tight ship and work on small margins and really can't do more than that.

     8. "Will you call me when you get a (Fill in Blank) in?"    Sorry unless the item is in excess of $4000 we will probably not call anyone. We will put it on the site and everyone will have a shot at it.

     9. "You say, you give a lifetime guarantee on all items. What do you mean by that?  What we mean is that we will describe items to the best of our ability, in an accurate fashion. What we describe and what you order will be 100% authentic.  We don't place time limits on authenticity. It is either right or its not right. No inspection period, lifetime guarantee. NOTE: Reasons like- "It doesn't fit me", "I already had one", "I just found a cheaper one at a flea market", "My Wife doesn't like it", and my all time favorite- "I saw the 15 photographs, but I was hoping it would be in better condition than the photos showed", don't pass the muster. So please don't ask.

    10. "What is your return policy?"   We will accept a return if the item is not in the condition we described. A tiny pinhole we missed is not a valid reason. We will also accept a return if we make an error in identifying something. If your car broke down, or your wife is angry that you bought something from us, sorry that is your problem. :)

    11. "What is your hold policy?" When a customer calls to place an item on hold, they are telling us that they will be purchasing an item. They have 5 days to get payment to us, after which, the items go back up for sale. By doing this you are assured that you will get the item, and this will prevent others from purchasing it. This is not for you to "think about it" or offer a trade. It is an intent to purchase. Don't be mad at us if someone else scoops up your unpaid items, because you "forgot" to mail the payment.

 Payment times can be adjusted if necessary. We will occasionally make exceptions if specific arrangements are made ahead of time. These arrangements will include a TBD deposit of 30-50% which is NON_REFUNDABLE after 14 days.

Also, on a new update night, in the flurry of rapid sales... i.e. the first 12 hours, we sometimes get as many as 10 requests for a particular item, If your email telling us you will "take it" is followed by questions about what size it is, where it came from, is a button loose, what color is the inside of the pocket. what contractor made it, date on the label, will we accept a lower offer etc.. We do NOT accept that as an intent to purchase. After the first days business is logged in, and we have confirmed the days sales, we will go back and review these questions. If the item has not been placed on hold by someone who is making a purchase, you will then get your questions answered.

    12. "What size is it?"  Please don't ask. We sell items of historic and intrinsic value. These items represent men and women who have given tremendous person sacrifice for their country. Many of these items are 50-100 years old and thread and fabric has aged and become more delicate. Unless otherwise stated the sizes will be typical for the period. This means for clothing approx size 38 and headgear approx size 7. The mannequins and heads we use accommodate these sizes. If something is smaller or much larger we will make a note of it. If no size reference is made assume these measurements to be implied. We do not sell Halloween costumes, "Living History" supplies or any other wearables. We are not tailors and don't have the time to try to fit you to a garment. Sorry about this, but we have measured clothing in the past and the success ratio is about 1 sale for every 15 requests.

 

 

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