Moral Dilemma

[netsecurity]

Here is the situation...

Someone puts an ad in the classifieds saying product X is for sale for Y dollars and price is absolutely non negotiable (due to thus item being in very high demand and sold out for months at the stores). The price is very high, but it is evident that the market will bear this price, as the seller's ad explicitly says that he is only selling because the price makes it worthwhile.

As soon as you wake up in the morning and spot the ad, you rush to beat other buyers and say "I'll take them all." Even though you know what the price listed is firm, you let the seller know you live kinda far away, in hopes of perhaps some bit of leniency to make up for gas. Worth a shot right? You betcha.

To your surprise, the seller says he can sell for exactly $100 less than the price in the listing--almost a full 30% discount! How odd, since he was adamant in the ad about no discounts. So, not wanting the seller to change his mind, you ask the seller to call you and meet ASAP. Seller says he is out running around with family but would be glad to meet at the time and place of your choosing. You meet him, on time and make the trade. Nice and friendly.

Here is the dilemma. The seller messages you just a few minutes after the trade and says he got distracted in the morning, and simply neglected to "carry the one" and made a "huge mistake" by quoting $100 to low, and didn't intend to give any discount whatsoever (greedy bastard indeed).

What do you do now? Is it 100% seller's fault for misquoting, or partly the buyers fault for not throwing up a red flag when the price was shockingly low, and then rushing to make the sale before the seller figured it out? Is this something that can be resolved through iTrade?

 

[dt420]

I would say it is on the seller. The stores are forced to honor their prices if they make that same mistake.

 

[Mosinguy]

That sucks for him. When dealing with money I am extra careful. He should've paid more attention.

 

[dt420]

^^^Exactly.

 

[bass pro]

Offer to split the difference with him so all can be happy.

 

[esrice]

That decision is all on you.

You both agreed on a price and made a legit transaction. IMO you'd be fine saying "sorry, but we had a deal".

On the other hand, people do make mistakes and you wouldn't be less of a person for being understanding and returning the product to the person in exchange for your money back.

It's up to you.

 

[slowG]

I shake someone's hand and leave. I am happy and am moving on regardless of any remorse. Never to back on your word.

 

[tom1025]

Sounds like a bad decision on the part of the seller.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I would say it is on the seller. The stores are forced to honor their prices if they make that same mistake.

Actually, no they are not. Many do because the ill will isn't worth it, but there is no legal requirement for them to sell to you at the advertised price.

Me, I screw up I usually carry through with what I say I will do unless doing so seriously would harm me. Losing a few bucks is worth my self respect.

 

[IncendiaryGunner]

He did not "carry the one"?

$100, and roughly 30% less than the original asking price?

Is it just me, or does that not make sense mathematically?

I am pretty sure this is on the seller, not the buyer. He admits he made a mistake, and the mistake is on him. That being said, if you choose to be nice and walk away, more power to ya'.

His story seems fishy....

 

[mbills2223]

Seller's remorse? The deal is done. It would take a better man than I to give him the extra money. The closest to that I would consider would be returning the item(s) for a full refund.

 

[LEaSH]

If I were the seller I know it would be all on me. I'm not fully seeing how I might not know the difference in what I posted for sale and what I accepted for a deal.

If I were the buyer and wanted to make sure the seller wasn't hurt on the deal (which it doesn't sound he was), I'd want to make it right so there would be no bad blood and future dealing between us could continue to happen.

But did the seller lose money on the deal or just not make as much as possible? Some would say it doesn't matter to them - but I would want to be a mutually fair deal between us.

 

[Doug]

The seller accepted the money and delivered the item.
Case closed.

Oh, by the way, I usually get paid $10 for posting. I forgot to request payment in advance. Would the Original Poster please contact me for my address and send me the money?

 

[CQB]

...so you made a FTF transaction with someone that didn't know you and he didn't count the money? His fault. That being said, if he wasn't a douchebag when he told he made a mistake, I'd consider some sorta deal with him. Not so much because of the money (he obviously got a high market value), but because we've all been there in one way or another. What comes around goes around.

 

[92ThoStro]

I agree, sounds like the deal is done. If he honestly made a mistake, that's your personal choice if you want to fix his mistake. Otherwise, IMHO, he will learn to not make that mistake again.

