How do we treat other forum members when we Buy / Sell - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

maytag · 07-11-2019, 03:14 PM

Hey y'all:

I'm posting this thread as a bit of a wake-up call.
I've purchased from several forum members before, and have had nothing but GREAT experiences. In EVERY instance.

In the last several weeks, as I've been parting-out a car that I bought for the donor-motor, I've had some more fantastic experiences. In an effort to be very fair to people, and transparent as well, I have on several occasions agreed to ship the parts before I knew how much shipping costs would be, with the agreement that the buyer would then pay me for the shipping immediately upon me providing a tracking number.

Obviously this puts me at some risk, because I've sent the part.... I could potentially kiss the shipping costs good-bye. But I have this idea that "Trustworthy people Trust". And I do. And in most instances this is has been reciprocated. As a matter of fact, one buyer actually sent me more than we discussed, because I had given him a "not to exceed" number, and it went well over that. I shipped anyway, to honor my word, and this buyer backed me up with an additional, LARGE sum. I don't think he'd want to be named here, so I'll just say his first name starts with Steve. haha

However: Unfortunately there are always those who sour the barrel. I have one forum member who purchased from me at a substantial discount from the typical Ebay-going-rate. These were heavy parts, so I sent him the receipt with tracking number and a total shipping cost on 6/25. He still hasn't paid for that shipping. He's making excuses that are very contrary to the deal we made.

I'm not ready to call him out by name yet..... but this is a bit of a shot across the bow. I will, indeed, "out-him" here on the forum, as someone who can't be trusted in Forum-arranged transactions. I'll give him 48 hours to get me paid, or give me a reasonable explanation that calms me down (as opposed to the BS he fed me a few minutes ago in a PM).

with that said: how do y'all handle transactions like this? I don't do this for a living, nor do I want to. I'm simply trying to recoup some of my investment into this car. But losing 20% on already-deeply-discounted transactions is sorta BS, y'know?

Ciao · 07-11-2019, 03:46 PM

I had a close call from a member with similar excuses. Fortunately, we agreed/processed the transaction through Pay Pal. When the buyer stone walled me, I submitted a complaint through Pay Pal. The situation was resolved quickly.

Burg Boxster · 07-11-2019, 04:22 PM

I say go ahead and out them after 48hrs if no resolution... the number is the number.

I've bought/sold many parts here, rennlist, etc. and always err on side being fair.

Trust must exist or the whole system breaks down to nobody's benefit. That said, freight / shipping costs are super easy to calculate using online tools anymore (ups, fedex, usps, LTL, etc.) so I'd just protect yourself up front and say part price is X plus shipping. Then just send them final amount which includes putting it on their doorstep and don't ship until you have all the funds in hand. Or as w/ most e-comm you bake freight it into the price and don't have to worry about those who balk or try and flake out on paying the freight after.

Good luck

rick3000 · 07-11-2019, 08:29 PM

If the buyer agreed to pay the actual shipping cost, they should pay it. Period.

If you used PayPal you might have some recourse. FYI, I won't do friends/family PayPal payments anymore because you lose most/all protections, which screwed me over last year when poor packaging from a seller caused a $500 item to be destroyed and all I could recover was $150 from Fedex.

Large/heavy items can be tricky, vs a flat rate envelope/box. I normally weight everything at home (including the packaging I plan to use) and with a zip code I quote the buyer a realistic shipping estimate. If once I actually box it up I'm off by a few ounces, I will eat the few dollars difference. I never ship before I get paid. If you can't weight at home, it might be worth two trips to the post office for the bulkier items.

maytag · 07-13-2019, 10:07 PM

Well...... it's been more than 48 hours since I warned him.

Folks, beware of forum member "dijinn". Stiffed me for $75. And this, after I made him a smoking deal on calipers to begin with.
Friggin' Jack- wagon.

His name is Jin Lee, and he's from Florida.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

piper6909 · 07-14-2019, 05:56 AM

That's messed up. It's a shame people are like that. Good on you for letting us know.

Starter986 · 07-14-2019, 10:43 AM

I'll help you smoke him out.

itsnotanova · 07-15-2019, 12:30 PM

People think because amazon sent a package for $10, that your package should be the same. It's amazing the discount that large companies get on shipping. For an example. I can buy a brand new bumper for my truck for $200 delivered. It would probably cost me more than $200 to ship that bumper back. Shipping cost is a major reason I'm not selling on here anymore. I'm sick of people asking for a part and then backing out after they find out how much it will cost to ship. You really don't know how much it will cost until you get it boxed up. Size matters more than weight and every inch counts on cost to ship. Shipping to a business will be a few dollars cheaper.
FYI, The shipping discount you get with selling on ebay more than makes up for their fees and you can usually get more per item.

maytag · 07-15-2019, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsnotanova

People think because amazon sent a package for $10, that your package should be the same. It's amazing the discount that large companies get on shipping. For an example. I can buy a brand new bumper for my truck for $200 delivered. It would probably cost me more than $200 to ship that bumper back. Shipping cost is a major reason I'm not selling on here anymore. I'm sick of people asking for a part and then backing out after they find out how much it will cost to ship. You really don't know how much it will cost until you get it boxed up. Size matters more than weight and every inch counts on cost to ship. Shipping to a business will be a few dollars cheaper.
FYI, The shipping discount you get with selling on ebay more than makes up for their fees and you can usually get more per item.

EXACTLY. (except I didn't know about an Ebay shipping discount ?? how does THAT work?)

This is why I was willing to just trust, and allow people to pay me actual shipping charges.

FWIW: user DJINN isn't disputing the freight costs (I sent him an image of the receipt), he just thinks that he doesn't owe me freight until his shop is done with the refurbishment of the calipers..... WHat The ... ??? Like I say: not a response that makes me calm.

Starter986 · 07-16-2019, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maytag

FWIW: user DJINN isn't disputing the freight costs (I sent him an image of the receipt), he just thinks that he doesn't owe me freight until his shop is done with the refurbishment of the calipers

Sounds like a total dick. I'd be all over that mother****************er if he tried to pull that **************** with me. That's not the way it's supposed to work. You try to be generous, and people **************** you over.

Jinn, if you're reading this be assured karma will catch up with you, mother****************er.

JayG · 07-16-2019, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starter986

Sounds like a total dick. I'd be all over that mother****************er if he tried to pull that **************** with me. That's not the way it's supposed to work. You try to be generous, and people **************** you over.

Jinn, if you're reading this be assured karma will catch up with you, mother****************er.

What do you mean exactly?