Saying "I'll take it" and not paying

rockgolfer said:
Appreciate all the feedback everyone. Guess I'll have to adopt some new verbiage into my future sale threads. Thanks
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This is a great approach. As a buyer (only a couple times here with great sellers, but elsewhere too), I do not expect that the item is mine just because I post that "I'll take it". Your verbiage tells me what to do, but also protects your interest in the sale. If your instructions are clear and I do not follow them for any reason, you're justified in selling to someone else.

I dont know about the feedback part, good question for others. Maybe just report privately, so mods can determine if there is a trend or legitimate issue. There may be unavoidable reasons - maybe an emergency or internet issue, but feedback may lead to a lot of bickering and excuses from lousy buyers who have not fulfilled their obligation and been disrespectful to the seller. As much as I may want to identify this for the benefit of others, it could lead to a bunch of BS for you and mods. I'd just want to sell a knife and move on.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Rockgolfer, I'll take it. I'll just let you know in advance. I don't have an email. No phone number, my PayPal has been disabled. I'm on the government no fly list, and have been trespassed from all mailing locations within 900 miles, and I've been selected to fly to Mars, tomorrow..... On a one way mission.......

Is that knife still available? Because I posted "I'll take it." On 4 other knives that are the same, and I have questions about all of them...... Like what is the blade steel???......Are they good for self defense???........Do these handle scales make me look fat?????

Also, now that I've indicated I'm passingly interested in the knife (well, at least mildly curious) and sabotaging your sales thread, would you take 1/10th your asking price if I tell you a sad story about my cat's health?

On a side note, I had a member with no feed back and no PayPal ask me to hold a knife till he got paid.......

I indicated I would. Held it for a month. He contacted and said the USPS money order was enroute. I told him great, I'll let you know as soon as payment arrives. I got another email asking where the knife was (after a week). I told him no money order no mailing the knife. Eventually, when he realized I was not going to run out and mail because he assured me the money was on its way, he blamed the "old lady" for not mailing the money order. I did get the money order, two weeks later, and sent the knife. It was a disaster, but I was honestly surprised the money order came, and was legit.

I was pretty annoyed he did not leave me any feedback...
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:thumbup: This is awesome, thank you!
 
rockgolfer said:
Appreciate all the feedback everyone. Guess I'll have to adopt some new verbiage into my future sale threads. Thanks
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Jeff, Try this it usually works well for me. Here is my verbiage:

1st "I will take it will have the opportunity to purchase this knife" It must be immediately followed up for my paypal address and completion of payment. Failure to follow up promptly will be at my discretion and offered to the next in line. Thanks for understanding!
 
For my sale ads on Gunbroker, I include wording along the lines that payment (& signed FFL copy) must be received within 10 business days of auction close. That just makes things nice & clear.

If somebody says "I'll take it", then they apparently drop off the earth (while still active on BF), that should count as a ding against their feedback.
 
Used to be that when someone wrote me saying "I would like to buy..." or "I would like to place an order for..." or something along those lines, I could start boxing up the order because I would almost always receive the payment. Often times I sent out the order if they had included their shipping info or if it was a returning customer before the payment had arrived because I could be sure the money would come.

Those days are long gone.

Now, if half the people ever pay or even send another email, I'm lucky. I waste a lot of time with people who place orders and never pay. A lot of time.

Once and a while I get an email back saying, sorry, something else came up and I have to wait, etc. OK, I understand that and I appreciate it if folks let me know.

But I think that now that *everyone on the planet* is online and online orders are changing the face of retail, lots of folks spend their time online browsing everything possible and placing orders they can never pay for and maybe even never intend to pay for. I suspect, honestly, that some of these customers may have had a few drinks too.

It makes it tough for small one man band businesses like mine, who have a limited number of hours to handle online correspondence...
 
rockgolfer said:
It is frustrating having buyers Mark a knife as sold and then make no attempt to pay even within 24 hours. Is this a good reason to leave negative feedback? In my case the person has been on here since, responded to a visitor message with nothing pertinent and never sent an email or added any info towards the info of purchasing said knife.

The issue for me is wasted time, loss of exposure on the top page and just down right not professional. It's annoying to say the least.
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Itrader feedback is only to be left when a transaction takes place, no deal no feedback mark.
I agree that tire kickers are some of the worst wastes of time we have to deal with, that is along with the chatterbugs, people that list their items incorrectly, or the remorseful/angry wife buyer.

You have the right to sell to whomever you like, that means that you can also refuse to sell to a person if you are not comfortable with their behavior. So, when someone says "I'll take it", before you respond to that comment, check that persons posts to see if they are known for keeping their word or if they have a history of flakey behavior.

When I was buying and selling, I would include a simple line in my sales posts; The item will remain available until funds are received, or the next in line gets a chance. Basically that means just because you say you want the knife doesn't mean you have it.
 
I had a retail antiques business for a long time. Unless I was dealing with a reliable long time customer, an item was sold to the first person I was dealing with. That means you have the opportunity to purchase as long as we are negotiating. Once the process reaches the point of saying I'll take it and money doesn't change hands you've lost first dibs. Money talks, etc.
 
I buy from our exchange but don't sell. This is from Spark's exchange rules announcement: "Malicious Buyers will be permanently banned from the forums. Repeatedly flaking on deals and buying items only to turn around and complain is also not a good idea. Don't waste our time." In B&W. If this was happening to me I'd PM the mod and ask them to apply this rule.

