General Consensus

[BP Green]

I've got question for you guys as I'm trying to figure out if it's just me being anal on a little pet peeve of mine.

I've had a couple sale's where the guy didn't respond to my emails right away after they contacted me to tell me they would take an item I was selling.

When I see something I want on a sale's thread I usually bend over backwards to adhere to the seller's instructions. I post "I'll take it" in the thread and I fire off the payment the second I get the payment info.

If you e-mail a seller that you'll take his item, would you then drop off the face of the earth for a few hours or even a day with no explanation? Is it unreasonable to expect an immediate reply to someone's PM or e-mail that they'll take an item you're selling? How about a "Hey I want your item but I'm busy right now. I'll get back to you later on tonight." That would be just peachy with me. Again, am I just being anal to think that is normal, courteous protocol, or is that just the way things are done today?

What do you guys think?

 

[Bob W]

A few hours? Wouldn't think twice about it.
A couple of days, unusual and perhaps irritating.
A week? Unacceptable.

 

[Seals]

Im like you and try to contact and pay immediately.Also,i would be a little bugged if someone didnt do the same or at least contact with intentions.

 

[BP Green]

Im like you and try to contact and pay immediately.Also,i would be a little bugged if someone didnt do the same or at least contact with intentions.

I'm not even worried about the payment so much as actual communication. I get it that someone may be busy at work or out running errands or whatever. What I'm talking about is someone that says I'll take it, then continues surfing around the site and doesn't respond to your requests for contact until later.

IMHO, if you have time to say "I'll take it", you should at least have the courtesy to explain if you cannot complete the sale right away. Just say "I'll get back to you by (insert whatever time you want here)."

I had a guy do that once. He emailed me and told me he wanted the knife. I sent him an e-mail/PM with my PP address and a request for verification. He then took an entire day to get back to me despite the fact that he continued to surf the forum during that time.

He ultimately went through with the sale but told me he had been "mulling it over" to make sure he wanted to go through with it. That is after he had already said "I'll take it" the day before.

 

[Karda]

I had a guy do that once. He emailed me and told me he wanted the knife. I sent him an e-mail/PM with my PP address and a request for verification. He then took an entire day to get back to me despite the fact that he continued to surf the forum during that time.

He ultimately went through with the sale but told me he had been "mulling it over" to make sure he wanted to go through with it. That is after he had already said "I'll take it" the day before.

Courtesy and communication is everything.

In his case i would've told him he had already committed with the "I'll take it" and "mulling it over" was not even on the table. All mulling should be done before committing to the sale.
I would've then told him to mull over the fact that he snoozed and lost and relisted it for sale.

Now if someone had a legitimate reason for the lack of communcation, i might oblige and be understanding.
IMHO, if you have time to post "i'll take it', you have time to complete the transaction in a timely manner.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Mulling it over is proof positive of a lack of seriousness. I would not deal with an unreliable person. I would refuse/return his payment and put him on my personal blacklist.

Too much of a chance when he gets the knife he decides he doesn't really want it and returns it. Might even open a PayPal dispute. Ties up your money and your knife. Might return it scuffed, screws stripped, whatever.

I'm not guessing. We've seen it all. He wasn't "mulling it over". He was shopping for a better price. You deserve better.

 

[BP Green]

Mulling it over is proof positive of a lack of seriousness. I would not deal with an unreliable person. I would refuse/return his payment and put him on my personal blacklist.

Too much of a chance when he gets the knife he decides he doesn't really want it and returns it. Might even open a PayPal dispute. Ties up your money and your knife. Might return it scuffed, screws stripped, whatever.

I'm not guessing. We've seen it all. He wasn't "mulling it over". He was shopping for a better price. You deserve better.

That's an excellent point Esav, thank you. . .

Thanks to all of you for your input.

BPG

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

..........
IMHO, if you have time to post "i'll take it', you have time to complete the transaction in a timely manner.

I'm going to disagree with you on that one. Any number of things can happen. In my knife-buying time here I've had my internet connection drop for hours or even a day or 2 with no warning, had to go to bed because it was late and the seller was slow to respond with thier pp addy, gotten a call in the office and had to go take care of something, realized the DFAC was about to close and I needed to get something to eat, etc. I've had everything I've listed here happen, plus a few other things that kept me from paying right away, but I've always followed through. And I have yet ro return a knife or jerk a seller around. If I say I'll take it, I'm there to buy it.

 

[Danbo]

Yep, crap happens sometimes. Internet can go out at home, etc... But, like already mentioned, if you say you'll take it, the time to mull it over is done. BTW, if my home internet went out, I'd still find some way to keep in contact with the seller of an item I committed to buy. I'd borrow a friend's computer; whatever it took to let the seller know I'm being delayed. No way, would I let a couple of days go by, without contacting the seller. Communication is everything. You only have one reputation.

 

[VCM3]

If I gotta run out,I always state it. I give an estimate on timing for comm.'s. I'll give a heads up if I have stormy weather or any reason my service may go down.
I hate it,when the other end can't figure out to do that.But in the end,I've never really had a bad deal on the internet.

 

[cziv]

I've had a few sales threads ruined by yo-yos that said they'd take it and then either didn't get back to me, started shooting me low ball offers or that they decided not to buy the knife.

I've noticed this in the last year or so, more than any time previously. I guess that's why guys put "serious buyers only" and other caveats on their threads.

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

Yep, crap happens sometimes. Internet can go out at home, etc... But, like already mentioned, if you say you'll take it, the time to mull it over is done. BTW, if my home internet went out, I'd still find some way to keep in contact with the seller of an item I committed to buy. I'd borrow a friend's computer; whatever it took to let the seller know I'm being delayed. No way, would I let a couple of days go by, without contacting the seller. Communication is everything. You only have one reputation.

