Sales protocol?

Lensflare

Lensflare

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Simon Everett
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How long after sending something and being told the other end had received it is acceptable to wait to be paid? A week long enough?
 
Personally, I have never, and will never, send anything until I have received payment.

Is this through classifieds here, or elsewhere?
 
No contract - from the sales board on here.....I was helping someone out, because of selling off my gear to pay bills while I am out of action. he couldn't really afford it, so I dropped the price to help him out, sent it...he has let me know it has arrived and I am still awaiting payment.

I'm sorry, but I don't treat everyone as dishonest because I am not. Sent in good faith usually is repaid with payment in good faith, that is how it has always been all my life. I am just a little surprised that such a long delay in payment being made.

I am not a shop, the sale of goods act doesn't apply - just good humour and good manners. It would appear that the old fashioned standards of a gentleman's word is his bond, honesty and integrity are things of the past. I leave it up to the younger generation to prove me wrong.
 
Sorry to hear that. It's just not fair when you have gone ahead and trusted someone. I hope this works out for you in the end. At least you have their address? Is it close enough to perhaps pay them a visit?
 
About 200 miles each way I think - be a nice day trip.
 
Lensflare said:
No contract - from the sales board on here.....I was helping someone out, because of selling off my gear to pay bills while I am out of action. he couldn't really afford it, so I dropped the price to help him out, sent it...he has let me know it has arrived and I am still awaiting payment.

I'm sorry, but I don't treat everyone as dishonest because I am not. Sent in good faith usually is repaid with payment in good faith, that is how it has always been all my life. I am just a little surprised that such a long delay in payment being made.

I am not a shop, the sale of goods act doesn't apply - just good humour and good manners. It would appear that the old fashioned standards of a gentleman's word is his bond, honesty and integrity are things of the past. I leave it up to the younger generation to prove me wrong.
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It is not nice when someone acts in this way

Did you do all your dealing on this in your for sale thread?
 
So the buyer couldn't afford it but you sent it anyway. What makes you think he can afford it now?

Surely there was some kind of agreement as to when he could afford it, like payday at the end of the month or next week.
 
ecoleman said:
So the buyer couldn't afford it but you sent it anyway. What makes you think he can afford it now?

Surely there was some kind of agreement as to when he could afford it, like payday at the end of the month or next week.
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That is not what I said is it? Why do people misquote, or misrepresent what you say?
What I said was, 'he couldn't afford it (at the price I really wanted), so I dropped the price (I met him part way on the price) to one that he could afford. Having done that and he had agreed he would take it, I sent it. Not exactly as you portrayed it Ecoleman. Close, but not quite.
 
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Lensflare said:
That is not what I said is it? Why do people misquote, or misrepresent what you say?
What I said was, 'he couldn't afford it (at the price I really wanted), so I dropped the price (I met him part way on the price) to one that he could afford. Having done that and he had agreed he would take it, I sent it. Not exactly as you portrayed it Ecoleman. Close, but not quite.
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That's how it came across to me. I wasn't trying to misquote or misrepresent anything!
 
I have sent fairly low value items before payment, mainly because I was going to the post office anyway.

Never been let down yet and surprised someone on here would behave like that, feedback is usually a good guide too
 
Where do you get this feedback? I have no idea he seemed a decent enough chap, with other people chiming in on the conversation, there were certainly no obvious alarm bells. I am not being more detailed, just to give the chap a chance.
 
Lensflare said:
Where do you get this feedback? I have no idea he seemed a decent enough chap, with other people chiming in on the conversation, there were certainly no obvious alarm bells. I am not being more detailed, just to give the chap a chance.
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One of the rules of the site is that all sales go through the classified section of the forum, with all discussions done in public until a price is agreed, at which point buyer and seller exchange names, addresses, bank details etc. When a sale has been completed then it is normal to return to the thread advertising the gear in the classifieds forum where the seller and buyer can leave feedback for each other. If you view other users avatars in the classifieds thread then below their name is visible a series of numbers that look like 100% (5/0/0) etc, indicating level of positive feedback and the number of positive or negative etc feedbacks they have received. I you click on those numbers you will be taken to a thread where more detailed feedback has been left by the buyer or seller as appropriate.

Normally if an item has been sold through the forum and there is either a failure to pay, a failure to ship or the goods are faulty then the moderators can put the sales thread into a disputed area and encourage the participants to sort things out. Where buyers or sellers behave badly then they may be prevented from accessing the classifieds to protect other users.

It sounds to me like you made the sale 'off the forum', so this may not be possible, however if you look up the buyers TP account page their feedback score should be visible - that way you can at least know if they have a history of defaulting on payment.
 
