Buying gear experience

[teknoman2]

So this is my story :
I found a deal on a FB group UK guitar/Amp/Gear Exchange, nothing mojo or very expensive.
It was a dunlop uni-vibe stereo chorus, seller asking for 50 pounds and I kindly ask him if he sells outside UK.
He answered me of course and that the shipping cost is on me.
So we agreed on 60 pounds, I ve send the money to him via Paypal and everything was ok.
By the time I made him friend on FB so he can send me the tracking number and talk if anything goes bad.
Day1 passes nothing, I said ok its holiday so I think let the man have fun.
Day2 passes and I send him kindly if he can send me the tracking number, after a couple hours answers saying that he didnt make to the post office and he will send it tomorrow.
Day3 gonne and nothing.
Day4 I send him again kindly what is going on, nothing....from our conversation I can see that he read my messages but still nothing....
After 5 hours he answers me that this is my tracking number and that I need extra 5 pounds for the shipping cost.
I said my shelf ok everything went well and the guy didnt rip me off so I thanked him and I kindly ask him why did you take so long to send me a tracking number or answer my messages.
And then he said me very rude that "mate, I am working and I dont have time to answer your messages. Your pedal has been sent you have received the tracking number that is all, I am not your friend I am selling you an item that is all. I have unfriended you on Facebook, please The stop messaging me. And send the extra 5 pounds postage ASAP. "

After that I answered him " ok thank you and I will send you the extra 5 pounds"
End of story.

So now I am thinking I wont pay right now his extra 5 pounds but after a couple of days for being a prick, but on the other hand I am thinking why should I do that and becoming like him.

What do you think?

Cheers,
Panos.

[gtr2]

I'd wait and see if you get the gear before giving him more money!

[GrindCustoms]

I'd wait and see if you get the gear before giving him more money!

Agreed with that, waiting to have it in hand to see if it have effectively costed 5GBP more to ship... in some of my transaction that sometime occur where the shipping cost gets higher than expected. It does'nt bother me to pay because no one is there to pay for others fun, though they don't act like ass with me so it's a pleasure for me to make things right.

[sturgeo]

If he's used Royal Mail it'll cost a bit more than £10 depending on the size & weight. It used to be £9.99 but has gone up a little. The exact postage cost will be on the label.

If i'm selling something and someone asks about the postage price i check it, takes a few minutes, its not hard to measure a boxes size and weight, pop the info in the website and get the exact price.

[hoodoo]

Panos, you're obviously a good dude, i say, f@#k him for his 5 pounds, for his lack of manners. Hope you get the pedal mate.

[rullywowr]

The majority of transactions in the pedal community are straightforward and have good communication.  This goes especially for 99% of the transactions on the MB forum due to most of the members being stand-up people. 

With that being said, there are some transactions that go bad - just the nature of the game whether it is eBay or anywhere else.  Compound the New Years holiday with people's work schedules, I can understand why it may have taken so long.  I personally make it a priority to ship items out right away or at least provide a good communication on what the status is (however I ship often and have access to great shipping tools without needing to go to the post office).  Treat others as you would like to be treated, I say.  I always imagine if I was on the receiving end, and try to treat others how I would like to be treated.

Also, I think Facebook isn't the best conduit for communciation regarding a transaction.  Email and/or PM is far superior for that for many reasons.  Perhaps he just didn't want to communicate using FB (I know I don't like to use it and flatly refuse to install FB Messager on my mobile).

I wouldn't take it personally, just give him the benefit of the doubt and move onto the next pedal conquest.  If you are confident that the item is on its way then send over the 5.  I truly hope everything works out for you and it is a good transaction overall.

[GermanCdn]

From my experience, blind buying from someone you don't know takes a little extra patience than buying off of ebay or the like (as much as people, myself included, b*tch about ebay's policies and costs, it's still the most solid market out there for both buyers and sellers).  I had a similar (though no rudeness was involved) experience buying something off TGP (for a substantial amount of money).  Paid the guy, said he'd ship that day, didn't ship for about a week, took another three days for the tracking number to arrive, etc, etc.  A little unnerving, but it was all fine in the end.

