Although not perfect (and nothing is) the honor system has worked fairly well to this point. There will always be those who will infiltrate and upset the order in any proceedure. This is why the buyer/seller forum was set up. None of the auction sites or "for sale" sites have eluded these problems. Let's leave things unchanged and deal with the issues internally. No matter what level of checks and balances are formulated there will always be a few who will try to undermine the system.
why are you guys making this so hard.. plain and simple.. a person posts a part for sale.. somebody posts a reply saying they want it or asking a question, the first post gets first option to buy and if he passes the second in line is next..keep P.M.s out of the picture and there is no room for funny business or confusion..it's not rocket science ou:
I voted to leave it the way it is. I have never had a problem with buying or selling a part on this board. I try to be as upfront as possible. I guess I didn't realize there was such a problem. I think the only way we as a community can police this is the feedback route. I know I haven't done a good job of reporting back on my transactions on here. If everyone always reported there experiences, we would soon have a data base of who and who not to deal with. Marty
The section should stay the way it is, but maybe no PM should be allowed. All "for sale" business should be out in the open for everyone to see. Only the seller's and buyer's mailing information should be kept private. A "little" donation to the board is a good idea for using it though.
Well, this is probably a re-hash of much of what's been said...but I'm way too opinionated to not chime in. 1. No matter what forum, people will have deals go bad. In happens in real life as well as via the internet. That's why we have courts. 2. Don't be afraid to do some research. Joining date to the board, number of posts and content are excellent examples given to checking out a person. I also see many members belong to some sort of Buick group or division. Check with members of the local club or organization to ask about the member. 3. If you don't feel comfortable with the deal, situation, seller or it's "too good to be true", pass it up. 4. Realize that even if you do all of the above, you still have a risk of the transaction not going the way you wished. (See number one). It's an ownership thing, people. I understand some people feel very passionate about this issue because they have been burned. I can understand that since I had a deal go bad on eBay myself and had a 1000 mile field trip with a tow-dolly that returned (rightfully) empty. It's easy to blame the seller for selling to the highest bidder rather than the first, but where is the responsibility of the person doing the bidding? You cannot police everything. Frankly, I don't see an issue unless people are out money, and then absolutely get the moderators involved. I'm guessing they have much better things to do than babysit the board. Feedback left for repeat buyers/sellers will continue to be helpful to others. I don't see it any different than eBay. If something is too expensive or I feel funny about the seller or their feedback, I pass it up. If someone else bids higher than me on a part I asked for first on the board and the person sells to them instead, oh well. At least I'M not the one enriching their pockets. I'd rather wait and find the honest person to keep my money and get the piece I want at a fair price. As far as I know, Buick didn't make just one of anything that I need and eventually I will find another. That's my two cents. Now Jim, where is my "I voted" sticker?
My thoughts: 1) Buyer Beware. 2) Use common sense. 3) Cash Talks. 4) It's my stuff. I'll sell it to who I want. If you don't like it, go away. 5) What comes around goes around. There are some "respected" folks on this board that said they'd publicly buy something from me and then go back PMing me asking 1001 questions. This is after a detailed description was offered with Pics. In one instance, I sent the guy his money back because even though I was confident of the quality of the piece, I didn't want to deal with someone that had a hard time grasping the definition of "used". In another instance the seller agreed to a price and then backed out due to getting a better offer. Sure the contract is enforceable, but is it worth the aggravation? In both cases, I'll never do business again with either. Better for all of us. These have been the rare exception as I have sold and bought quite a bit from this board over the years. For the most part, I offer my stuff here first because the community is small and tight. I have fun at the Nats and our local GSCA chapter is tops too. I do this knowing I can get more money with less crap from E-bay. In every instance, the parts I've offered here that did not go get more $$$$ from a no reserve, low entry E-bay auction. There is a lot less dorking around with keep track of PMs, E-mails, and the other crap. If a prospective buyer wants a higher degree of professionalism and guarantees, buy from one of the vendors and pay full price. If a prospective seller doesn't want to deal with the aggravation of price negotiation, questions, and the other stuff... --go elsewhere. I doubt you will find the grass any greener... Perhaps one of the moderators would start a tally on the folks that have received feedback under "Buyer/Seller Feddback" and post it on a sticky. Another option may be adding a column to the "Members List" http://www.v8buick.com/memberlist.php? area to depict a feedback rating. There is already a "search members" option there that does not look to be available in the standard or advanced search features on the other areas of the board. The current members list shows an avatar and number of posts... -- not sure what real value it provides as is. If such enhancements are not possible, I vote to leave things alone. If we don't we will surely be paying even more under even less trustworthy circumstances. -John
