So I had a agreement with a member of this forum that I am new to, And after he wanted me to send the money as a gift thru pay-pal He sold the item locally with out telling me til after. I was moments away from being screwed and this ass feels as thou it was my fault for not just jumping in to sending the money with no idea who he is or whats his nature. Is this a common thing with members on here or is it just the bad apple that I came across.??? I could understand if I drug my feet for days and did not try to get a hold of him but the arrogent prick couldn’t even pick up the phone and talk like a man. (It hasn’t even been 24 hours since he agreed to sell me the item0We have decided a long time ago that we would make the best out of selfs by attempting this lifestyle however, that doesn’t mean that you are god. people like this character should be banned from this forum. period.
Who was it so I can avoid him completely?
I wouldn’t ever recommend sending money gift althought some people are pretty gutsy and do. 3% is not much to pay for buyer protection and prices on ST are pretty realistic. I’m sure he would’ve been fine if you paid the 3% fee as long as he got his asking price out of it. This forum is not like eBay. Typically pricing includes shipping, but does not include fees. You decide whether or not to send gift. As far the the gentleman selling the item before you paid for it, most believe in first come first serve. I’ve received a few purchase commitments that never came through.
It appears you’re also assuming that he would’ve not refunded your money if you would’ve paid. Everyone I’ve sold/purchased items on ST has been up front and honest.
I wouldn’t assume that he would have kept your money and run with it.
Next time add the 3% for Paypal protection and buy quickly so nobody has the chance to come in and snipe the purchase away from you.
Cheers
What kind of time frame are you talking from the time you commited?
Don’t blast his name out either as your story doesn’t appear to be complete. He told you he sold it locally before you paid.
Some are good and some are bad - it depends. 90% of the folks I have dealt with here have been stand up folks. I had one guy try to extort me for more than I wanted to pay for an item by asking me to “outbid” another offer, I told him to sell it to the other guy. I would recommend you not gift if you have a choice, you can always throw in a few extra $ to cover the paypal fees. I also make sure I check the background on my sellers (most have a history here) and if I’m not sure I get an address and a phone number to track them with. FWIW I also subscribe to “first cash gets the goods” and “caveat emptor”.
Um…did he refund your money? If so, then no issues IMO.
Is this a common thing with members on here or is it just the bad apple that I came across.???
as I am not privy to the details of your transaction I won’t comment specifically other than to say I’m sorry you had a negative experience. I’ve been on this forum for about a decade and have easily purchased/sold over 100 items here in the ST classifieds without issue. So in direct response to your query, I’d say that it is not a common thing. To be fair, if he refunded your money than he’s guilty of little more than not keeping his word. Certainly not what you hope for but not as malignant as him “taking” your money. As a seller I routinely ask people to pay as gift OR to add on additional 4% for paypal fees and I let the buyer choose. Further, I give them my ebay username so they can see that I have over 480 positive feedbacks and hopefully that instills some buyer confidence.
Ultimately however, as this is an online community, there is a certain level of trust that is requisite with sales transactions. Again, sorry your experience was less than ideal but I’m happy that you didn’t send the funds and are out the money.
Time frame wise was less 18 hours from the time he said that he would sell it to me. And I have keep his user name out of this because that’s not my character. What is my character is that if there was a virtual handshake about the sale, you are in the wrong to sell it to someone else when details are getting figured out. If you go and buy a new car and come to a agreement and as you walk in the back to take care of paperwork the sales man you had sells the same car to someone that has cash… The salesman is shady and so is anyone that agrees the money is more valuable then a persons words. I would rather use ST to purchase good tri equipment Becuz in my heart this is a community of good people with a common goal and with eBay u have no idea what your getting your self into and who is selling it. I quess the bottom line is keep your word and stand behind it. Also, if you find a excuse to be shady try to find a excuse to stay off my post.
Well, I have sold many items. And I can tell you that there have been MANY times someone says they will take the item, I give them my paypal info and guess what? No money ever comes through.
So, I usually tell them that ONCE payment is received then I will go ahead and complete the transaction. If I get a payment from someone else first, then someone else gets the item.
I can’t sit and wait until someone decides whether they want to send the money or not. It is always who pays first. I do give people some time…but not days. Too many lookie loos that flake.
I’ve even had people make an offer…like " I will give you $120 shipped". I reply accepting their offer with paypal info, and never hear from them again.
So, why don’t you tell us what kind of time elapsed between your “deal” and the time you were about to “get screwed”. Then we can tell you who was being the lame member.
Is this a common thing with members on here or is it just the bad apple that I came across.???
as I am not privy to the details of your transaction I won’t comment specifically other than to say I’m sorry you had a negative experience. I’ve been on this forum for about a decade and have easily purchased/sold over 100 items here in the ST classifieds without issue. So in direct response to your query, I’d say that it is not a common thing. To be fair, if he refunded your money than he’s guilty of little more than not keeping his word. Certainly not what you hope for but not as malignant as him “taking” your money. As a seller I routinely ask people to pay as gift OR to add on additional 4% for paypal fees and I let the buyer choose. Further, I give them my ebay username so they can see that I have over 480 positive feedbacks and hopefully that instills some buyer confidence.
