Anyone ever experienced a scummy deal on here before?

[Wolkenflieger]

I will say if you are selling, part of the deal is you sell it to the first guy who meets your price, even if someone else offers more after. If you want an auction, sell it at auction.

Only if I commit to that buyer. I'll sell to the first buyer I like (sans red flags) who meets my price.

 

[Wolkenflieger]

When @ikeo1 instituted the ability to leave feedback for sellers and buyers that flaked on a sale after an agreement was made, there were a bunch of dudes here up in arms that someone would be able to publicly call them out for this type of garbage conduct.

Some went so far as to claim that agreeing to a sale and then going no contact wasn't ghosting because they hadn't scheduled an actual meetup. There are plenty of guys out there willing to do this sort of nonsense because they lack any integrity.

I know you're talking about me, and I have 8 transactions (all positive) to your zero. This generally comes down to your misunderstanding of my position against no-transaction feedback and your intent to smear me (and probably others) with your ridiculous strawman argument. Look up that phrase if you need clarity on its meaning.

First things first, there is no agreement set in stone until an *appointment is made* at an FFL. Either party can change their mind within a reasonable timeframe. If it's last minute, that's not good and gets into 'no show' territory barring an obviously major life event getting in the way.

I have never ghosted anyone on a sale. I have changed my mind on one or two due to an abundance of enthusiasm and poor timing, but I was in comms with the seller and talked to them by voice. All canceled transactions were amicable and done before any meetup agreement.

I also had a RAMI up for sale with 30 watchers and a very reasonable price. Plenty of people came at me with busted writing, lowball offers, weird attitudes....and I still answered each query—some of which were low-effort comms. I sold to a buyer who was an hour late but I liked him, so I waited it out and he still got good feedback from me. I could have sold the gun for $400 more at the very FFL where the buyer was an hour late, but I didn't because I have ethical standards.

Second, failing to communicate without resolution is ghosting, but that should not merit "neutral feedback" here as proposed, and I was against this idea which seemed to rub you the wrong way. I've explained why I think feedback based solely on comms is a bad idea. Others agree with me and have explained their position in this very thread.

Lots of people suck at communication and I'm not one of them, but I don't believe in leaving neg or the proposed neutral feedback because someone didn't write me back or leave feedback or some other perceived violation of a "promise". Until there's an FFL meeting agreed-upon by both parties, nothing is set in stone. There are lots of casuals out there kicking tires or wanting to talk to someone about a particular gun, and I don't take anything too seriously until we've agreed on a date, time, price, payment method, who pays DROS (buyer), and an FFL. Everything else is noise, and I may have several backup buyers if I'm the seller. As a buyer, I expect to have everything in order and show up on-time once an agreement to meet has been made, without being even a minute late.

People should check before and on the day of the proposed meeting for "proof of life" to make sure everything is good, even if it just means someone might be late. Life happens and plans can change, so communication is key. If you've ever tried to sell anything, you know how flaky people can be. Nothing is sold until it's sold, and people in the real world have second thoughts and change their mind, even after seeing the product in-person.

I had one seller who was a terrible communicator and I probably should have ditched him, and HE never left feedback after a successful transaction where I left positive feedback for him. If anything, I'm the opposite of flaky and you should really just make your accusation in the light of day if you want to continue to press the narrative. Invariably, this will reflect negatively on you if you persist.

Our disagreement centered around the fact that I don't support feedback when there hasn't been a transaction. That's it. You should really stop with the smear campaign—even if I'm the only one who knows your absurd implication is about me.

Caveat, I * do* support neg feedback for people who ghost once a meet-up has been agreed-upon, but that's already established site policy. By no means do I sipport ghosting and I personally hate it. We Gen-X generally don't like ghosting or being ghosted. But, it does happen and if no meet-up has been agreed-upon then the solution is simple...next!

If you have a grievance, state it clearly, do NOT strawman my position, and I'll clarify as best I can.

 

[AR15barrels]

Moral of the story: Its not yours until its yours.
/closethread

And if you look at most of these complaints, people are talking about doing deals over multiple days.
Nobody wants to wait DAYS to get paid.
When you say I'll take it, you schedule to meet them in an hour two and do the deal.
This completely cuts out the problems related to DAYS passing where other deals are worked out sooner.
If the deal is a good deal, then go get it today.
Not tomorrow or in a few days and not this weekend, do the deal TODAY!