Yeah, but what about the guys that want(for whatever reason) to keep thier purchase(s) private? With the way that everybody is watching what every body is doing and trying to figure out what they are up to.......i can understand and respect the desire. simple enough, PM's and emails are time/date stamped just like regular posts. the buyer PMs the seller and then the seller needs to post back to the thread that he has an 'anonymous' place-holder in at x time / y date. whether or not the seller was interested in honoring 'anonymous' buyers would be up to him. after all, as far as i'm concerned, until it's sold it's the sellers property and if he's uncomfortable with a prospective buyer or he just plain flat out doesn't like somebody he's got a right to blackball that person. as to the v8 buick community buyers being that paranoid about what others are doing / thinking about them ... [bob shakes head] ... sheez man, it's not like buicks are tearing up the N/IHRA strips ... what's the point of being this competitive or secretive? or are people just getting that uptight about trying to buy stuff here and then speculate with it on E-bay? cuz the speculators are the only ones i can really imagine with a 'need' to conceal their identities. you guys aren't really getting that bad about your resto's ... are you? uzzled:
Leave It As It Is!!! I voted to leave it as it is. The two things that would help would be members looking into the Feedback Forum before doing anything and kicking out dead beats that don't follow the simple rules. Word gets around pretty good on the feedback forum, here is another idea, do a scoring like Ebay on the feed back forum, AL.
I don't think this has anything to do with bad deals or people getting taken it has to do with giving every board member equal opportunity to buy a part that is posted for sale.
RIP.... reading comprehension on V8 Buick.com From my very first post in this thread. It has long been the policy of V8Buick.com that the for sale forums are to work on the honor system, if your post, with a price and location for the part, is responded to by another member who wants to buy the part, we expect you to sell that part to the first responding member, if he passes, then the second, and so on and so forth. clarification... the first guy that responds to the thread with a public post.. we hashed this out years ago.. and at least once a year since then. Common courtesy would dictate that if a guy responds to your thread, give him 48 hours to follow up with you privately. If he does not follow up, then move on to the next guy in line. If he won't pull the trigger with a payment, tell him your going to move on.. In the instance of folks who may not want their purchases being known to all, for whatever reason.. I suggest you create a login for the purpose of buying parts, and once you get with the seller in private, tell them who you really are. I understand the need at times to not broadcast to everyone and their mother that you have a new car your working on.. some folks would just rather keep that to themselves.
If sellers are offering something up for sale with the knowledge of the honor system in place, why not require the seller to post who he/she sold the item to? Since people are publicly offering to buy something (even under a different login used just for buying) then they shouldn't mind if the seller discloses who ended up getting it. It's not rocket science to see if the first member who responded with a legit "I'll take it" ends up with it. There are only 4 posssible outcomes for the seller: 1. I sold it to login "XXXXXX" 2. "I sold it to someone outside of those who responded thru the thread." 3. "I decided not to sell it." 4. No response. In doing this one cant' cheat the system (at least not for long).
If possible, ask your question with the I'll take it i.e. "I'll take the wobulator shaft if it will fit my '82 Skylark." or whatever condition you require (pending picture, or PM or ???) Next in line says: "I'll take the wobulator if Sean passes." All works itself out IMO
there wasnt a problem on this for sale board until some disgruntled people didnt get what they wanted. if you have a problem with a seller,keep it in pm's. even better,take it to the phone.
How about a Barret-Jackson type auction? No reserves! Once an item is listed it must sell! Make the fees based on starting price, not selling price. It would make for a lot less work by the board. As long as the seller and buyers did not screw it up. Right now I just watch the wanted section to see if I can get rid of parts. No matter what happens, you will not please everyone. John
okay, now i'm uncomfortable with the 'must sell to the next person in line' clause. what kind of exceptions are you going to be making for 'bad buyers'? how are you going to be defining 'bad buyers'? there are often EXCELLENT reasons for a seller not wanting to deal with a specific person. i dunno, i just see this as one more intermediate step towards an eventual trader rating system.
