Thread: "Buy it now" button, question and civility

Originally Posted by Paddington

It’s interesting that you raised this issue Joel; I had a similar experience a few weeks ago. I purchased two razors using the ‘buy it now’ button and everything went swimmingly. A little while later I got an email from the seller saying that though my payment had gone through I was three seconds too late; someone had already purchased the razor. Though I was annoyed for a few minutes – mostly because my computer had frozen for a few seconds causing a delay of the PayPal payment – I soon moved on.


My point is that there will always be glitches, but thankfully they are usually few and far between. It’s just a shame that someone else had their beady eye on that beautiful Butcher, Lol.


P.s. Joel, you were the lucky git who had fingers three seconds faster than mine!

Hi Paddington,

Sorry bro... didn't know you were fishing the same razor (at least you had one... ;-) I guess it is the Greaves that you won, but the Eyre that you didn't, isn't it?)

But this is not the issue I am raising here. The experience is not similar: I was just faster to hit the magic button... but I also looked - before hitting the button - that nobody wrote in the comment that he was sending a PM for question - in that case I wouldn't have hit the BIN button. It is the same game that if there were not BIN button and we had to write in the comment section of the add that we are interested.

My question addresses, and it is the last time I am boring you all with this issue, the precise situation when somebody is willing to buy but needs to ask a question first.
This is why I am asking for a change (no BIN) or a better clear policy of what to do for the seller and the buyer in a similar case.

Sorry to have bothered you all with this... maybe I should have simply wrote a PM to a Mod...

I just wanted to say again, this razor has been offered in the classifieds here at SRP for over 4 weeks in the past 2 months and I did answer many questions and PM's regarding the razor, it's condition etc....The W&B sale threads alone had over 3000 views between the couple sale thread I listed it in.....The first sale thread was deleted during system maintenance and I had to re-list it......

Also, I had a lot of questions on the Chandler I recently sold, and the Mastro Livi I have for sale....I try and answer all questions as they are received and provide lots of photos and a description of the items being offered with my selling terms......I do think others do the same and haven't really heard of any problems with the system as it is.

Neale, there is really nothing wrong with your add, your sale, or the way you answered questions via PM or the way you handle our business. As I said I am not here to complain about you, or the way our transaction went; I was very happy with the way you kindly wrote to me to explain the situation and the solution you chose; I respect your decision. I just used this story to illustrate a problem I haven't thought off before, which is more GENERAL: what with people with questions. That's all. I beg you not to take this personally; you did nothing wrong. If in my presentation of the story you felt insulted, or your words bent, please do accept my apologises. It wasn't at all my intention.

Haha, it's fine; I have found some nice razors since then to help with the trauma!

However, you misunderstand my point -- probably because I didn't state it very well. I am just saying that there are glitches and always will be. Yes, we should minimize them; however, in my opinion the current system works.

I love the thrill of the hunt; though I often miss the kill.

Originally Posted by Ockham

Originally Posted by Padron

I just wanted to say again, this razor has been offered in the classifieds here at SRP for over 4 weeks in the past 2 months and I did answer many questions and PM's regarding the razor, it's condition etc....The W&B sale threads alone had over 3000 views between the couple sale thread I listed it in.....The first sale thread was deleted during system maintenance and I had to re-list it......

Also, I had a lot of questions on the Chandler I recently sold, and the Mastro Livi I have for sale....I try and answer all questions as they are received and provide lots of photos and a description of the items being offered with my selling terms......I do think others do the same and haven't really heard of any problems with the system as it is.

Neale, there is really nothing wrong with your add, your sale, or the way you answered questions via PM or the way you handle our business. As I said I am not here to complain about you, or the way our transaction went; I was very happy with the way you kindly wrote to me to explain the situation and the solution you chose; I respect your decision. I just used this story to illustrate a problem I haven't thought off before, which is more GENERAL: what with people with questions. That's all. I beg you not to take this personally; you did nothing wrong. If in my presentation of the story you felt insulted, or your words bent, please do accept my apologises. It wasn't at all my intention.

Thanks Joel,

Very glad to hear you are happy with our communications and the way everything was handled.

Sorry it didn't work out on the sale. Good thing is, these large choppers aren't really in short supply......there is a 8/8 Wostenholm in the classifieds now that has a lot of potential.

Best,


Neale

Originally Posted by Ockham

My question addresses, and it is the last time I am boring you all with this issue, the precise situation when somebody is willing to buy but needs to ask a question first.
This is why I am asking for a change (no BIN) or a better clear policy of what to do for the seller and the buyer in a similar case.

Sorry to have bothered you all with this... maybe I should have simply wrote a PM to a Mod...

Definitely worth the discussion. Even if nothing is officially changed everybody gets to think about it, express their opinions, and maybe become aware of something they hadn't thought about before or didn't know how it worked.

