The following is a reader response to Andersen's article entitled "Telly's Terrible Traps and Outright Hornswoggling" I can only comment on my own experience and of course not all TV Marketing companies are the same (well one hopes). All of the these processing fees are how the companies usually make the profit. They keep their prices down to attract a larger number of orders and then just dump on all of those fees to make their money.   Ever wonder why it takes 28 days delivery for a product?   Well that's usually because they don't even have the product when they go to air. They are in fact selling something they don't own. The bulk of the orders usually come in within the first day of advertising and then they use that money to purchase the goods! So if you pay by credit card then you have in fact bought the product for them. SO there you have it the dirt on telemarketing or telesales. Please note that this only been my experience there are indeed some very reputable dealers out there.   <<