Question for sellers...

Bamacues

Bamacues

AzB Gold Member
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I have a question. At what point do you obligate a sale? The reason that I ask is because I had a guy PMing me about a cue. He kept going back and forth with offers and I would make him counter offers. We got close to each other, and he said "I will get back to you on it." He did not reply further for several hours. In the meantime, I received a firm, "I will pay right now" offer, so I accepted it. The other guy was upset, but he never commited to the purchase. I did not know that he would take the cue for sure. What would you have done?

Joe
 
If the guy was totally "dicking" you around and a time waster, you were right to sell the cue.

If the guy was serious, but had not made a firm comittment, I would have told him to shit or get of the pot. Give him a deadline and If no response, sell it!!

Russ....
 
The same thing you did..

Only other option would have been to send the guy one last message letting him know the firm offer you received, and given him 10 minutes to beat it. I would not have gone this route though.

You are not responsible for someone who can't make up their mind.. you're a businessman and were justified in accepting any firm offer, as you had not commited to anyone else. But hey, that's just my opinion.
 
imo it was his tough luck. as a seller you are not obligated to anyone who does not make a firm offer. now if i were in the same situation i might try getting in touch with him first to say i had another "by it now" deal on the table and if he wanted the cue at that price he could have it but payment would have to be sent immediately as to not loose the sure thing. too many buyers use the "i'll get back to ya'" line and it seems to me most of the time those are the ones who don't pony up.
 
you did right!!

Yeah, Joe, you handled as I would and most consistent sellers around here I think. And I think one can say you handled it correctly. Just as the buyer does not commit until payment is made or agreed upon, and therefore is not held accountable to purchase, the Seller is open for all offers until that agreement is made between the seller and buyer. Until the contract is signed, and the car is driven off the lot, everybody can test drive it, and buy it if they want. Haggling does not in turn HOLD an item for you. It is the chance a buyer takes by not commiting to the last known price, in order to get a better price. But as always, with this comes riskof the item being sold to another buyer.
I will say one thing, YOUR pricing is usually quite fair(to say it mildly), and therefore I am sure that the haggler lost the chance on a great deal, in order to get a ridiculous deal. And in the end, that is how the ball bounces. The seller is ultimately in charge of who is SOLD the item, so if there is no commitment set, then the cue is fair game to anybody else who comes up with a $$$ figure the seller will accept.

Just my 2 cents.

Michael
 
Bama,

From a buyers perspective, there is only a sale made when there is a meeting of the minds....let me offer a couple of scenarios to support an opinion...

#1, you want $3k obo for your cue....I PM offer at $2300, you come back at $2700, I offer $2400, you come back at $2600.....while I'm pondering the $2600, you get another offer at $2700.....it's appropriate and totally within your rights to accept the $2700....we never had a meeting of the minds and you got a better offer...

#2, you want same $3k.....we go back and forth again, but this time I offer $2500....you send me a PM, you agree to the terms, and we have a meeting of the minds - the cue is sold at $2500 shipped.....while we are working out payment arrangements, you get an offer at $3k, your original full asking price....well, since we have a meeting of the minds, you are obligated to sell to me at $2500....your response to the other guy must be that the cue is already sold.......if you try to back out of your original agreement, that would make you a worthless piece of sheit that deserves to be pushed off a cliff....

To those reading, I have never negotiated with bama, and the posts I have read say he's good people, so don't read into this :D

my two cents...
 
Here is my rule...

Bamacues said:
I have a question. At what point do you obligate a sale? The reason that I ask is because I had a guy PMing me about a cue. He kept going back and forth with offers and I would make him counter offers. We got close to each other, and he said "I will get back to you on it." He did not reply further for several hours. In the meantime, I received a firm, "I will pay right now" offer, so I accepted it. The other guy was upset, but he never commited to the purchase. I did not know that he would take the cue for sure. What would you have done?

Joe
Click to expand...

Joe -

The first with the cash wins. I have owned Corvettes, guns and now cues. Lots of tire kickers but the deal is first with the cash wins.

When I tell someone that has a cue that I need to think about it, I understand, he who snoozes, loses.

Best of luck,
Ken
 
Joe you did what you should have done. A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. Cues are subject to prior sale. If the person doesn't commit you as a seller have the right to sell it. You snooze you looze.
 
Thanks folks...

