Questionable Trader Alert

You may want to beware of Curt Gustafson ) of Truckee, CA as
he is not the most square dealer you might wish to encounter. I am not saying
he is dishonest but he sure is slimy.

The other evening, he posted a complete bike for sale on Road Bike Review. I
was lucky enough to see it just after posting. It was a bike I have been
seeking at a price I was willing to pay. I immediately offered to buy the bike.
I accepted his description as honest and complete (there were no photos). My
only question was "Please let me know how to contact you via phone and we can
work out payment and shipping to Seattle". I also gave Curt my phone number as
a symbol of my sincerity.

After waiting all day for a return email or a call, I finally get an email.
Here is what Curt says, "Wow, that's a quick decision...I have gotten several
offers to buy the bike already... I don't want to sound overly mercenary, or
turn this into an eBay auction, but with this much activity the first day, I
think I might want to give the ad a week before I make a decision."

So here is a guy who sets a price, gets his price quickly and without
reservation. He then decides to try and squeeze the buyer for more money.
Someone capable of this kind of behavior would seem capable of anything. So beware.

In article ,
says...

....

So here is a guy who sets a price, gets his price quickly and without
reservation. He then decides to try and squeeze the buyer for more money.
Someone capable of this kind of behavior would seem capable of anything. So beware.

A little slimy, yes, but hardly unusual, especially for relatively big-
ticket items, and personally I wouldn't consider it to be dishonest.

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

David White Wrote:
You may want to beware of Curt Gustafson ) of Truckee
CA as
he is not the most square dealer you might wish to encounter. I am no
saying
he is dishonest but he sure is slimy.

The other evening, he posted a complete bike for sale on Road Bik
Review. I
was lucky enough to see it just after posting. It was a bike I hav
been
seeking at a price I was willing to pay. I immediately offered to bu
the bike.
I accepted his description as honest and complete (there were n
photos). My
only question was "Please let me know how to contact you via phone an
we can
work out payment and shipping to Seattle". I also gave Curt my phon
number as
a symbol of my sincerity.

After waiting all day for a return email or a call, I finally get a
email.
Here is what Curt says, "Wow, that's a quick decision...I have gotte
several
offers to buy the bike already... I don't want to sound overl
mercenary, or
turn this into an eBay auction, but with this much activity the firs
day, I
think I might want to give the ad a week before I make a decision."

So here is a guy who sets a price, gets his price quickly and without
reservation. He then decides to try and squeeze the buyer for mor
money.
Someone capable of this kind of behavior would seem capable o
anything. So beware.Pricks come in all flavors

--
boudreaux

As I clearly stated in my original post, "I am not saying he is dishonest". I
think (and said) it was slimey behavior and suggests questionable ethics.

David Kerber wrote:

In article ,
says...

...


So here is a guy who sets a price, gets his price quickly and without
reservation. He then decides to try and squeeze the buyer for more money.
Someone capable of this kind of behavior would seem capable of anything. So beware.


A little slimy, yes, but hardly unusual, especially for relatively big-
ticket items, and personally I wouldn't consider it to be dishonest.

I don't think that it is fair to call this guy Slimy. He's trying to
get his max price, and might have set his price a little low. I
wouldn't want to deal with buying the item from him, but I think you're
being a little bit unfair here. You thought you were going to get a
hell of a bargain, and now you're throwing this guy under the bus
because he is trying to get a little more? He's under no obligation to
sell it, you didn't incur any costs but a few mins to send an email. I
can understand your disappointment, but you really should take a deep
breath before calling the guy slimy.

In article .com,
says...
I don't think that it is fair to call this guy Slimy. He's trying to
get his max price, and might have set his price a little low. I
wouldn't want to deal with buying the item from him, but I think you're
being a little bit unfair here. You thought you were going to get a
hell of a bargain, and now you're throwing this guy under the bus
because he is trying to get a little more? He's under no obligation to
sell it, you didn't incur any costs but a few mins to send an email. I
can understand your disappointment, but you really should take a deep
breath before calling the guy slimy.

I understand your point, and you see this happening all the time in Real
Estate, but if a regular store tried it, they'd be in trouble with the
regulators for false advertising or bait-and-switch tactics, depending
on exactly how it happened. I feel that if somebody offers something
for sale at a certain price, and somebody offers that price, I think
they should be honor-bound to sell at that price, even if they realize
later on that they should have originally asked for more.

Playing buyers off against each other is ok if you post it from the
beginning as an auction, but not if you post it as a straight "for
sale".

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

David Kerber wrote:
In article .com,
says...