Ultimately however, as this is an online community, there is a certain level of trust that is requisite with sales transactions. Again, sorry your experience was less than ideal but I’m happy that you didn’t send the funds and are out the money.
+1…honestly i don’t like people who want to deal first come -first serve but as an experience “wheelin & dealin” seller on CL, flakiness is pretty wide spread and sometimes it’s very frustrating to deal and hold your stuffs for flakes. In addition, the forum policy clearly stated that member responsibility to “deal at your own risk”…sorry that Op got bad experience but deals are always around the corner…
Hmmm, 18 hours is tough.
My experience so far, if I don’t get payment within 6 hours…it is not coming. Almost every single sale the buyer sent me paypal within 4-6 hours of making the deal. And those that needed to make arrangements let me know that they needed to do something or take care of something and would be sending payment at a certain time frame.
Almost every single one that did not pay after 12 hours…I pretty much never heard from again.
So, if it had been me–I probably would have assumed you flaked if after 18 hours I did not get payment, and did not get any follow up message. I guess it is all about communication. Just like you expect to get accurate description of items you are buying, you should also be clear about payment in the amount and in what time frame.
Luckily, I have never had to deal with this problem. But I can tell you that if someone sent payment almost a day later than I was expecting it, and I had already sold the item–I would have no problem refunding the paypal.
I don’t see the shadiness. If the seller had others waiting and after 18 hrs he let you know it’s sold. Also, the op didn’t lose any money.
I don’t see the shadiness. If the seller had others waiting and after 18 hrs he let you know it’s sold. Also, the op didn’t lose any money.
First to pay gets the goods, I have only had 1 negative issue, and it turned out anyway, partially my fault for not asking the right questions…the majority of people are honest trustworthy people, check them out, call them, send the email’s to their personal email accounts. For high price items have them send a dated picture from that day…I have made quite a few people happy on this forum and have been made happy in return…
Agreed. As a buyer, once we agree to a price, I try to pay within minutes as I do have fear that it usually is first come first serve. I have never waited 18 hours to commit on this forum and if I were selling, I would email the buyer to make sure they were interested and if I did not get a reply within a few hours, I would move on. If buyer had paid, it is a different story…
I’ll chime in on this one:
- If you agree to pay, make the payment within 60 minutes or your loose the right to buy. There are a lot of attention to good deals on this forum and we all know when we list a desirable item, that PMs and offers are in your inbox within minutes. I don’t know which post holds the record for the fastest sale, but I bet it’s less than 120 seconds.
- I have a job where I actually have to work to get paid. I don’t have time to respond to 100 haggle emails every hour because someone wants to save $5 on a $50 item. Offers are welcome, I always list my items as such, but first one to pay the full amount get’s the part.
- I’ve had 1 issue in probably close to 100 transactions. It was clearly buyers fault and he realized later, before that he had sent me a “WTF” email asking where the $300 carbon saddle was that he thought he had bought for $40. The nice, used but good condition MSRP $150 saddle that was in his mail was not satisfactory. I had given him the option of “gift” or pay the fees and I refunded him within minutes without any questions asked. I’ve had many similar situations with other honorable members of this forum that have refunded or discounted if I were not satisfied. There are a few bad apples here I believe, but most just overestimate the condition of their items which is why I always ask for an image.
- More and more members are joining the forum which is wonderful. However I hope we can all continue the excellent gentleman-like code of conduct on this forum. It is a great, free place to exercise the sport we all love.
- Check the “Good buyers” post on top of the Classified forum. Good place to pick your next transaction.
My rant for today 
Always always always tell them to send an invoice, especially on a high and expensive items like frames, wheels, groupsets etc etc…
I mean even a $40 jersey I asked the seller (politely) to send an invoice.
My experience so far, if I don’t get payment within 6 hours…it is not coming. Almost every single sale the buyer sent me paypal within 4-6 hours of making the deal. And those that needed to make arrangements let me know that they needed to do something or take care of something and would be sending payment at a certain time frame.
Almost every single one that did not pay after 12 hours…I pretty much never heard from again.
So, if it had been me–I probably would have assumed you flaked if after 18 hours I did not get payment, and did not get any follow up message. I guess it is all about communication. Just like you expect to get accurate description of items you are buying, you should also be clear about payment in the amount and in what time frame.
Luckily, I have never had to deal with this problem. But I can tell you that if someone sent payment almost a day later than I was expecting it, and I had already sold the item–I would have no problem refunding the paypal.
I agree with this post. It looks like the Op’s seller told him that he’s had several offers and was waiting for payment from the Op. If you can’t pay asap, then let the seller know, I’ve done that before with no problems at all. If the seller can’t wait for my payment, then by all means sell it too the next guy.
I’ve also sold items and had the buyer tell me he can’t pay instantly for whatever reason and I agreed to hold the item for a certain period and I’m okay with that as long as its asked or brought up in a timely manner.
piling on with the majority here - if you can’t pay quickly (for me, that means an hour or two), then you’d better say so up front. otherwise, as others have said, it’s presumed you’re flaking. IMO, the “virtual handshake” you speak of doesn’t occur until payment changes hands - at that point, the handshake says that the seller will ship you the goods he advertised.