After reading Necro's post about finder's fees and peoples personal opinions, I thought I would throw out another topic for everyone.  I've also had quite a few questions about this so I thought I would post the story.

I had a fellow MAACA member contact me last week about a Super Chexx that they were going to pick up.  They asked if I was interested and I said I was.  I asked him to send me pictures and details when they got it.  A few days pass and I don't hear anything, then on Oct 4th, I get some pictures in my inbox for the game.  Seller asks me to look it over and what I think of it.

It looks good and the price is fair so I just stick to asking a few standard questions, like the quality of the bubble, the scoreboard, the gears and any known issues.  I also offer up some stuff for trade (+/- cash) for it.   I also ask when the seller is planning on being in my area.

I get a response back that day answering all my questions.  Seller isnt interested in a trade and they will be down within a week or so.  Seller offers to delivery it, in exchange for project game but the game was on hold for someone else.  The last part of the message was "i'll give you dibs on it before and if not i will post it soon."

I reply back that I am interested in buying it and that the project is spoken for.  But I need a day or so to know if I will have the actual cash in hand when he comes down (since I had a few sales pending..but I dont want to count the $$$ until they are in my hand).  I also ask about the history of the game and the quality of the gears.

I get a response (still same day) that the gears are all decent and a quick history of the game.

One hour later (67 minutes to be exact), I get another e-mail stating, "Sorry but it's spoken for now...if it falls threw i'll let you know."

So I contact the seller and apparently someone called him about another game, he mentioned the Chexx and the person agreed to buy it.

So should I be upset?  Didnt exactly seem like the proper thing to do on the seller's part.  Or am I wrong? This whole deal went down in a single day.

I personally think he offered it at a higher price to the other buyer and took the money and ran.

All I know is that I have no intentions of ever doing any deals again with this person (who has a mixed reputation as it stands).

Of course, I can also thank this seller for my nicely priced TZ due to him leaving someone else in a bind over it (and when I bought it, the whole situation got resolved).

Personally I don't think thats fair, this same seller has done this many times from what I understand from others (no honesty, i.e first come first served, its more like the person with the most money wins even if you're 14th in line). I know damn well who this post is about and I refuse to deal with this person due to a similar situation I encountered. Also this person wanted a rather large finders fee for an IJ and STTNG that was in the area here.

my 2cents...  

i have made a mistake or two by offering a machine up and having more then one person asking about it.  made a person kind of mad because i said it wasn't spoken for yet and by the time they got back to me agian, it was sold.  but intil i say it is sold to you then it isn't.  but once that is stated then i don't take any other offers, no matter how good.  if you are asking about something and said such.  then the seller should put it on hold for you and not offer it to others.  i have no idea who this about.  know its not about me, but i will always try to do better anyways.

I agree with Mark, it's not the right thing to do, but it seems to happen more and more often.

I think there is the "right" thing and then there is business. Most people are either one or the other. This guy is all about business, and since you have had previous dealings with him, I guess you were not surprised by his actions.

My two cents is it is a small comunity and everyone will carve his own reputation, so if you want to get every last penny out of every deal it will in the end affect how others think and deal with you.

I have met  all kinds of people in this hobby.  Some very decent helpful individuals, some rather unscrupulous characters, and a lot of people somewhere in the middle.  I've been 'burnt' in the past by a few people and I have to agree with Mark and Monkeybug.  Here's a few words of wisdom that I live by, "The first time you get 'burnt' by someone shame on them, if you get 'burnt' again by the same person shame on you!"

                               flashman

You know, I think there are people / sellers you trust, and then there are people you do business with that you  don't hold your breath with (and therefore you shouldn't get upset if things fall through).  I have a reputation for laying it on the line.  I tell people up front if I will hold something for them or if it's first come first serve or the prospect is iffy (whether I know them or not).

You get to know people pretty quickly if you have a good judge of character, and what to expect. It's very rare, and often because of really stressed situations that you will be surprised if you develop this sixth sense (or should I say trust your senses, rather than your excited expectations).

Anyone who has bid on ebay, then had a seller pull the item because it's goign to sell low, knows this frustration - but to get upset about it, no point, life's a gamble, and simetimes you might actually win a few.

(my 2 cents, now worth 1.78 cents American)

Mark:  I forgot about that fee.... how much was it again, just to give you the contact information?

Gory: Its not you ... our deal went smooth.

Grauwolf: I believe you were had a deal lined up with this same seller for a Crystal Castle cabinet but they backed out on you?

flashman: I had a few previous deals with this person, years ago.  But since then, there has been some negativity.

I think I am mainly annoyed that I didnt get the courtesy of being offered to match the other price, or an ultimatum to decide.  It was "want it? want it? want  it?  I sold it".  I also wonder if it might have something to do with his friend P** coming over and seeing the machine and noting that it was in very good condition?

When I post something for sale either here or mr pinball It's first come first serve. If the guy or girl says they want to think about usually I give them a week and then contact them. if after a couple tries and no response it goes to the next person in line. I'm always up front and tell people what number they are when they contact me. But what happened to you is a joke. like everyone said he got more cash.