@Lensflare Did you make sure to include the payment details during your private conversation? this and the buyers address for postage are the two main details required during PM but it's amazing how often they are overlooked. Perhaps the other party is awaiting this information? If you did provide all details have you continued the PM's to ask what is happening with payment?
 
I wrote a letter in with the item, detailing extra tips and information about the item and how to use it and get the best out of it.
The sale was all discussed in the classified sales section of this forum, but no, neither of us divulged our address on the forum - I have never seen that anywhere before. In my letter I also enclosed the payment details for the bank transfer. The offer was made in open on the forum.

I am confused now as to what I did wrong - to the point where I don't think I shall bother selling through the forum or replying to wanted ads anymore. If there are 'hidden terms' that aren't all that obvious - I thought it was simply a case of:
I am looking for a xxxxx
Someone shouts back...I have an xxxxx and I want £££ for it.
Yes please I will have that.....and thats it.

Or similar if selling something.
It isn't difficult, you say you want it, it gets sent, you pay for it - what is difficult about that?
 
Lensflare said:
I wrote a letter in with the item, detailing extra tips and information about the item and how to use it and get the best out of it.
The sale was all discussed in the classified sales section of this forum, but no, neither of us divulged our address on the forum - I have never seen that anywhere before. In my letter I also enclosed the payment details for the bank transfer. The offer was made in open on the forum.

I am confused now as to what I did wrong - to the point where I don't think I shall bother selling through the forum or replying to wanted ads anymore. If there are 'hidden terms' that aren't all that obvious - I thought it was simply a case of:
I am looking for a xxxxx
Someone shouts back...I have an xxxxx and I want £££ for it.
Yes please I will have that.....and thats it.

Or similar if selling something.
It isn't difficult, you say you want it, it gets sent, you pay for it - what is difficult about that?
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You have the rules bang on, except the bit where you parted with the goods before you got paid.

I'd call it 'common sense' but that might seem insulting.

I'm not insulting you, you're clearly a gentleman and you expect other people to hold your standards too.
 
From what you have said about your transaction, you have trusted the buyer to make the payment upon receipt and supplied your payment instructions with the item as opposed to via private message on the forum. Being your choice to send the item before receiving payment, I think you are within your rights to contact the buyer at any time regarding the payment and should expect to be paid fairly quickly, assuming they have had a reasonable amount of time to test the item.
 
Well the 'buyer' has been back on the site as recently as yesterday evening.

There is a 'disputed trades' process, you might want to look up.
 
Lensflare said:
The sale was all discussed in the classified sales section of this forum, but no, neither of us divulged our address on the forum - I have never seen that anywhere before.
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I think I know what thread you mean, and you conducted the sale well within the rules.
Everything to be open, until a sale is agreed, then you switch to PM to exchange payment details addresses and other contact details.

The rules

If you want to confirm which thread you are talking about, ( by PM if you like) I'll move it to the disputed trades and then tag the buyer for their comments etc.
 
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I have just checked my private messages - he sent me his name and address and said to send it and he would pay me immediately.
Being laid up I didn't have access to the bank book to give him the bank account numbers off the top of my head, but put them in the letter I sent with the item - I got communication it had arrived and he wanted to try it out before paying......I waited a while before saying anything, to give him a chance.
 
Lensflare said:
I have just checked my private messages - he sent me his name and address and said to send it and he would pay me immediately.
Being laid up I didn't have access to the bank book to give him the bank account numbers off the top of my head, but put them in the letter I sent with the item - I got communication it had arrived and he wanted to try it out before paying......I waited a while before saying anything, to give him a chance.
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In that case, I would suggest that 48hrs is plenty of time to test an item. I would chase the money from there on out.
 
Fingers crossed, Simon.
 
simon ess said:
Personally, I have never, and will never, send anything until I have received payment.
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The problem is that one party in the transaction has to trust the other - either the buyer sends the money first, and has to trust that the seller will deliver, or the seller sends the goods first and trusts that the buyer will pay.

On another forum that I sometimes frequent, the protocol is often that the person with the lowest feedback or post count will trust the person with the higher feedback. This is especially true when one party is a "newbie" and the other is a long established member.

I have also seen deals where half the price is paid in advance, and the remainder on receipt of the goods, which at least spreads the risk a bit.
 
Phil V said:
Well the protocol is generally:
Sale agreed
Money sent
Goods sent
:hug:
Feedback posted.

It works brilliantly most of the time.
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This ^ I've only ever worked this way, most the time as the buyer, and I'd never expect a member to post before I'd paid them, although there was the one occasion where the member did pop it in the post before I'd made it to the bank to do a transfer, I only found this out however after I'd been to the bank and send a text to say I'd sent it
 
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