Seller changed mind

[Specmaster]

I have never experienced this before, last night, I was on the verge of sending a seller payment via PayPal after agreeing to buy a HP 50g from them, when at the last minute while trying to confirm that the details were correct, they changed their mind and decided to keep it after all , I mean WTF, why bother to list is for sale then

[mnementh]

seller's remorse/buyer's remorse are part of the ecology of online auctioneering. Just look at it as a matter of "he didn't get his no qualms price for it" and move on.

mnem
"We all take our turn bein' da assh'o. Tomorrow might be yours." ~grand-dad

[tggzzz]

How about he saw you being very interested in the details of his worthless bauble, and he decided to work out how much to (over)charge?

[Specmaster]

No, I have since discovered what happened, I stumbled across the listing on Facebook marketplace, only been listed for a couple of hours and was listed for just £10 plus postage @£4. I asked if it was still for sale, seller confirmed it was and so, being cautious I replied and asked if he had a Paypal address, he gave that address. I was thinking this was too good to be true, so I replied that I would sent him the asking price + the postage of £4 via PayPal and said that I'd pay £15, that being £10 for the calculator, £4 postage and £1 to cover PayPal fees as a business transaction so it would provide protection without costing him anything. That was when he said he was keeping it.

As Amazon were selling the same model 2nd hand for £199.98 I did wonder if it was wrongly listed, hence why I moved quickly in case it was genuine, and as I also thought it was too good to be true, I listed the amount I was sending him and broke it down for him, in order determine if it was true or not. I expected him to say that he had made an error in the listing.

Later on I discovered on Gumtree, the same calculator, the same photos, and the same location and the same seller but this time it was priced at £120, and that listing was also a new one, listed only yesterday.

You win some and lose some, so I'm disappointed, but sort of half expected it.

[tggzzz]

I've never used Farcebook marketplace, for several reasons. If I used it then I would want to go and see it and pay in person. Ditto gumtree.

Having said that, I did buy an Apple fat Mac on gumtree, persuaded the seller to pack it well, and ship it. We had sensible conversations, and I even paid him more than he was asking for the shipping. All went well

[Specmaster]

I have had some pretty good deals on both platforms before, but you have to be prepared to wait a long time for a good one and then strike quickly before anyone else does. I once got a Fluke 8840A on Facebook marketplace for only £25, it had a rather VFD display, but it was useable, lasted me for a while until I got from the states that was perfect at a good price. Flipped the old one for almost as much as I paid for the replacement one.

[Zenith]

Expect to come across some nutters on fleabay.

Years back a UK based friend won the auction on a model train in the USA for $20 or so. He had bought many such items. A lot came to my address because by then he was living in France. He explained to the seller how it should be packed and was wiling to pay the extra.

There came back a very snotty reply from the seller about how it was his auction and he wasn't about to be dictated to. In the end my friend decided that the seller wasn't rational and let him keep the $20, rather than risk an ebay dispute which might sully his reputation as a buyer. He thought the seller was likely suffering mental illness or was booze addled.

Questions occur:

Was this a give away price, or was it about what you'd expect to pay if you watched fleabay for a month or two?

What was the seller's history? How many sales over how long, and what were their ratings?

Then there are other things that might factor. He was skint, he decided he had to part with this prized possession for cash, and at the last minute he came into some loot; Premium Bonds win, rich relative died and remembered him in his will etc.

I'm inclined to the nutter theory, or possibly the seedy/sharp, but not very clever theory.

[Specmaster]

Expect to come across some nutters on fleabay.

Years back a UK based friend won the auction on a model train in the USA for $20 or so. He had bought many such items. A lot came to my address because by then he was living in France. He explained to the seller how it should be packed and was wiling to pay the extra.

There came back a very snotty reply from the seller about how it was his auction and he wasn't about to be dictated to. In the end my friend decided that the seller wasn't rational and let him keep the $20, rather than risk an ebay dispute which might sully his reputation as a buyer. He thought the seller was likely suffering mental illness or was booze addled.

Questions occur:

Was this a give away price, or was it about what you'd expect to pay if you watched fleabay for a month or two?

What was the seller's history? How many sales over how long, and what were their ratings?

Then there are other things that might factor. He was skint, he decided he had to part with this prized possession for cash, and at the last minute he came into some loot; Premium Bonds win, rich relative died and remembered him in his will etc.

I'm inclined to the nutter theory, or possibly the seedy/sharp, but not very clever theory.

No, it wasn't fleabay, see my earlier post for the real reason, I suspected at the time of going through the buying process that things weren't right, then I found the same thing, photos and seller on another platform with it listed at £120. I'd rather that the seller came clean and said that it was wrongly priced than pretend that he was keeping it.