 

[Wolkenflieger]

On the flip side, years ago, also on Calguns, I was selling a Dan Wesson CBOB. A buyer and I agreed on price and to meet at an appt only FFL. A couple days later, we both arrive at the FFL and the buyer tells me he had just PPT’d a DW VBOB, which is what he really wanted. Despite that, he still wanted to honor his commitment to buying the CBOB I was selling. One of the most stand-up buyers I’ve met and I’ll never forget that experience.

See, he could have called you but he failed to utilize the time before your scheduled meetup. He could have shown up in person and tried to talk his way out of it, but he followed through because you had an appointment and you invested time and energy into the meetup, not to mention whatever prep you did to get the gun ready for sale. He had to "eat it" as it were because he failed to loop you in before the appointment.

And, it's not like he couldn't just resell the thing. Glad that worked out. Integrity is everything. Kudos to that buyer.

 

[weaverftw]

Wow pretty surprised people have had so many issues; I think I only had like 4 transactions on Calguns but they were all seamless and each dude seemed like a guy I would gladly go on a range trip or have a beer with…

Sure is fun to read about the drama though

 

[Wolkenflieger]

Wow pretty surprised people have had so many issues; I think I only had like 4 transactions on Calguns but they were all seamless and each dude seemed like a guy I would gladly go on a range trip or have a beer with…

Sure is fun to read about the drama though

Some of the drama only exists in the imagination of the accuser.

 

[Echidin]

Wow pretty surprised people have had so many issues; I think I only had like 4 transactions on Calguns but they were all seamless and each dude seemed like a guy I would gladly go on a range trip or have a beer with…

Sure is fun to read about the drama though

When you do 100+ transactions, overtime you’ll eventually have a negative interaction or more in other people’s experiences.

 

[CaptainLevi]

More of a venting thread.

Long story short, had the chance to finally encounter a scummy deal. Went through the whole process of back and forth negotiating and finally made a final call to finalize everything. Even moved some of my planned schedules to make it work. The day before the deal., was told that they had sold it to another person because they had a better offer.

Why do people agree to a deal and then back out the moment a better offer comes along? Maybe “backstab” isn’t the right word, but that’s honestly how it felt. I get it, it's the real world but please don't agree to something which you can't hold integrity to. Better to decline then get stringed along and waste time.

At the end of the day, it was a lesson learned — just frustrating and a waste of time.

I’ve heard worse stories, but I’m curious — how many of you have run into something similar?

I had a deal setup to PPT my SIG 211 and another guy offered me $200 more to back outbid the deal. I declined and kept my word. It’s a character issue lol

 

[trunkjunk4321]

This is a sample size of one but I just got a solid deal here on CAGuns so so far for me the answer would be no.

 

[BriskyLeopard]

It happens all the time. I mean realistically no contract signed, no deposit paid. There is not really any commitment binding. It’s all about money

 

[BriskyLeopard]

It happens all the time. I mean realistically no contract signed, no deposit paid. There is not really any commitment binding. It’s all about money

back and forth negotiating

Especially since you negotiated the price, which means you are offering the price lower than the seller's expectations. The seller cares about the money they receive as much as you care about the money you pay. When you make an okay offer, the best way to secure the deal is to meet up ASAP.

 

[KingRansom]

I was the grand prize winner of the hi point c9 that some jackhole was giving away for free out of the kindness of his heart. Completely went ghost silent right before the transfer even though I checked in with him previously. No big deal, it's kind of like winning a dinner date with Rosie O'Donnell. There can be no winner

 

[ef9boy88]

As a buyer on Calguns, a guy was selling a Makarov I was very interested in. Listed at a good price, had been listed for over a week. We made a deal only negotiation was the meeting place. Agreed time place and I made an appointment. Guy hits me 1 hour later with "My buddy really wants this gun and just realized I was selling, sorry".
Had one here where I was selling a rifle, received a trade offer for a duplicate of a gun I have with cash on top. We made a deal agreed on a meeting time and place. He picked day and time, then cancelled on me the day before because he would rather sell his item. For me I just wont do business with them going forward.