Buying things off of internet forum members

marcus12024 · Post by **marcus12024** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:26 am

Hey guys! I'm just curious as to what anyone else thinks of the situation I currently find myself in. I found someone on another forum who has a game I've been looking to find for a long time. The price is okay - not great, but reasonable enough. He seemed nice enough, and answered my questions at first, but things got a little...shady near the end.

For example, I told him I'd take the game for the price he was asking. He said other people are interested in it, so he couldn't just sell to me (even though I was the first to inquire about it). So I offered $5 more, and he said he thought no one would offer any more (this isn't ebay, so what the hell on that?). After two days he never got back to me, then when he did, he asked me "no on offred more. How will u pay?" (his exact words)...which makes him sound like he's about 12 years old.

I replied with

"PayPal is definitely my preferred method of payment. When can you ship this; I noticed on your trading page that you only ship stuff out on Fridays. Tomorrow is Friday. If you get back to me in time, I'd pay you via PayPal right away, and then you could ship the game tomorrow.

Let me know please!

Thanks!

-Mark"

Then his reply was "i do accept paypal but i can only do Postal MO because i need the cash to get my car fixed."

So by this point I'm confused and a little pissed off, cause he's not making much sense, so I reply with:

"My apologies for not understanding, but that doesn't make any sense. If you accept PayPal (which you just said you do), and I PayPal you the money, then you'd have the money immediately. If I send a money order (which costs me $5 to get from the bank), it'll take a week to get to you.

I don't understand what you are trying to say.

-Mark"

Then he replies with "i have a paypal account but i need cash instead."

Obviously by this point I'm a little confused, a little angry, and unsure of whether or not I should trust the guy. How do I let him know that I'm no longer interested without pissing him off (I don't want bad feedback at that forum, 'cause I do a lot of trading/buying/selling there and everywhere else). Up till now, I've never had an unpleasant experience with anyone, so I'm not sure what to think.

I know that I'm definitely not comfortable with sending him a money order. The only reason I can see that he won't take PayPal is because then I'd have a chance of getting my money back if he didn't actually send me the game. Does this sound shady to anyone else, or am I just being paranoid? I should also note that this isn't a trivial amount of money.

Thanks for listening, I know I can trust the members here

Dewclaw · Post by **Dewclaw** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:59 am

That definately sounds a little suspicious, but if he needs it for his car then having it in his paypal accound might not be the best idea. Chances are a car shop wouldn't take paypal payments and IIRC it takes about 5 business days to transfer pp funds to a bank account. So he might've thought he'd get the cash money in hand faster with an MO.

marcus12024 · Post by **marcus12024** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:03 am

Dewclaw wrote:That definately sounds a little suspicious, but if he needs it for his car then having it in his paypal accound might not be the best idea. Chances are a car shop wouldn't take paypal payments and IIRC it takes about 5 business days to transfer pp funds to a bank account. So he might've thought he'd get the cash money in hand faster with an MO.

Indeed, a good point, and one I thought of, and I told him that it will take a money order at least a week to get to him if I mail it, and then he needs to cash it. In other words, it would take just as long (if not longer) than using PayPal. And I clearly explained that to him (I didn't include ALL of our correspondence, cause I'm a little lazy

). In any case, probably safer to wait for someone else to offer that game for sale I suppose. I don't really want to lose a bunch of money.

ArrogantBastard · Post by **ArrogantBastard** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:09 am

Fuck him. Don't give him your money, and be straight about it. If he's being shady about the deal, you shouldn't worry about getting a negative comment by providing what you've just shown us in your first post.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 12:07 pm

Err... maybe he IS 12 years old, and he doesn't want to use paypal because his/her parents would find out ^_^;

"Sonny, I told you not to sell your games on internet. Now I won't buy you another for a month"

D · Post by D » Fri Jul 15, 2005 1:46 pm

I can tell you this though.
Youngsters cannot be trusted when it comes to financial transfers, think back when you were 12. If some lame ass from the internet sent you 60 d's would you still sent him the game or just keep them both

I know what I would've done (back then mind you)

dpful · Post by **dpful** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:24 pm

ArrogantBastard wrote:Fuck him. Don't give him your money, and be straight about it. If he's being shady about the deal, you shouldn't worry about getting a negative comment by providing what you've just shown us in your first post.