When I put the cue up for sale, I thought I had a reasonable price on it. I can't say the offer I received was a lowball offer, but it was below what I had decided to accept for the cue. We got to within $25 of each other and he wanted to think about it a little, then I received an almost full offer, so I sold the cue. I fully agree that if we had agreed on a price, I would NEVER have sold the cue out from under him.

In the past, I have even had some people offer me more than my asking price for a cue after I have accepted an offer from someone else. I will always honor my deal. Like my Dad told me years ago, once you shake hands on a deal, it is done.

Joe
 
The counter-offer scenario

A few of you have mentioned a possibility in this scenario Joe has given us that I do not agree with, and I will tell you why. If the first haggler has not committed to a price during multiple back and forth offers, and a second possible buyer comes forward with a price that the seller will accept, then I feel it is a done deal. If you let the first haggler/buyer know about your offer in order to get him to commit, then you have offended the second buyer who came forward THE FIRST TIME with a price you could accept. And believe me, the second buyer will probably be easier to deal with when closing the deal cosidering payment, shipment, and final acceptance of the item. If you let the haggler/buyer know about the other potential buyer and his offer, it would seem to me that all you are trying to do is increase your selling price, because now wouldn't you have to let the 2nd potential buyer know about the haggler/1st buyers new counter-offer?
Take the offer from the second buyer, he met your minimum selling point on the first offer, and get onto better and brighter things - such as the next cue you have available for sale.
Also, totally agree with BigPerm, commitment/meeting of the minds - that is the difference between having an item sold, or accepting offers.

Just 2 more cents from me.
Hell, if I keep doing this, will I be able to add it all together and buy a cue?

Michael
 
Bamacues said:
When I put the cue up for sale, I thought I had a reasonable price on it. I can't say the offer I received was a lowball offer, but it was below what I had decided to accept for the cue. We got to within $25 of each other and he wanted to think about it a little, then I received an almost full offer, so I sold the cue. I fully agree that if we had agreed on a price, I would NEVER have sold the cue out from under him.

In the past, I have even had some people offer me more than my asking price for a cue after I have accepted an offer from someone else. I will always honor my deal. Like my Dad told me years ago, once you shake hands on a deal, it is done.

Joe
Click to expand...
The only way you would have been wrong is if you ever said - I will hold this cue until we decide to do a deal or not. Since that didn't happen, well he should have made up his mind sooner. His bad, not yours. JMHO

BVal
 
Joe, until you, as the seller, have ACCEPTED an offer, the cue is yours to do with as you please....bottom line. Now, if you have accepted an offer on a cue, and the potential buyer is not timely with their payment for the agreed upon amount/terms of sale, and you have tried to make contact, to no avail...the the terms of that sale are null and void, and again, the cue is yours to with as you please.

Joe, when I think of you, the word FAIR comes into mind immediately....fair pricing, fair terms, fair dealing. That potential buyer took too long to make a final decision, and is now out of the loop. He/she did not make an offer that you had accepted, and in the mean time, someone else did. You did nothing wrong. Now, if the potential buyer would have given you a time frame in which he would make a final response/offer by, I would have likely waited them out. However, it does not sound like this is the case, and it does appear that you made an attempt to make contact, so.......tie goes to the runner. :)

Lisa
 
I feel you were well in your rights to close on the sure offer.

However tho . . .

I would have told the first person that I had another offer who's ready to pay and give him the option to step up or pass. And give him a precise amount of time to respond or lose out. Just out of courtesy.

But that's me. :)
 
you are right

i had a lady come in my jewelry store every couple months for almost two years looking at a ring she loved, and could afford. she was too cheep to get out the cash. one day she broke down and decided to buy the ring. she was mad as hell when she found out that three days before, another person got the ring. she could not believe i sold HER RING to another customer. as long as you made no commitment, the first person with the cash is the winner.
 
Bamacues said:
I have a question. At what point do you obligate a sale? The reason that I ask is because I had a guy PMing me about a cue. He kept going back and forth with offers and I would make him counter offers. We got close to each other, and he said "I will get back to you on it." He did not reply further for several hours. In the meantime, I received a firm, "I will pay right now" offer, so I accepted it. The other guy was upset, but he never commited to the purchase. I did not know that he would take the cue for sure. What would you have done?

Joe
Click to expand...
I would have taken the firm offer just as you did. The potential buyer missed the sale and he could have made the deal, but instead he chose to go back and forth with you on the price.
 
Money talks, BS walks. We all know alot of offers to buy is just that. I received alot of offers on AZ, but following through with the sale is another
story. Don't feel bad, if they wanted the cue they should have just bought it. JMHO....
 
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