Oh the nerve...

Local reefer was selling 2 par 38 exotic bulbs for 60 bux. I immediately told em i was interested in trading some other stuff and possibly cash as well ( i didnt have 60 bux) literally PM'd him within 20 seconds of the posting.

Told em id trade he said what do u have... so i told em.

pm's me back a day later and said he sold it already. What a jerk!! i was looking to get rid of my t5's cuz i need new bulbs and im broke as a joke. So i figure save some money... f me right?

Moral of the story. idk im just heated that someone has the nerve to just act like they would sell it to me. i mean first come first serve right? guess not.

 

I've had like 5 people do that to me on CL. Some people...

 

Unfortunately it isnt a business and he is selling at his discretion. So really it isnt first come first serve, which sometimes sucks.

 

Exactly.

Maybe it wasn't the most mature way to handle the situation, but if he wasn't interested in what you had, he was not obligated to make a deal.

 

I'm betting he could have been more polite and that would have avoided the problem. I'm actually a contracts attorney, so for mere entertainment value, I'll let you know the simple version on how the law sees it.

He made an offer, bulbs for $60. If you had sent an email saying I'll take that offer as is, that would form a contract and you have a deal. At that point, if he backs out for a better deal, he's in breach of contract.

What you did thought is make a counteroffer. There is no contract, you have merely started a negotiation. For a contract to arise, one of you has to say how about x and y for your z and the other has to say yes.

Until that happens, no contract and no obligation.

Very oversimplified, but I hope it makes sense.

 

You have to remember that it goes both ways though...I don't know how many times I have had a buyer string me along saying that they want something only to back out at the end. This happens all the time and it can be incredibly frustrating. I am not saying that you would have strung him along, I am just saying that as the buyer his priority is getting rid of the item with as little hassle as possible.

It sucks but for some sellers 'first paid first served' can be better than 'first come first served'