The problem is with putting a "hold" on an item. You said you were "willing to buy" BUT you needed to ask a question first. So you weren't unconditionally willing to by. You were conditionally willing to buy depending on the answer to your question. In your case it was pretty straight forward "I will buy it if you will ship it to someone else (CONUS) for me". That's a yes/no answer. What if your question had been "I would like to buy it but I want to know a little history on the item first and then decide"? What if you have followup questions? Even if you only have a single, yes/no question, how long should you have to decide if you want it or not after receiving your answer? The process could easily take days or even weeks and then you may decide not to buy. All this is assuming the buyer and seller are negotiating with the best of intent. It doesn't even touch on abuse (which would be almost impossible to objectively define). Like "I'll just lock up candidates while I continue shopping for a few days and then I'll go back and buy the best deal". In the mean time, other buyers have moved on or bought a different one.

I can think of a possible solution/idea that might be workable. when you hit the BIN button you get a dialog box with "Buy it now" or "Buy it conditionally". If you take the second option you enter a Yes/No question or set of conditions. If the seller agrees then you've bought the item. If the seller doesn't agree to the condition(s) then they reject the offer and next buyer in the queue or the next buyer to hit the button gets it. Pretty much a single exchange with no added time.

What if another buyer comes along and is unconditionally ready to buy when the previous person pushed the BIN button with a condition????? Now this buyer is getting done wrong.

The system works like it is. Knowing who the seller is and using the feedback system helps clear things up. The cautious way is best but comes in second sometimes.

Originally Posted by Quick

Definitely worth the discussion. Even if nothing is officially changed everybody gets to think about it, express their opinions, and maybe become aware of something they hadn't thought about before or didn't know how it worked.

The problem is with putting a "hold" on an item. You said you were "willing to buy" BUT you needed to ask a question first. So you weren't unconditionally willing to by. You were conditionally willing to buy depending on the answer to your question. In your case it was pretty straight forward "I will buy it if you will ship it to someone else (CONUS) for me". That's a yes/no answer. What if your question had been "I would like to buy it but I want to know a little history on the item first and then decide"? What if you have followup questions? Even if you only have a single, yes/no question, how long should you have to decide if you want it or not after receiving your answer? The process could easily take days or even weeks and then you may decide not to buy. All this is assuming the buyer and seller are negotiating with the best of intent. It doesn't even touch on abuse (which would be almost impossible to objectively define). Like "I'll just lock up candidates while I continue shopping for a few days and then I'll go back and buy the best deal". In the mean time, other buyers have moved on or bought a different one.

I can think of a possible solution/idea that might be workable. when you hit the BIN button you get a dialog box with "Buy it now" or "Buy it conditionally". If you take the second option you enter a Yes/No question or set of conditions. If the seller agrees then you've bought the item. If the seller doesn't agree to the condition(s) then they reject the offer and next buyer in the queue or the next buyer to hit the button gets it. Pretty much a single exchange with no added time.

Originally Posted by Chris L

I could have sworn at some point early on in the roll-out of the new classifieds format (versus the old BST that most of us remember) it was specified at the moderator level that ANY item listed for sale in the SRP classifieds MUST offer international shipping. I believe IIRC the rationale was that SRP has a worldwide membership and the classifieds is not meant to be a free version of Ebay. Maybe SRP can clarify this again.

I could be wrong, but I thought AFDavis had stated that classifieds must allow for international shipping?

Chris L

I PM'd Lynn, he said it is up to seller where they want to ship their items they are offering for sale. I guess as long as it is listed as CONUS Only that pretty much sums it up and does not mislead anyone.

Thanks,

Neale

Yep it is all up to the seller. If he says BIN US only and you want a favor you might lose but the seller set the perimeters. If the seller wants to offer overseas he can mention it or not put up the buy it now button. As long as the seller follows SRP Guidelines it is his call. Any questions please ask.
Thanks Don

I always give the first person in the queue priority but that does pose an interesting question. If you were to post a question with good faith to purchase then an hour later someone does the BIN, I would give you priority and refund the second persons transaction. If it was snapped up before you got your post posted, then that is just how the marbles fall. They could have beaten you to the BIN button to start with. We all try to be fare and work on gentlemen's rules. When I get more than one person interested in a razor, I will often privately offer the other person another razor if I have one in the queue, I guess you could call it a consolation prize.

there is nothing in the rules that says who you have to ship to. It is up to the seller to decide who he will or will not ship to. We only offer the the classifieds as a service and only place a few rules to keep things moving smoothly we do not tell you what to do with your personal property that up to the seller.

If the seller has allowed Buy It Now, it is impossible for him to follow "the unwritten code of gentlemanly conduct and behaviour with regard to the sale of items" in the way implied in comparision to the old BST forum. If I've entered a listing and allowed BIN, I could very well be diligently answering questions with the full intention of allowing the sale to the inquiring person but if someone comes along and hits BIN and immediately pays, I would consider it equally ungentlemanly to reject that person's purchase and refund his payment. As long as the BIN option is in place in a listing, it's there for everyone to see and deal with accordingly.