Selfish purchaser

Hakaman · Post by **Hakaman** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:11 am

I recently sold a hg on Gunbroker. The buyer apparently used two of those courtesy checks, the type you sometimes get in the mail from your credit card company, to use as payment. He deposited two of them into his checking account (added up to total purchase price) and drew off his checking account to PayPal. Well, as you can imagine, PayPal took 3 days to honor these funds due to the fact the monies had to be proven. Evidently the purchaser didn't understand this process and demanded I ship the firearm regardless of whether PayPal honored the funds or not. The PayPal method was his choosing. I listed on my ad that there would be a 3% PayPal fee and shipping costs to be included in the sale, but because he paid the "buy now" price, I chose to forgo both fees and not charge them to him. I chose also NOT to ship the item until the funds were accepted by PayPal, like any wise seller would do. This angered him and now he will not answer any emails or phone calls, and also won't give any feedback on Gunbroker. I guess no feedback is better then negative feedback, but I bent over backwards trying to please him in this sale, and he can't see that. This just isn't right. The buyer is a licensed FFL individual as well. Aren't people with FFL liscenses suppose to be mature individuals?
Haka

Post by **Bullseye** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:01 pm

It is not unreasonable to wait for funds to clear before shipping any firearms purchase. Maturity is not a quality that transfers to some folks who should possess it. I'll bet that individual doesn't sell firearms prior to ensuring sufficient funds are available. Maybe there's more going on in that person's life than is evident on the surface at this time.

R,
Bullseye

Hakaman · Post by **Hakaman** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:12 pm

It is not unreasonable to wait for funds to clear before shipping any firearms purchase. Maturity is not a quality that transfers to some folks who should possess it. I'll bet that individual doesn't sell firearms prior to ensuring sufficient funds are available. Maybe there's more going on in that person's life than is evident on the surface at this time.

R,
Bullseye

I appreciate the reply. I did all I could to please him, as is my intention when I sell. I take pride and pleasure in doing what's right for a customer. With all the scams going on, one must be careful. I did absorb about $40 in fees to show my appreciation for paying the "buy now" fee, fees I wasn't obligated to absorb. Oh well, the sale is complete, that's a good thing.
Haka

greener · Post by **greener** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 10:23 pm

Don't think I'd have shipped until the $$ cleared either. I hope your "Buy Now" price was grossed up for shipping. Did you make it clear that you didn't ship until payment cleared?

I've never bought or sold on one of these sites. How has the experience worked for you other than this one?

Hakaman · Post by **Hakaman** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:56 am

It is never mentioned in any sale on Gunbrokeer, but it is a given that you get paid before you ship. There are scammers out there that just wait for an opportunity. Nobody ships before they are paid. Besides, this person only had one feedback review, and it only consisted of a few generic words. For some reason, he had to have it by a certain date, or at least that's what it seemed. I decided to cut him a break that I didn't charge him shipping, nor paypal fee, as both fees were mentioned to be included in the purchase. So I ate about $40 that I didn't have to. He only thought about what he wanted, not the overall picture. I have about 10 feedback ratings that describe me as a quick shipper and good communicator. I hope he doesn't give me feedback, it would leave a black mark.
haka

blue68f100 · Post by **blue68f100** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 8:57 am

You did right in not shipping till funds clear. I use Paypal (ebay) from time to time but I always put my purchases on a CC so I have a second layer of protection. I have only had 1 bad experience with a purchase I made many years ago. I won the dispute but it took a while. I had every thing fully documented with pictures showing the product was not new as advertised beside being dead.

I would have not dropped the fees you did. But if he give you a neg you have every thing on your side showing you gave him a break.

There is a lot of scams so you can't be to careful...

Hakaman · Post by **Hakaman** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:17 am

Blue, your points are how I feel. A person would be foolish to send merchandise without having payment secure, not just on GunBroker, but whenever business is done. When ordering from MidwayUSA, Brownells, etc, do they send merchandise without being paid? Absolutely not. The only reservations I have about what I did in this sale was, cutting him a break on the shipping and paypal fees, but under the circumstances, I would consider doing the favor for other sales as well.
thanks, Haka

ruger22 · Post by **ruger22** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:23 am

You can't make some people happy, no matter what you do. I've only tried one sale on GB. I had my shipping cost and why it was Next Day stated very clearly. I got a winning bid, sent the bill, and the guy refused to pay. He thought the shipping was too high, apparently never read the listing before he bid.........

I had researched for the cheapest legal shipping, and didn't charge a penny more. I had knocked $20 off the average LGS price for the gun, too, to help offset the shipping.

I ended up consigning the gun at a LGS, and did just as well with less headache.