I agree.

Maybe if you dropped a line that said, "sorry, but I've got to back out. You replies havn't clearly answered my questions and it's made me nervous about the deal."

When your legit, and trying to sell something on the internet, you WANT to be as clear and helpfull as possible. You WANT to do what you can to get the money, which is worth more to you than what you are selling. Anyone who gives half-ass correspondance obviously isn't into the deal.
Really, in any internet situation.

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 2:42 pm

WHAT GAME IS IT? Good God man, you've got to tell us.

marcus12024 · Post by **marcus12024** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:12 pm

8 1/2 wrote:WHAT GAME IS IT? Good God man, you've got to tell us.

Well, by a non-trivial amount of money I didn't mean several hundred dollars, in case you're wondering. I know for those of you here that are into PCBs, the amount won't seem like very much. It's actually under a hundred US dollars. But the fact remains that even a bit under a hundred dollars is still a lot if I'm worried about never receiving anything.

The game is actually an RPG, so probably won't matter to too many people here. I haven't said where/who/what because I don't want to spread bad information about the guy in the rare case that he actually is legit. However, I did PM the other people in his for sale thread to warn them of how my correspondence with him went.

Sorry to disappoint anyone who thought I was talking about a thousand dollar game or something - that's far too crazy for my bank account!

Thanks for the advice though everyone, I've since politely declined his offer by saying that I've run into some personal issues, and cannot complete the transaction. I apologized for any inconvenience I may have caused, and was very polite. I don't like not liking people, if that makes any sense. Maybe I should become a monk or something

In totally unrelated news, if anyone happens to have a fully complete copy of Lunar 2 for PlayStation that they're looking to get rid of, I'd definitely be interested!

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 3:26 pm

"no on offred more. How will u pay?"

Anyone who types like this should automatically be punched in the dick. It's one thing to sit at home, play games, not shower, and become an absolute slob -- but it's another to act like an absolute slob online.

marcus12024 · Post by **marcus12024** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:45 pm

Elixir wrote:
"no on offred more. How will u pay?"
Anyone who types like this should automatically be punched in the dick.

Thanks for that, I laughed out loud at that one. And I think that should be an unofficial rule

Ramus · Post by **Ramus** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:48 pm

me slobb. me rite shity. punch me dik.

HAHAHA

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:32 pm

marcus12024 wrote: In totally unrelated news, if anyone happens to have a fully complete copy of Lunar 2 for PlayStation that they're looking to get rid of, I'd definitely be interested!

Aw dude, no way! I saw a complete Lunar 2 the other day at EBGames for $35, but I'm more likely to pick it up for myself

The guy sounds dumb as hell, and if you're buying Lunar 2 for just a shade under a hundred bucks, he's ripping your ass off. Go to video game forums around the world and perhaps you'll find a guy selling one for cheap!

marcus12024 · Post by **marcus12024** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 7:01 pm

LoneSage wrote:
marcus12024 wrote: In totally unrelated news, if anyone happens to have a fully complete copy of Lunar 2 for PlayStation that they're looking to get rid of, I'd definitely be interested!
Aw dude, no way! I saw a complete Lunar 2 the other day at EBGames for $35, but I'm more likely to pick it up for myself

The guy sounds dumb as hell, and if you're buying Lunar 2 for just a shade under a hundred bucks, he's ripping your ass off. Go to video game forums around the world and perhaps you'll find a guy selling one for cheap!

Well, it was in brand new condition, just had the seal on the outer box broken. All the extras, including the pendant and little figure-dealies were still in the plastic. According to the seller, anyway. Price seemed high, but most people selling have a copy that's got something wrong with it. If you don't buy it for yourself, I'd gladly pay you for it. I would even be willing to throw in some extra, since that's so much cheaper than what I was going to pay! Let me know, thanks! I'd owe you, big time