That said there's the flip side of the coin, sellers not selling to the first respondent, but picking someone they like better for whatever reason who comes after. Hasn't happened to me but I've seen the posts. Disclaimers reserving the right to sell to whomever one wishes notwithstanding, my money's as good as the next guy's and first come first served should rule IMO.
 
Bugdoc said:
I buy from our exchange but don't sell. This is from Spark's exchange rules announcement: "Malicious Buyers will be permanently banned from the forums. Repeatedly flaking on deals and buying items only to turn around and complain is also not a good idea. Don't waste our time." In B&W. If this was happening to me I'd PM the mod and ask them to apply this rule.

That said there's the flip side of the coin, sellers not selling to the first respondent, but picking someone they like better for whatever reason who comes after. Hasn't happened to me but I've seen the posts. Disclaimers reserving the right to sell to whomever one wishes notwithstanding, my money's as good as the next guy's and first come first served should rule IMO.
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It is not about "picking someone they like better for whatever reason who comes after". It is about not having to sell to someone you may be uncomfortable about. For whatever reason.
I might add that I don't see that happen, if ever.
Sellers transaction =sellers rules. If you dont like it, move on to one you do like the terms of.:thumbup:
 
I think communication is partially the answer here. I've been at work and said "I'll take it, but will pay when I get home in a few hours" if that's ok. That worked out fine for both of us, but if seller wanted earlier payment, I was fine missing out.
 
ndmiller said:
I think communication is partially the answer here. I've been at work and said "I'll take it, but will pay when I get home in a few hours" if that's ok. That worked out fine for both of us, but if seller wanted earlier payment, I was fine missing out.
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Done this a couple times also.......BUT I let the seller know immediately!
Communication is key.
Joe
 
Ramrodmb said:
It is not about "picking someone they like better for whatever reason who comes after". It is about not having to sell to someone you may be uncomfortable about. For whatever reason.
I might add that I don't see that happen, if ever.
Sellers transaction =sellers rules. If you dont like it, move on to one you do like the terms of.:thumbup:
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Yes, after thinking on it some more I agree with you. I stick with the first part of my statement, turn 'em in. Thanks for enlightening me.
 
Just bought a knife off the Exchange. Wasn't planning to and didn't have enough in the acct. I let the seller know I'd pay within the hour. Had to deposit funds.
He was fine with it and the deal went perfectly........comms are key!!
Joe
 
palonej said:
Just bought a knife off the Exchange. Wasn't planning to and didn't have enough in the acct. I let the seller know I'd pay within the hour. Had to deposit funds.
He was fine with it and the deal went perfectly........comms are key!!
Joe
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Totally agree...good comms are important and help the deal go smoothly...on both ends :)
 
palonej said:
Just bought a knife off the Exchange. Wasn't planning to and didn't have enough in the acct. I let the seller know I'd pay within the hour. Had to deposit funds.
He was fine with it and the deal went perfectly........comms are key!!
Joe
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Did you get in on one of those HK autos, Joe?

I have my PP act linked to my debit card so I don't have to worry about transferring funds and can move on a knife like lightning. Maybe thats why I have so little money and so many damn knives! :grumpy:
 
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You know me too well Steve!!! Yup!!! And what an absolute gentleman Johnny was to deal with!! Great guy!
 
rockgolfer said:
It is frustrating having buyers Mark a knife as sold and then make no attempt to pay even within 24 hours. Is this a good reason to leave negative feedback? In my case the person has been on here since, responded to a visitor message with nothing pertinent and never sent an email or added any info towards the info of purchasing said knife.

The issue for me is wasted time, loss of exposure on the top page and just down right not professional. It's annoying to say the least.
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I hear you I can totally relate. In just the past two weeks, I had three buyers flake out. One guy said "I'll take it" and then a few hours later, before I even got back to him, he was arranging deals with another seller and said "oh sorry I got it elsewhere." This was a registered user.

The second guy said he'll take it but then for three days made absolutely zero attempt to get in contact with me, I left him messages but after three days I move on. Also a registered user.

But the last guy was the real icing on the cake this weekend, a Gold member. He dug me up out of the blue about my old sales thread asking if it was too late or if my knife was still available. He said he'd take it & even arranged a day that he would go get the money order & mail it out to me. I told him to PM me to confirm once it's mailed.

Two days later, still nothing, so I PM'd him to check in. Still nothing. Then I get a PM me much later making excuses about issues with malfunctioning PM's and money, etc... Basically he changed his mind and didn't have the common decency or maturity to just come clean and say it.

He was all over the Exchange the night I PM'd him - he was selling, and mostly buying a LOT of things, PM'ing people, etc...I mean it was blatantly obvious he had plenty of funds and PM's were fine. He just ignored mine. It's an insult to lie and waste my time like that when you know I can see your activity on the exchange.

Now because I had the courtesy to honor this first buyer, I ended up losing the money because I turned away another buyer who was ready to go right away. That's what I get for doing business properly, I guess.

I don't leave bad feedback for things like that though, that's just not how the feedback/iTrader works. However, there should absolutely be some kind of relevant consequence for this behavior. You lose business and potential buyers when you waste time with people like this. They shouldn't be allowed to do that and just walk away clean. This guy wasted three & a half days and two deals ruined in between.

I would never even dream of behaving in this manner. If I want something, I never say "I'll take it" unless I'm 100% sure and I have the funds ready to go in my hand. I immediately contact the seller and I stay in touch with them throughout the entire process until both ends have what they need. I deal with a certain level of respect and professionalism and all I ask in return is the same mature & courteous way of doing business. But I guess that's too much to ask for a lot of people.
 
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