Doug Henning disappearing act

cest la guerre

Yes...with over 200 transactions of my own..I have had my share of Savoir Faire! The most recent was a guy who emailed me to buy my phono stage with his offer that " I will buy it! I am serious and will not back out of the deal..You can count on me"...when I read that nonsense..I know whats coming next...and of course it did 5 mins later. But instead of telling me that he couldn't afford it, or his wife said NO..he tells me that he actually already had the same pre amp and just wanted to see what my best price would be, so that he would know what to ask when he sold his!!UNBELIEVABLE!!

How odd. I have to say that I have on occasion made an offer that was accepted and then had circumstances force me to back out, but I've never done so without sending an explanation and apology. It's strange that this happened on dealings with established members, they usually know better. Well good luck and keep trying!

Kehut's example is not uncommon, except for its exceptional brashness. I've had several people here use this tactic to price me out (negotiate a price as if they were a buyer, then disappear into thin air with no explanation) - some good feedbacks as well. I notice them when they sell their own piece (same model) a month or two later. Fool me once - shame on you, fool me twice - shame on me... I don't return their emails when they inquire on another item in the future, whether or not they may actually be a buyer this time.

That only speaks to a certain element here... I have been blessed (both by luck and by caution) to conduct my business here with some of the best hobbyists one could find anywhere.

I just assume nobody is a buyer until we've exchanged a series of emails culminating in me writing, "Please confirm the deal with the following terms...." Then, if I were to not hear from the prospective buyer for more than 24 hours, I would send another email saying that I was moving on. I don't really care if somebody is just trying to figure out what my price could be for some ulterior motive - I'm not going to spend a lot of time on any inquiry and I don't care if somebody is just trying to get some competitive pricing. Personally, if I was doing that, I'd just ask. -Kirk