As far as stores go, yep they aren't required to sell at the advertised price, most just do so in order to not cause a fuss.

If it is the stores fault, they almost always honor it, if it's a customers fault, they might, but usually don't.

For example, I went to an O'Rileys (sp) in like February and there was a sign saying Holiday Special ( with Christmas decorations ), in one of the very back end caps of the store. It was one of those hard cases with screwdrivers and sockets and stuff. It was super cheaper, so I bought it. I went to the register and it said 27 something. I said, that price is wrong, the sign said it was 9.99. She asked to see where I got it, and sure enough, she came walking back with the sign and decorations. They forgot to take it down from December. I paid 9.99. This was their fault, they didn't take the sign down.
I obviously knew there was no huge discount worth holiday in February, so some may say I took advantage, but oh well.

Yesterday at TSC, a man tried to buy 40lb bags of catlitter and they charged him a lot for it. He said the price was wrong, the sign said X. She said he probably read the wrong sign, they would never sell 40lb bags for that price. Turns out another customer got big bags, and saw the on-sale smaller sized bags, and laid them on top of the small ones. This wasn't the stores fault, they didn't sell it to him at the discounted price.

 

[sepe]

...so you made a FTF transaction with someone that didn't know you and he didn't count the money? His fault. That being said, if he wasn't a douchebag when he told he made a mistake, I'd consider some sorta deal with him. Not so much because of the money (he obviously got a high market value), but because we've all been there in one way or another. What comes around goes around.

If both parties followed through on the deal and then the seller was showing remorse, I wouldn't have problems doing business with the person again as a buyer or seller and I wouldn't feel bad if the next deal was a little in their favor. As hobbyists, sometimes we walk away feeling like we won and sometimes like we lost. If someone was trying to take advantage in a deal as buyer or seller, I'd not be very inclined to do business with them again and I'd probably advise others I know to avoid them.

 

[Hohn]

I would say it is on the seller. The stores are forced to honor their prices if they make that same mistake.

It's on the seller. I'm guessing if he had a buyer on the hook at a price that was "accidentally" $100 too high, he'd feel differently?

 

[public servant]

Huge edit: Your bad math shouldn't equal bad rep for him. You were looking to take advantage of crazy prices and you got bit. Actually, you bit yourself. I have no problem with people profiting. So that's not the issue.

Would it be "stand up" for him to make it right? Sure. Is he obligated to? Nope.

You didn't get played. You attempted to play the market and you failed. You had 2 opportunities to quote the correct price and you ****ed them both up.

I'd take the profit you did make off the bulk pack and buy one of these.

 

[netsecurity]

Let me recap. Some of you are missing key points. I am actually the seller, not the buyer BTW.

1) THE AD EXPLICITLY STATED THE PRICE AS $20 PER, no compromise. So there is your price tag.
2) The buyer messaged me to that he'd take all 16 and more if I had them.
3) I said okay, assuming they were sold at $20 each, and thereby shunning other offers
4) He then messaged me for the total price--without asking for any discount--just kind of like we all do to confirm, and presumably to see if I might "throw him a bone"
5) I replied I can only let go of the 16 for $220. <-- Glaring red flag right there since 16x$20 is $320
6) He says call me, let's meet...

I didn't double check my math until I started thinking he had a funny twinkle in his eye when he handed me the cash and asked "$220, right?" Then I messaged him that I had made an big error, and that I would gladly eat half the loss, but would appreciate it if he would pay the other half or offer an equitable resolution, while I also offered to release the last 16 of my ammo if he still wanted to buy more, to make it worth his while to turn around (he didn't).

He has responded that it is not his fault whatsoever. You know what that means. I wouldn't have done that to someone else, I would've fixed it one way or another. So I'm definitely NOT selling to him again. My question is, does he deserve some bad rep? Or is it socially acceptable to take advantage of someone like me who is trying to profit from high ammo prices? Should I just drop it and say "my bad" all the way?

 

[slimplmbr]

He doesn't deserve bad rep for your math error, that's kinda ridiculous. You made the mistake not him. If it were me I would live up to my agreement and take it as a lesson to double check my math before I respond. All in all though it is up to you, but if you say no go IMHO you would deserve the bad rep for breaking off the deal. That is my opinion, others may vary.