Thought I Got A Nice Find....

I agree with you...it has nothing to do with capitalism...just integrity and respect

"But its just capitalism I guess..."

Capitalism allowed him to make his deal.

Being a man of his word would have made him keep his deal.

Two different things.

When I dealt in antiques, I would get what I call "house calls". I never quoted a price over the phone but would make an appointment and keep it. I was generally prepared for most anything and many times it was next to worthless junk when I got there. Some of my neatest stuff I found and bought this way too.
I learned a lesson early when I would give them a figure I would pay and let them "think about it" and "get back to me".
I realized after losing a few deals to somebody that gave them more that and I was being shopped around.
So after I learned that, I went on the house calls and looked over the wares and said in a nice way that I will give you a price for these things here and now and I am ready to haul it away. If you don't want to sell it now, then I'll be on my way.
I let them know that I have other people lined up who I can buy from with the money I have. No hard feelings and thanks for showing me your things.
Most times they took my offer which was very fair. As a matter of fact, my offer was probably better than others even if they had shopped the stuff around before calling me.
Most of my house calls came from referrals from these people I bought from this way. Maybe because they knew I came to buy and meant business.
So you can change the word antiques to coins or beanie babies or baskets of apples. It's all the same, don't let people use you and waste your time to get free appraisals.
I had people that turned down my offer only to regret it and call me back. I'd say sorry, I am not buying at this time. Since I had already seen the things they had, I would offer a lot less for only a few of the items I really liked and could use and leave them sell the rest elsewhere. So I basically picked them over for jerking me around.
There's plenty of deals out there so brush yourself off and learn from the mistake.

The cure for cold feet? Cold hard cash!

Chumps walk (because (s)he has no ride/car), money talks.

Someone probably filled their ear with nonsense making him/her believe that they were getting the short end of the stick. What do you wanna bet that the $600 offer is all talk?

Thanks all for your replies. I will try to address one at a time.




I knew $142 was a good bit under melt, but I figured the $30~ in gas, and me being new to the hobby, I wanted to make sure that I was safe. Also, since he needed/wanted the money that day, I factored that in, too. Once I get more comfortable with prices, and what they sell for, I know that I could give much better offers.




I was wondering the same thing. I had to drive 40 minutes to get there, and I sent him a couple texts. One right when I was leaving, 10 minutes away, and 1 minute away. 40 minutes is a while, and I HIGHLY doubt he found out the exact minute I got there, that he had an offer for $600.




That is a great suggestion. I'm not in this business by any means. I just figured that I have a little bit of extra cash, and maybe I could use that to fuel this hobby a little bit for me. But in the future, I will definitely handle things your way.




I'm guessing a young immature, adult, which is why I referred to him as a kid.

When I ask what he had, along with the coins, he told me that he got them from his grandad when he died. That he had wheats, too, but he wanted to hold onto them. That made it very believable in my eyes.




I COMPLETELY agree. Someone, who wasn't there, offered $600. I will be surprised if that someone actually shows up. I had the cash, in hand, and was there. That was guaranteed money.




Again, I agree. I don't sell things on there anymore, because of the lack of respect. Most people are "tire kickers" or wish they had the money. Others just have no respect for other people's time. They will say they will be there by such and such time, but won't ever show up. I was thinking since I was the buyer, I didn't have to worry.


Thanks again, everyone. I really just wanted to get it off my chest.

Punks happen. :-)

Seriously, though, who knows if he was trying to fence some stolen goods, so would sell to the highest bidder in a blink?

It's Craigslist for crying out loud. :-)

Sometimes deals just fall through, but this sounded like a scam artist. I've sold a lot of stuff on Craigslist, but I was very careful. If something sounds fishy, avoid it.