A seller put up some pretty good deals in the "For Sale" section. Prices were posted, but no payment type was specified.

I was the first to respond and PM the buyer: I told him I wanted one of the items and asked where to send a check to.

He PM'd me back that he preferred Paypal, which I replied that my paypal account wasn't working at the moment (fraud dispute, actually). I offered cashier's check or money order. Later, I sent him a PM with an offer using my wife's paypal account.

I check back on the thread, and it's closed with "SOLD". I see that the seller went back and added that he got a lot of PM's on the deal and the first person to paypal would get the sale. I PM'd him again for the transaction and he said it was sold to someone else.

Here's my questions:
1. As the first buyer, shouldn't I have been given the first opportunity to purchase under the new conditions?

2. Isn't it pretty risky to say "the first one to paypal gets the sale"? Several people could be sending money at the same time. Shouldn't you make transaction arrangements with a single buyer at a time?

I've bought many things from people online, and this is the first time someone didn't honor the first accepted response. S2Ki sellers in particular are better than most, in my experience.

Thoughts?

 

What I can add from my experience:

If you called "dibs" I also would not have taken you seriously. I have sold a few things here and always the people who call dibs and say "what a great deal" are the ones who never follow through. It you said "I'll buy" it would be different.
If the seller said that he only accepted paypal and you told him that you would like to pay by something other than paypal then I don't blame him either. As a seller, he is looking to sell to item quickly and efficiently. If you did not mention that you could use another paypal account then you are telling him that you can't meet the rules and he needs to go elsewhere. If he said that check/money order was fine or did not specify then it is different.
My biggest peeve with that section is all the wishful-thinkers and the cheerleaders who have to post their opinions on everything. They will never actually spend their money on it. I appreciate the ones that actually help but they are few compared. This is the only site I have been to like that (only import car site also).

 

First one with the money wins. Plain and simple.

 

 

Money talks.

 

I agree that $ talks, but i guess "first one to Paypal me the $" could mean 10 people all within 10 minutes paypal the guy the $...... then the last 9 would have to hope the seller refunds or rejects their $..

kind of risky...... there are definately a lot of people who flake out on shit on this board.

 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who flake out on EVERY board.

OP - you may have had every intention of buying the part, but (as someone who has sold a good amount of stuff online and has been burnt over and over again "holding" something for someone), I'd go with the first person sending payment.