If I am in discussion with somebody who appears serious about buying, I will at some point ask up front if they would like me to hold the machine for them for the next X days. I will then hold it, but if the deadline passes without the buyer picking it up or at least making a concrete decision, the game is up for grabs to the next person in line.

This depends on my level of communication with the buyer though. If we've exchanged many emails and perhaps a few phone calls, I will probably hold well past the deadline if they arent able to get their ducks in a row. If the buyer doesnt contact me with updates as to his position, I'll probably cut him off as soon as possible.

In the event that someone offers me more money for the machine than a someone I am in discussion with ... well it depends how much. $50 more I would decline and stick to my guns. If the new buyer offers me big bucks premium (never happened to me) I would come clean to the original buyer, figuring that they would understand. Given the cheap-a** nature of many of us I dont expect this scenario to ever occur.

It's funny how you copy and paste the wording you want out of our emails to get sympathy and bash me but you NEVER told me you were taking it off my hands?did you? I asked you a simple question Chris in our exchange of emails and I  quote myself  here:

Anyways let me know if you want it Chris?

Your response to my question was and I quote:


let me get back to you at the end of the weekend and I will know for sure ?. (these are your words Chris  or were you talking about something else here??? Maybe you were telling me what you were gonna have for super on the weekend or what you were gonna watch on TV?)

There?s no simple  ?YES???I?ll take it?..?consider it spoken for? , ect. in any of our emails. In your own quoted words,you needed time to make up your mind to give me a simple  ?yes? or ?no? answer so I considered it still up for grabs and wanted the game spoken for.

Why would I send you this  email shortly after if I knew you commited that it was no longer available if we had a done deal? :

Hey Chris!
Sorry but it's spoken for now...if it falls threw i'll let you know.
LAter,
Rick
You were not the only one that new about it and maybe I should have posted it up in the classifieds to avoid all this crap but nobody that I sent a pm to gave me a simple ?Yes? answer as everybody needed time to think about except Gregorydeath gave me a simple ?I?ll pass on it?.

Keep Pat out of this as all he did was  give me his thoughts on the overall condition of the game wich  I forwarded to you to answer your questions as I know nothing of super chexx as it?s the first one I?ve ever seen in the flesh so did not know how to rate the wear on this game compared to others.

For some of your other crap you wrote and other things you left out:


IJ, remember? ?.I hooked you up and did not ask anything of you .I went as far as taking the time to talking and convincing him to sell it to you?you remember that?

TZ?the only one I can think of that I was suppose to pick up and backed out was with Rob and I spoke about this with Rob ( I don?t see what business it realy is of yours but since you brought it up)as when we reached a agreement on price as we would get both a better deal as we were buying a machine each, the seller wanted taxes on ?my machine all of a sudden?  I was not told about that only  after  so I backed out obviously.

Grauwulf- was not a cc cab it was a marble madness cab and this was said at the time when I last offered it to him complete and after this conversation I later offered him the cab as I knew that?s mainly what he wanted but passed.

Hi James!
Give me a call  will be going down your way so could bring the marble madness with me to save you the long drive.Should be coming down in no more than 2 weeks.
So let's get this wrapped up.
Later,
Rick

Hey Rick, I think I'm goign to have to pass on this for now. I just found out the rear end in my truck is going out and I need the money I was going to spend on this to fix it.  

Sorry man.

James




Flashman? WTF   are you talking about Chris? I?ll travel threw Ontario but Manitoba?You must be talking about kidflash? Tried to get a black knight threw Pat and he had some pacs i was interested in but then it was gone or doing the 15 hour drive was a problem at the time to make a deal happen...i forget.

Mark?I might have wanted a finders fee? why not it... was a good lead? Hell, ?I?offered him a finders fee if he found me a  Journey and still looking for one.

Since we are bashing what about you? Ya hypocrite Chris! When I met you at your place and Dave forester was coming over to meet me  there for a nibbler cab  to save me some time in my travels, I was telling you in your garage  that I wanted a ?tempest? as I did not have one for my collection at the time and when he arrived I brought up the subject in front of you as he knew of one and told him I realy wanted it but then I took off from your place and the next email I get from him in my inbox was entitled something like ?tempest info guys? to me and guess who? You! You wanted to steal it out from under me.If I knew you were like that I would have never of spoken about it with you at the time.

What about that gorf Chris  I had that you were interested in but did you end up doing anything about it?

A person I?m sorry about is Jvegas but due to some problems I was going threw at the time I could not deliver his games for him.

Aime for those suprise visitors in the outrun.

Atarifan for a board that was suppose to be shipped(it was paid in advanced) for a carnival.


Bottom line of all this is someone made up their mind when you could not Chris.
Rick

Wow, nice frontal assault!

I have dealt with Monkeybug on several occasions, and never felt like I couldn't trust him at all.

He is definately one of the good guys, and I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone that disagrees.