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Can a buyer back out with no penalty?

Hi members,

Last week I got an offer for a preamp on Audiogon which I am selling. The buyer offer cash local pickup and he required an audition before taking the preamp. It seems fair to me so I accepted his offer.

Yesterday he came to my house with another guy. They spent almost an hour to play through my system. Then finally they said they don't want to buy it with the reason "I don't like the sound". I tried to explain to him that after the buyers' offer is accepted that is a commitment to buy. Unless the product was not as described in the ads, he has to take it. They just left without saying anything.

My question is: what do we do with that kind of buyer, how to deal with this situation correctly?

Thanks,

Calvin

dangcaonguyen
Post removed 
inna
7,296 posts
 
Breaking contract on a small scale is wrong but not terribly wrong. I believe, negative feedback would violate the principle of adequate reaction in this case.
minorl
1,016 posts
 
I've had many very nice knowledgable people visit my home to complete the purchase, listen to the equipment and pay with no problems or worries.

i can understand some people may be nervous having perfect strangers visit tho.

I'm not one of those people. I've been thinking about the previous responses related to a non refundable deposit, and for nervous people that may be a good idea. 

For me, when they accept the offer after we communicate via audiogon, phone or email, I have a pretty good idea about the person I'm dealing with. 

I would thonk honk it very strange that a person would not want me to see or hear the item after accepting my offer for many reasons. 1) it may be a scam. 2) it may not actually work. 3) it may not work or look as advertised and 3) it may be stolen and the seller's home has nothing in it that indicates that the seller knows the first thing about high end audio equipment.

i don't care about the price if it is stolen. I'm walking away. 
Lastly, some equipment is extremely heavy and will cost much to ship. If I'm nearby I would prefer to pick it up myself. 

If if the buyer is nearby, why ship it?  Anyway, just my thoughts. 

Enjoy


minorl
1,016 posts
 
Also, I'm fairly confident that I can sell the item in question to someone else. I always price my items to sell so I'm really not worried.  If someone changes their mind after accepting the listed price and then coming by to hear it, so be it. Someone else will buy it. 

Enjoy
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
"Breaking contract on a small scale is wrong but not terribly wrong. I believe, negative feedback would violate the principle of adequate reaction in this case."

Sorry, I didn't get the impression from the post that the transaction was small scale. A small scale to you may be huge to someone else and what is huge to you may be small to the next guy. It doesn't matter what words you use or don't use with the word wrong, there's no varying degree of being wrong. When someone breaks a contract, this is total disrespect to the other person. IMHO, they deserve a negative feedback.
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