I have been pondering the idea of forming a nationwide association of escrow members made up of people and/or businesses that would adhere to a set of prinicples in helping billiards enthusiasts do secured escrow transactions pretty much anywhere in the North America. As I see it, there are enough honest people involved in the sport of billiards, that it may be feasible to find and certify specific brick and mortar businesses, individual collectors and others to act for a nominal fee as the escrow agents for this industry providing true local security and support for the buyer and seller.
I realize there are "escrow companies" and a few businesses like Proficient Billiards that offer escrow services, but what I would like to discuss is the potential for having a membership list of escrow agents across the nation so that in any given major city, there is at least one and maybe more who are members and will assist the buyer/seller process for a nominal fee of say not much more than $25 per transaction.
In the past, a couple times, when I felt a little uneasy about a transaction for a rather large amount, I would convince the seller to work with me through a nationally listed billiards dealer local to me who would contact the seller once I had passed the payment to them to hold. The seller would then ship the cue to my local dealer to inspect giving me the day of arrival to inspect it also. The payment would be sent to the seller the very next day even if I did not make it to inspect the cue. It was his responsibility to the seller to expedite payment which is only fair unless he saw something grossly misrepresented which never happened. Upon the seller receiving the payment, the dealer would release the cue to me. Of course the buyer pays the escrow fee up front and leaves the funds open for the escrow agent to designate the payee upon inspection. As I said, I only did this on a couple occassions, but honestly, I would have gladly paid to do it on many just for the comfort of knowing I wasn't about to get ripped off for hundreds or thousands of dollars. I would rather give my money to a local escrow agent than than Paypal anyway.
I can see added benefits for the agents as giving them exposure to new customers and add on sales. I see the glass as half full.
Play devil's advocate here if you like and tell me why this couldn't be done. On the other side, tell me if you think it would work and how it should be set up.
Thanks,
Larry
I realize there are "escrow companies" and a few businesses like Proficient Billiards that offer escrow services, but what I would like to discuss is the potential for having a membership list of escrow agents across the nation so that in any given major city, there is at least one and maybe more who are members and will assist the buyer/seller process for a nominal fee of say not much more than $25 per transaction.
In the past, a couple times, when I felt a little uneasy about a transaction for a rather large amount, I would convince the seller to work with me through a nationally listed billiards dealer local to me who would contact the seller once I had passed the payment to them to hold. The seller would then ship the cue to my local dealer to inspect giving me the day of arrival to inspect it also. The payment would be sent to the seller the very next day even if I did not make it to inspect the cue. It was his responsibility to the seller to expedite payment which is only fair unless he saw something grossly misrepresented which never happened. Upon the seller receiving the payment, the dealer would release the cue to me. Of course the buyer pays the escrow fee up front and leaves the funds open for the escrow agent to designate the payee upon inspection. As I said, I only did this on a couple occassions, but honestly, I would have gladly paid to do it on many just for the comfort of knowing I wasn't about to get ripped off for hundreds or thousands of dollars. I would rather give my money to a local escrow agent than than Paypal anyway.
I can see added benefits for the agents as giving them exposure to new customers and add on sales. I see the glass as half full.
Play devil's advocate here if you like and tell me why this couldn't be done. On the other side, tell me if you think it would work and how it should be set up.
Thanks,
Larry