At home, yes. But we don't exactly have a choice of ISP's here like in the States. If it goes down or we have a comms blackout we're off until it's over. I had one instance where I was offline for 36+ hours with no way at all to contact the seller. Lucky for me, he knew I don't jerk sellers around.

If I gotta run out,I always state it. I give an estimate on timing for comm.'s. I'll give a heads up if I have stormy weather or any reason my service may go down.
I hate it,when the other end can't figure out to do that.But in the end,I've never really had a bad deal on the internet.

That's always good to do if you know, I do the same. I've been lucky also, other than on fleabay I've never been really ripped off. Sure hope it stays that way!

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

I've had a few sales threads ruined by yo-yos that said they'd take it and then either didn't get back to me, started shooting me low ball offers or that they decided not to buy the knife.

I've noticed this in the last year or so, more than any time previously. I guess that's why guys put "serious buyers only" and other caveats on their threads.

Those guys piss off buyers like me too. Not only do they make you sellers leery of someone like me who's on an unrelaible internet connection, but I remember one instance where I knife I'd have loved to buy had an "I'll take it" already posted. I should have posted a "Seconds", but didn't, and someone else got the knife when the buyer flaked.

 

[Steven65]

At home, yes. But we don't exactly have a choice of ISP's here like in the States. If it goes down or we have a comms blackout we're off until it's over. I had one instance where I was offline for 36+ hours with no way at all to contact the seller. Lucky for me, he knew I don't jerk sellers around.

If you tell the seller where you are and that you might have a delay in replying........and he still gives you a hard time. I hope you open a GBU thread because he deserves a kick in the nuts!
There is no doubt that in your case any seller should be a little flexible insofar as immediate reply's are concerned.

When I agree to buy something I always state "Payment within 8 hours because of the time change."
Inevitably I pay far quicker but I always cover myself.

Generally I check BF around 22h00-24h00 my time which is the late afternoon in the States. If the seller gets back to me at night, US time, it is the wee small hours here and I am in club duvet.

I place great stock in feedback. I think 12 hours is a suitable time to wait for payment. After that cancel the deal and move on.

 

[JC in SC]

To me, barring extreme circumstances, a few hours should be sufficient to pay for an "I'll take it!". If not, the buyer should include in their communication that payment will follow within a certain time frame. When I'm buying a knife, I try to pay as quickly as possible in order to ensure that I don't lose the knife to someone else who is just as eager to buy it as I am.

Here is another somewhat related topic that I've been pondering lately on which I would like to get a general consensus. Is "will you take <insert your asking price minus some percentage here>" an offer to buy a knife you have listed? A while back I listed a custom knife from my collection (i.e. not one I made). The following morning I get a PM asking if I would take a lesser amount. Since it hadn't sold, I was already thinking of lowering the price, so I responded a short time later that I would and included my PayPal address. I got no immediate response even though the individual remained on the forums for a while before being offline for about 24 hours. I considered dropping the price in the thread since I got no response; however, at this point I felt like we had theoretically entered into an agreement for this person to buy the knife. I was concerned that if I lowered the price in the thread and subsequently sold the knife to someone else, the other individual would be upset and argue we already had an agreement. After my listing had fallen off the first, and I believe the second page, the person responded that they were going to pass on the knife, which is fine. I just wish that decision had been made prior to making what I consider to be an offer. In the future, I plan to respond to such requests, assuming the price is agreeable, with an indication that I would accept the offer assuming that the offer is genuine and that payment or arrangements otherwise are made immediately. Otherwise, I do not accept the offer and the item will remain available to other buyers.

 

[wolfmann601]

I am only concerned with the words "I'll take it" if communication about payment takes a day or so I can live with that. I
Am very quick to communicate and very quick to make payment arrangements but I know not everyone else is. If I hear nothing for a few days I begin to wear thin however.......

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

.................... In the future, I plan to respond to such requests, assuming the price is agreeable, with an indication that I would accept the offer assuming that the offer is genuine and that payment or arrangements otherwise are made immediately. Otherwise, I do not accept the offer and the item will remain available to other buyers.

How long do you plan to allow the person to get back online? I know when I've emailed an offer I'm almost always asleep when I get the answer back because of the time zone differences.

 

[JC in SC]

It would probably depend on the context of the offer, the location of the buyer and whether or not they remain active on BF for hours after I've responded. Prior to this incident, I have waited until hearing back. In this case, the prospective buyer is in the same time zone as I am. That is why I was asking whether or not this is generally considered an offer to buy or merely a feeler on would the seller accept less than asking. I've always made these types of offers with the intent of purchasing immediately upon acceptance from the seller.

 

[Lone_Wolfe]

It would probably depend on the context of the offer, the location of the buyer and whether or not they remain active on BF for hours after I've responded. Prior to this incident, I have waited until hearing back. In this case, the prospective buyer is in the same time zone as I am. That is why I was asking whether or not this is generally considered an offer to buy or merely a feeler on would the seller accept less than asking. I've always made these types of offers with the intent of purchasing immediately upon acceptance from the seller.

I completely agree with you on expecting them to respond if they're active on here, there's no reason for them not to. I've had at least one seller not respond to my "I'll take it" post and email for hours while they were still posting and I really thought about retracting because it made me doubt sincerity. I also only make offers or post "I'll take it" if I'm ready to buy the knife, and consider any offer I make to be an "I'll take it if you agree to my offer".

 

[JC in SC]

It is kinda funny actually because there has been a split amongst those I've shared the story with. A little over half think it is an offer. The others merely think it is an inquiry about price without any implication of intent to actually purchase.