The reality is, most people who don't sell (and ship) gear on a regular basis don't appreciate the amount of effort that it takes to actually do the job properly (maybe not so much in regards to pedals compared to guitars).  By the time you pack things up properly, get all the paperwork done (in country is easy, international usually takes a bit more work), pay the postage (online is easy, face to face is a PITA), and drop the parcel off at the post office, if you do everything right it takes less than an hour, if you do everything wrong, it can take a lot longer.  Couple that with everyday life getting in the way, and a four day delay is very possible.

On principle, I never pay more for shipping that what the seller and I originally agree to.  Reason being is simple - it's easy enough to go online and calculate the cost to ship a package of fixed size to a fixed address.  The four times (out of hundreds of online gear purchases) that sellers have asked for more money, I've stated outright that I won't pay more, and they can either ship it to me at the cost agreed to, or refund my purchase in full.  Only once has the seller backed out of the deal, generally they are able to find cheaper ways of getting it out (in fact, in two of the cases I told them where to go to get pricing that would work).

[teknoman2]

Thanx guys for such quick answers.
It was the first time I bought something over an fb group and probably not gonna happen again.
I was looking for this vibe a lot and when I saw it I thought I should grab it.
Despite that I am upset with his manners and not with the extra 5 pounds.
I know that this pedal is built like a tank and it weights a lot so the extra cost is probably reasonable.
I am really amazed how people are thinking and behaving even during christmas holidays.
Also another point that make the guy totally ass is that he is a musician and I believe when you make contants outside your country that are familiar to music and gear you try to be as much friendly in order to promote your music a little bit, not behaving like you are the king of the world.

[Jopn]

Am I reading the timeline right that he had a tracking number for you within 5 days over the holidays, and he was a little irritated when you asked what took him so long?

Just trying to see this from the other side.  He probably needed to drive out to a post office during work hours, avoiding any weekend/holiday closed days.

It doesn't seem that you two had an agreement on what date he would ship.  You did, however, agree to pay for any extra shipping.  Hold up your end of the agreement.

[teknoman2]

As I said before the issue wasn't the extra 5 pounds.
From my point of view when I make a deal with someone
I always check my mail and trying to answer any questions as soon as possible.
In this situation the seller didn't answer to my mails at all, so I decide to communicate with him via fb chat.
Even then he didn't  answer me despite that he read my messages right away.
I believe it isn't too much trouble even if you are super busy with work to write
Sorry mate I am really busy I will send your pedal in a couple of days.
Being kind and polite especially when you sell something isn't too much trouble.

[playpunk]

Maybe it's just me, but I hate selling anything and hate shipping it even more. Everyone who buys something (and musicians are the worst at this) expects you to ship the same day, always communicate, etc. It is just totally ridiculous. If you want retail service, go to a retail shop.

Just my .02, and why I don't sell much stuff. Also, why you shouldn't expect next day shipping if I sell you something.

[bcalla]

I don't think the shipping delay is terribly unreasonable, but his lack of communication is a problem.  That being said, when you put an item up for sale you should have a reasonable expectation that it will sell and therefore need to be shipped.  The holidays may represent a particular problem it terms of time commitments and make it difficult to get it mailed quickly.  In that case a quick e-mail from the seller setting expectations makes a lot of sense.  If you're selling something you need to take responsibility for the transaction.

A couple months back I bought a drum machine on eBay.  I did what I always do when I win an auction - within an hour or two I submit payment and if I don't get an acknowledgement within 24 hours I send the seller an e-mail notifying him that I paid and asking when I can expect shipment.  After a week, several e-mail exchanges and 2 missed ship dates he told me he was still trying to find a box to ship it in!  Of course I cancelled the sale and filed with eBay for a refund.