I don't think that it is fair to call this guy Slimy. He's trying to
get his max price, and might have set his price a little low. I
wouldn't want to deal with buying the item from him, but I think you're
being a little bit unfair here. You thought you were going to get a
hell of a bargain, and now you're throwing this guy under the bus
because he is trying to get a little more? He's under no obligation to
sell it, you didn't incur any costs but a few mins to send an email. I
can understand your disappointment, but you really should take a deep
breath before calling the guy slimy.


I understand your point, and you see this happening all the time in Real
Estate, but if a regular store tried it, they'd be in trouble with the
regulators for false advertising or bait-and-switch tactics, depending
on exactly how it happened. I feel that if somebody offers something
for sale at a certain price, and somebody offers that price, I think
they should be honor-bound to sell at that price, even if they realize
later on that they should have originally asked for more.

Playing buyers off against each other is ok if you post it from the
beginning as an auction, but not if you post it as a straight "for
sale".


He set a price and published it. That should constitute a contract once
accepted by a buyer. The out is if there were any words about higher
"bids." Perhaps a legal opinion may be forthcoming and you have grounds
to sue him for the bike.


jim

sounds like Gary Bettman and the NHL...they got their 24% rollback...then
the cap...then salary arbitration...rookie cap....then walks away and
cancels....go back to Basketball Bettman
"David White" wrote in message
...
You may want to beware of Curt Gustafson ) of Truckee,
CA as he is not the most square dealer you might wish to encounter. I am
not saying he is dishonest but he sure is slimy.

The other evening, he posted a complete bike for sale on Road Bike Review.
I was lucky enough to see it just after posting. It was a bike I have been
seeking at a price I was willing to pay. I immediately offered to buy the
bike. I accepted his description as honest and complete (there were no
photos). My only question was "Please let me know how to contact you via
phone and we can work out payment and shipping to Seattle". I also gave
Curt my phone number as a symbol of my sincerity.

After waiting all day for a return email or a call, I finally get an
email. Here is what Curt says, "Wow, that's a quick decision...I have
gotten several offers to buy the bike already... I don't want to sound
overly mercenary, or turn this into an eBay auction, but with this much
activity the first day, I think I might want to give the ad a week before
I make a decision."

So here is a guy who sets a price, gets his price quickly and without
reservation. He then decides to try and squeeze the buyer for more money.
Someone capable of this kind of behavior would seem capable of anything.
So beware.

LOL!

Yeah! That's what he should do!

He set a price and published it. That should constitute a contract once
accepted by a buyer. The out is if there were any words about higher
"bids." Perhaps a legal opinion may be forthcoming and you have grounds
to sue him for the bike.


jim

I understand your point, and you see this happening all the time in
Real
Estate, but if a regular store tried it, they'd be in trouble with
the
regulators for false advertising or bait-and-switch tactics,
depending
on exactly how it happened. I feel that if somebody offers
something
for sale at a certain price, and somebody offers that price, I
think
they should be honor-bound to sell at that price, even if they
realize
later on that they should have originally asked for more.

Playing buyers off against each other is ok if you post it from the

beginning as an auction, but not if you post it as a straight "for
sale".


He set a price and published it. That should constitute a contract
once
accepted by a buyer. The out is if there were any words about higher
"bids." Perhaps a legal opinion may be forthcoming and you have
grounds
to sue him for the bike.


jim

It is not a contract. A contract requires an offer, acceptance, and
consideration. There is no consideration here, just an offer and
acceptance (maybe). Or, the other way to look at it is that the
potential buyer offered to buy the item, and the seller has not yet
accepted the offer to buy. A classified ad is not a legal "offer" for
the purposes of creating a binding contract.

Nevertheless, this isn't about whether he is legally obligated to sell
the item. ****, there are plenty of operations of law that aren't
"right."

First off... did the ad say "$X or best offer?" Then the guy has a
right to seek the best offer. Even if it doesnt, shouldnt you always
(as a seller) have a right to change your mind about selling the item
at all? Or, if you advertise it for $1000, you can't then take $999
nor can you take $1001?

Second... what if someone has a brand new Independent Fab Crown Jewel
Ti that they got as a gift. They think that it might be worth $500 or
so. Should you take it from them for $500 because they were unaware of
its true value? Well, sure, tough **** for the seller if they didnt do
their homework. But, upon their discovery that they undervalued the
item, they should be able to re-up the price.

If you want to talk about "honor bound," I would say that goes both
ways. A fair price is a fair price. If someone thought that they were
going to get a "once in a lifetime" price, and they didn't, then I
don't think they've been mistreated.