There are people like this.

[Semperfi24]

I don't think it is asking too much to expect a degree of "fairness" if you are the buyer. Sure it is first come, first served, and I don't really care who buys my product as long as I'm getting my money. BUT, there is a right way and a wrong way to do business. I'm not going to wait weeks on end to show someone the item if there are people that can come see the item today, tomorrow, etc. But if person A calls up and wants to see the item in 2 days, I'm not going to sell it to person B 10 minutes person A shows up to see it.


Plus, it can be to your advantage to get a bidding war for the item. When I'm getting rid of something I'm not one of those "I expect top dollar" types, its always a deal for the buyer. And if there are multiple people looking to buy, I have been known to let them know there are others interested and let the buyers dictate the sale price.


But Id never schedule a viewing of an item for someone traveling 100s of miles, and sell it out from under them while they are in transit to me. I get the idea that you just want the cash and the first person to place it in your hand gets the item, but its pretty despicable, in my opinion, to let someone drive that far and not give them an opportunity to look at it/make a deal. In the case of your son, part of me thinks discussing a lower sales price is in order, but the other part of me thinks the guy is too shady to deal with. So I'd take my business else where. Who is to say he doesn't do the same thing the next time you make the trip over there...

[mikeysotp]

Your son should have given him the runaround for as long as he possibly could have then told the scum to piss off. I hate people like that. As others have said I've passed on good money because I've given my word to someone already. I don't regret it for a second because I wouldn't have made the deal in the first place if it wasn't what I wanted.

[Seasonal]

Whenever I've sold something on C/L, I also always stress to the callers and emailers, first person that puts cash in my hand gets it. Of course, If I make an appointment with someone, I do hold the item for them to look at. I wouldn't let someone else jump in front of that person. Where this breaks down is when on a Monday, someone asks if I can hold an item until next Saturday. I always reply, no, please call back on Saturday and if it's available, you can have a look.

Also, when you have a sign on it and the item is sitting on your front lawn. Someone can drive past, make an offer, and drive away with the item. I would tell someone on the phone that it remains for sale if this were the case.

If someone made an appointment and had a drive, I would remove the item for sale and save it for them until the appointed time. If they didn't show, back for sale the item goes.

The cash part is easy though. Meet at the bank or bank branch for payment.

bruce...