Having manners in transactions

I sent a similar message to someone in a private message but thought it was good enough that it should be in the open forum.

@toughasnails . Blair if you want to move this, go ahead. I understand.

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Sellers sell things at what price THEY want and WHERE they want to sell it.
It is the SELLERS choice not the buyers.
The BUYER is the one who MUST adjust and pay at what the SELLER wants and pay the way the SELLER wants.
The SELLER is in charge and not the BUYER.
The buyer can POLITELY request a lower price or if the seller would accept a different kind of payment.
That is negotiation.

Manners go a long way in a transaction. If we lack manners and offend the other party in a possible transaction, WE lose because the other party walks away from it all. We lose a sale or a good price on an item we desire, depending on if we are a buyer or seller.

If you want the "imagined" security of Ebay, you will pay the higher prices and risk getting incomplete or broken items. I have purchased thousands of items on and off ebay. Paid and got paid by paypal, credit card, personal check, and money order. I have been cheated on ebay 100 times more than by any other shopping method. Toughbooks are especially tricky to buy from clueless sellers on ebay. They think they are the same as a Dell.
Wait until you get burned by buying an ex Air Force Toughbook with 1/4 inch loctite ON EVERY FREAKIN SCREW. 4 hours or more to clean it off and get the laptop open. Ebay doesn't look so good after that.

FYI
Once a buyer has irritated me, I have walked away and thrown the item in the trash rather than sell it to someone who was rude or demanding to me. My dignity and self respect is worth way more than a few dollars from a sale.

 

@Shawn ....very well put and so true. Those reasons and my health is why I stopped selling Toughbook parts.

 

I feel your pain Shawn. Selling is my biggest gripe. I have only sold a few things, maybe a dozen. eBay sides with unscrupulous buyers every time! There is absolutely no protection for sellers. All the buyer has to do is say, "not as described". eBay does not even ask for proof that item is "not as described". They just remove money from my account! When buyer failed to return the item after receiving refund, the buyer got to keep the item and my money. eBay is able to remove money from my account, but apparently not from dishonest buyer's account. My solution is to dump eBay! Don't buy or sell with them!

 

I do buy from ebay a good bit. But I attempt to read the ads very carefully and usually I am willing to take a slight gamble. 95% of the time "UNTESTED" in an ad translates into "It's junk and good for parts" In laptops "Missing power supply" can translate into "It won't boot so I will unload it to some idiot by claiming missing power supply"

Recently bought a Nikon lens from a known dealer via ebay. While "technically" their ad was truthful, it left out information that was important. They said tested and fully functional. OK if you don't mind tight spots and a good bit of strength to twist the manual focus. (dented ring)I kept the lens and repaired it myself. Not worth the stress to fight over it. But if I would have known the truth ahead of time, I could have chosen a perfectly working lens for $80 more from a different vendor.

I have avoided selling on ebay for the reasons you stated. In a "forum" direct transaction, we get a decent idea about the buyer or seller before the final transaction. This happens with the back and forth messages.
Ebay /Amazon can be difficult for buyers and sellers as there are many "shady" characters in both camps.

 

I've done this many times. Even sold at a lower price than the buyers that I simply didn't trust.

Also had interested buyers demand free shipping or lower prices, and eventually I stop responding to them. Then they get even more upset and call me a scammer. Shoot, if buyers knew how fair I am and how I'm not out to make any profit, and will go super far to make sure they are happy, they would be begging me to sell them my stuff. Oh well.

 

At the beginning of this year a fella come and deliver some wood paneling for my sister. He saw a classic old 1952 Holden (General Motors Holden Australia) I have and started on at me so I said take a look at it. He asked if it was for sale and I said if a serious and worthwhile offer is made everything is for sale. He offered me $350 and I said no, go home do some research and think about it some more. He went home and within 1/2 an hour he offered me $500 for it. I said no again go and do some research.

I hopped on ebay and Gumtree and found others that were going for $5000. I texted him with links and said because you won't do your research I have done it for you. He eventually offered me $2000. For the next month he kept sending me messages asking me questions about what he could do with it. I told him to do his research, see an engineer, talk to the registration authorities etc etc etc. He didn't do any of it until 3 days before pick up. He come back to me and asked me about ID plates, I told him I have them but the car has no chassis number as it was a drag car (I had already told him this when he 1st looked at it). He then told me he asked an engineer who said I had to do a few things for the sale. I knew this was incorrect so i told him what the law was, gave him links to the registration authorities, and how I would do it. For the next 2 days he kept sending me texts telling me what to do. At 11pm the day before pickup I called it all off and told him I was not willing to break the law for him. I told him $2000 was not worth loosing my professional license for and I didn't want to hear from him again. He replied, even after I said not to, that I was a very difficult person to deal with and that he was very angry with me but he would delete my number and messages from his phone. If he deleted them or not I don't know, I still have his.

Some people have this idea they are entitled, it doesn't wash with me. If I own something it is mine. If someone else has something I want it is theirs and they can do with it what they like, if i get it it is because the owner and I come to an agreement, if I miss out I keep looking.

 

Great story Michael.

 

Right on Shawn. Very well put. The points in your post are reasons why I do not sell, and very seldom buy on eBay. I have bought mostly from forum members and have not been disappointed.

Been awhile since I had regular internet access without walking for 2 hrs. Made the mistake of taking my X301 ThinkPad instead of a TB one morning. It was -30 with a lite 6mph breeze and by the time I got to where I accessed the internet from, the X301 would not work. Never had problems when I humped a TB to the access, even on colder days. Goes to show that the easy way seldom pans out as planned. No pain, no gain, eh?

I like your avatar. I will never come close to 'Search Ninja' status but have always been an 'Options Whore'. Glad to see you are still alive and kicking.

 

I admit, I like Ebay for some things. Generally small cheap stuff from China or brand new things for 'water' distillation etc...

I also agree with the BS and disrespect going on with people. It seems that on Craigslist/Facebook/Et Al, you list Item QWERTY for $X and get immediate responses of 'Will you take 1/2$X ??'.. No questions about QWERTY or anything, just 'Will you take half??' That kind of stuff is why I tend to sell in waves LOL

BTW< I still have a few 31W's I listed last year...> LOL