Why so many flaky buyers?

robbobus said:
I've been wondering about this for a while. Someone puts a knife up for sale, someone else says they'll buy and then a few hours, days, whatever, the knife is back up for sale. I haven't seen this with other goods, only knives. What is it with some of these guys where they say they will buy, then don't. They should be banned from the sales boards, it just ruins peoples sales/purchases.
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I've bought and sold quite a few knives here and found that the regular posters are a great bunch of folks. They share a common interest and if I might generalize, they seem to share some similar values and standards. Most folks place some value in doing what they say and in doing what they think is right.

I have run into some flakes, but that is mostly from relative newcomers that usually give me a sense of being relatively young, a little cash poor, and a little irresponsible. (That makes ME sound old, but I'm not really...)

I can tell you that this community is far better than the crazies that populate Ebay sometimes. I also think some of the flakiness comes from the Internet as a barrier. I've sold a handful of things on Craigslist and the people I've met are almost universally very nice in person.
 
I think it's simpler than that. People are hurting for money. At first you go "oh I can stomach that" and then an hour later realize that you should really spend the money on something else. Simple as that.
 
People are hurting for self-control.

I do a lot of my buying late at night. I browse tempting websites, work up wish lists, edit them down to what I was really looking for -- and then either delete everything or decide to buy one or two items.

On BF, I may subscribe to an offered item and hope someone else does buy it. :)

The point is, I do this when it's quiet, I'm not focused on anything else, and I'm under no pressure or temptation to think "I REALLY NEED ... "
 
FriskyDingo said:
I think it's simpler than that. People are hurting for money. At first you go "oh I can stomach that" and then an hour later realize that you should really spend the money on something else. Simple as that.
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Like Esav said, self control is required of all mature buyers and it is important to display that self control at all times.

Not everyone is hurting for money and those that are should be thinking long and hard before ever considering making any purchase.

It has all to do with the very small percentage of immature buyers.

BUT stuff does happen and there are times when something happens that requires one back out of a deal. Luckily, this is the exception and not the norm and thats why when it does happen it is understandable................
 
I haven't ran into any "flaky buyers" or traders either here at BF.
I've ran into a few that were a bit hard to trade with, meaning it took them a long time and they wanted a lot of pictures before they committed. But, they never said they'd trade for fact and backed out.
I've passed up a few knives here I wished I could have bought, but at the moment they was offered my money was tied up elsewhere. I'd never commit to buy from anyone if I couldn't pay right away. I think the vast majority here feels exactly the same.
 
I replied to a post on the exchange right here on BF and the "seller" sent me back....." I really don't want to sell this knife, I was just wanting to see what interest there is for it".....????????

Kidz will be kidz....
 
ray ban said:
I replied to a post on the exchange right here on BF and the "seller" sent me back....." I really don't want to sell this knife, I was just wanting to see what interest there is for it".....????????

Kidz will be kidz....
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With some of the prices people put on a knife I think a lot are just doing that.
Or, you try to trade with them and they want you to up stuff worth double theirs is. Then there's the infamous I want something really expensive so I'll trade you 15 cheapies for yours...:D
 
What I've seen several times lately is people saying "I'll take it" in the thread, then wanting to chisel down the price. Or my latest, a person claims it for the stated "shipped" price, then wants me to upgrade shipping on my dime. When I invite them to add funds to the total payment so I can ship it to them faster, I never hear from them again.
I really need to be more firm on my rules list in my For Sale posts, but definately seeing more ballsy requests and out-and-out rudeness in the selling area in the last year.
 
I guess there is a few flakes here. I've just not dealt with them, I tend to be able to avoid getting in too deep with them from the start.
 
One needs to negotiate BEFORE uttering the magic words 'I'll take it" and not after!!!!
 
I've been here a while and done hundreds of transactions and can probably count the flaky ones on one hand. That's one of the things I love about BF. If you want a good laugh check out some forums dedicated to other pursuits - you will then appreciate how good we have it here. I bought a Subaru WRX a few years back and started hanging out at the largest Subaru Impreza forum. I was shocked to see that half (or more) of the For Sale posts I read had an "I'll take it" followed by a "still for sale" bump, some multiple times. The really sad thing is, no one there seems to mind, it appears to be normal and tolerated. Maybe it's a generational thing that's creeping over to BF?


comoha said:
What I've seen several times lately is people saying "I'll take it" in the thread, then wanting to chisel down the price. Or my latest, a person claims it for the stated "shipped" price, then wants me to upgrade shipping on my dime. When I invite them to add funds to the total payment so I can ship it to them faster, I never hear from them again.
I really need to be more firm on my rules list in my For Sale posts, but definately seeing more ballsy requests and out-and-out rudeness in the selling area in the last year.
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Not to sidetrack things, but this is exactly why I do all transaction by e-mail or PM. Once you allow public postings to determine how your sale goes, you have lost control over your own thread.
 
I found one - well my knife dealer did on Ebay.
But he turned and attacks me.......:eek::confused:
He is not a member of this forum, but the nut sure let me have it on a few other forums. - :rolleyes:

What a crazy nut?

Crazy! - Crazy! - Crazy!


TA



.
 
Klesk, one reason you don't get many flakes may also be the professionalism of your sales threads. You give us a lot of good information with pictures. That cuts down on misunderstanding before it starts.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Klesk, one reason you don't get many flakes may also be the professionalism of your sales threads. You give us a lot of good information with pictures. That cuts down on misunderstanding before it starts.
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Wow, thanks for the props... where is the "blushing" smilie? I'm just an old-school, golden rule kind of person and I try to do what I expect out of others.
 
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