Thread: Require Buyers from Classifieds to be Active Members ?

On July 24 a "member" of this forum bought a shave ready razor from me . July 24 was also the first and(as of today Aug. 6) only day this person was on this forum . The razor was delivered to the buyer's address on July 27 . I always ship using signature delivery confirmation , and since no one was there to sign for it , notice was left , and the razor was returned to the P.O. . 3 days later the razor still had not been picked up or re-delivered , so I e-mailed the buyer asking if he was aware that his razor was waiting at the P.O. . A few days later he e-mailed me back , saying that he didn't want to wait in line at the P.O. , and was going to have it re-delivered . It's been 10 days now , and the razor has not been picked up or delivered . It's pretty obvious that this guy has no intention of taking delivery on the razor , and is waiting for the P.O. to return the razor to me . I think that if the buyer was required to be an active member , with a certain amount of time , and posts to their credit , it might stop impulse buying . What do you think ?

Have you been paid? If so--?

I wouldn't worry about it, Dave. You've clearly done all that you can. The buyer seems quite aware of what is going on, and it's his decision to do whatever he wants.

Also, you have tracking and email evidence that you mailed the razor and that it went where it's supposed to go, so you're definitely in the clear.

It seems to me this case is more the exception than the rule.

Nobody has to be a 'member' of SRP to buy on the Classifieds, they are open to anybody in the world. If a seller wants to screen the buyers they can just not offer the instant payment option when they create their ad and handle everything via PM or email.

I don't think it's worth changing the whole policy that so far has been working quite well, just to avoid some rare problems when there are other solutions that individual sellers can use.

I have to disagree, I made an account on SRP to buy a DE razor, that was over a year ago and since I have been around constantly. If it wasn't for the ability to buy from the classified I might not be here so I have to disagree and thank SRP for the policy they have. I'm sorry you had a bad experience and I can understand being upset but I feel it would hurt more then it would help to change things.

I've sold nearly 40 razors and stones so far without incident (knock on wood). Just an isolated case I think.

Originally Posted by pcg

Have you been paid? If so--?

Yes I've been paid , but I'll have to return the money when I get the razor back . The thing is , I included shipping in the price , and I don't think the buyer should get the shipping refunded (and he won't) since he never took delivery of the razor , but he might think otherwise . It just makes me mad , that I bust my butt to pack the razor , and ship it fast as I can , and this guy doesn't have the decency to man up , and pick up the razor .

Originally Posted by dave5225

Yes I've been paid , but I'll have to return the money when I get the razor back . The thing is , I included shipping in the price , and I don't think the buyer should get the shipping refunded (and he won't) since he never took delivery of the razor , but he might think otherwise . It just makes me mad , that I bust my butt to pack the razor , and ship it fast as I can , and this guy doesn't have the decency to man up , and pick up the razor .

If the razor is returned and the buyer insists on a refund make him wait a while, charge a shipping fee as well as a re stocking fee (20%) and eventually return whatever is left.

Well, you could be right. He very well may have changed his mind and is playing a game. Of course I think you should give him the benefit of the doubt. There are many reasons why someone might not pick-up the razor. Whatever the case may be you should either supply him with options or tell him you're looking to place the razor with someone else. Be blunt and polite and hopefully he'll answer you in the same manner.

On a side note: To reflect what TheHeckler was saying, I also joined this website primarily because of the classified ads. I was looking at buying an electric shaver after years of shaving with disposables and after a little bit of research online I realized to get a decent shave I would need to spend $150.00 - $200.00 on an electric shaver. While conducting my research I started reading about straight razors, which led me to this site. What I love about this site is I can put in just about any straight razor manufacture/model I see on the internet and get back a first page result linking this website and real information on the razor. That combined with the classified ads is what brought me here. Now I'm looking forward to the nicks and cuts I will surely endure while mastering the art of straight razor shaving.

If he emailed you that he dident want to wait in line at the PO to get them ... well thats that.
VERY unusual to have an issue in the classifieds here.

If your unfortunate to have to refund and relist just know that what you went through was truly rare to happen.

PS.. and if you do loose out on the postage then just bump the price up when you relist. I am sure if it sold once the razor hounds here will snap it up again lol