Bartertown.com

Really, really getting extremely tired of traders PM'ing me, saying they will buy X items. I respond with postage costs and payment options. Then, it's either no response at all or (much, MUCH more often) there's some "emergency" and they cannot pay. Some traders then ask if I can put it off for next week and after I agree I hear nothing more from them, even after repeated inquiry. I've had this happen, with both new and old traders, about 4 times in the past couple months.

I'm not talking about someone PM'ing and asking, if they buy, what would X cost? I'm talking about PMs saying, basically "I will buy X, just give me postage and payment options". The first few times this happened, I gave the traders the benefit of the doubt and didn't post Backouts, but it's gotten so prevalent, I put it in my trade rules that traders now are required to pay within 72hrs if they promise to buy something or I post a backout immediately.

Anyone else having this issue?

I have had this issue twice recently. I had one trader who wanted the stuff, but said they had to wait until the end of the month for the funds to pay for it. I followed up two weeks later and they were no longer interested.

I had another who just disappeared.

I don't think you can leave them a backout if they decide that you want/need too much for shipping. They have to agree to the FINAL transaction and then backout.
At least that is what I have always thought.

That is why I will start just adding shipping in with the price from here on in. It leaves less doubt. Although with the rates going up, everything is going to go up. I think this will hurt the trading community.


Karl

I've had it happen a few times. The worst part (to me) is when you end up passing on other offers because you are working on a trade with the guy who changes his mind or drops off the face of the earth (Bartertown earth, that is).

here here

Surprisingly this has happened to me, not as a seller but as a buyer! I had two people give me the run around when trying to buy their stuff. Although we never "Finalized" the deal and luckily I never paid for any of the items. What irritates me the most is when you write to them asking what's up and they read the message and they don't reply, not even with a "No". At least of the courtesy to tell me off at the bare minimum

Until the money is in the account the sale is not finalized. Never pass on anything until they have fully committed.

Adunaphel wrote: I don't think you can leave them a backout if they decide that you want/need too much for shipping. They have to agree to the FINAL transaction and then backout.
At least that is what I have always thought.

I would (somewhat) disagree.

If a buyer writes and says "I'd like to buy X, can you give me postage?", then they haven't committed to purchasing. No backout allowed if they don't want it after hearing the cost. However, If a buyer writes and says they "I will buy X, just give me a total", they have committed to that sale. If they then change their mind/become non-responsive/have an "emergency" and will not pay, then Backout allowed.

I'd say it hinges on the wording and intent of the PM.

Imaginos wrote:I've had it happen a few times. The worst part (to me) is when you end up passing on other offers because you are working on a trade with the guy who changes his mind or drops off the face of the earth (Bartertown earth, that is).

I agree completely about losing out on other potentially real deals, but I think there has to be some pretty decent standards of proof. Say the same as for a BTR? Does this sound fair to all of you....

I have had this happen alot to me as well.

But on the other hand, I have been in deals where real problems have come up and I have had to back out. (After saying I would buy the items..) Of course I kept up communication and made sure it was ok with the seller if I didn't purchase the items... but people really do have problems. Although I do agree that alot of people make excuses just to back out.

Chris

Noble Korhedron wrote:

Imaginos wrote:I've had it happen a few times. The worst part (to me) is when you end up passing on other offers because you are working on a trade with the guy who changes his mind or drops off the face of the earth (Bartertown earth, that is).

I agree completely about losing out on other potentially real deals, but I think there has to be some pretty decent standards of proof. Say the same as for a BTR? Does this sound fair to all of you....

I take it as a chance of trades not working out. I've never done a backout report, despite it happening. Sometimes things don't work out, sometimes they work out for the better.

My recent pet peeve is people who ask me "Is X still available?" and when I respond back in the affirmative they never respond. Usually I send a second PM just to check that maybe they read my first reply and then forgot to respond, but no, they read the second PM as well and don't bother to respond. Am I the only one who think a simple reply is common courtesy?

HarlequinZero wrote:My recent pet peeve is people who ask me "Is X still available?" and when I respond back in the affirmative they never respond. Usually I send a second PM just to check that maybe they read my first reply and then forgot to respond, but no, they read the second PM as well and don't bother to respond. Am I the only one who think a simple reply is common courtesy?

Yes, most definitely. I've posted this in another thread by I don't think some people here realize - the other trader can see when you read a PM. There's no way to "sneak" out of it, just take the 5 mins to reply.

I actually just had a buyer (not on BT) yesterday tell me I was "being rude" for "constantly sending messages". This is after he told me last week he'd pay Tuesday and, after reading 2 PMs and not replying, me finally asking if he's still interested. Apparently, I should have some form of ESP and know that he was "working on other stuff right now".

ancientsociety wrote:

HarlequinZero wrote:My recent pet peeve is people who ask me "Is X still available?" and when I respond back in the affirmative they never respond. Usually I send a second PM just to check that maybe they read my first reply and then forgot to respond, but no, they read the second PM as well and don't bother to respond. Am I the only one who think a simple reply is common courtesy?

Yes, most definitely. I've posted this in another thread by I don't think some people here realize - the other trader can see when you read a PM. There's no way to "sneak" out of it, just take the 5 mins to reply.

I actually just had a buyer (not on BT) yesterday tell me I was "being rude" for "constantly sending messages". This is after he told me last week he'd pay Tuesday and, after reading 2 PMs and not replying, me finally asking if he's still interested. Apparently, I should have some form of ESP and know that he was "working on other stuff right now".

I agree with you Harlequin, and I feel your pain ancientsociety.

Sometimes I want to write them (after they repeatedly read my messages and ignore me) a message saying I know they have read the messages. I think even if the reply is a one word answer like "No" that's as little as a person should do to reply. If you have enough time in your day to log into a forum website and read your messages (along with whatever else you do) you have enough time to send a quick reply.

One thing to keep in mind, people might be able to read their PM's with their cell phones nowadays, but replying might be more difficult. I know that is the case for me. I can read the forums on my iPhone, but it is a pain in the ass to type a reply. I will often wait until I am at a computer to reply instead of replying with my phone. And sometimes a person will forget they need to reply to the guy after they check the forum on their cell phone. It isn't a good excuse, but it it happens.

The cell phone thing has happened to me on a couple occasions. I hate typing on the little tiny keyboard so I wait to get home. I get home, get busy, and forget to check again during the work week. Not a good excuse but a reason none the less...